Cabbage Rice or Cabbage Pulao recipe is a simple one-pot healthy rice dish made with cabbage, rice, and a few spices made in Instant Pot Pressure Cooker or stovetop. It's gluten-free and vegan. It tastes great when served with the combination of raita or salad for lunch or dinner.
This easy-to-prepare rice dish takes less than 30 mins to prepare and good lunchbox recipe for kids and adults. Compared to the regular South Indian Pulao, Cabbage Pulao requires fewer ingredients and less masala/spices to make it taste good.
Cabbage is one of my favorite vegetables and is always available in my refrigerator. I got this cabbage pulao recipe from my mother, and it is an all-time favorite dish at our house.
More Indian Cabbage recipes from my blog are Cabbage Peas Stir Fry, Cabbage Pakoda, or Cabbage Potato Peas Curry, which goes well with roti or parathas when I have very little time to cook in the morning.
Cabbage Rice Ingredients
These are the main ingredients needed for this cabbage rice recipe.
- Rice: I have used long grain basmati rice, you can also use sona masoori rice.
- Cabbage: Wash and finely chop the cabbage.
- Green Peas: use fresh or frozen.
- Onion: I have used thinly sliced onions.
- Spices: For whole spices, I have used cumin seeds. For dry spices, I have used turmeric, garam masala powder.
- Herbs: Used fresh-cut coriander leaves.
- Lime Juice: use freshly squeezed lime juice.
- Grinding Ingredients: Used freshly grated coconut (optional), ginger, garlic, green chilies, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves.
How to Make Cabbage Rice in Instant Pot
Grind/Blend green chilies, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom together to a coarse paste. Keep aside. You can also add two tablespoons of fresh coconut while grinding tastes excellent.
Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Add oil to the POT. Once POT is hot, add in the cumin/jeera. Then add the blended mixture and saute for 15 secs.
**Note: the mixture can stick or burn to the bottom, stirring continuously.
Then add in the onions and saute until the onions turn light brown.
You can also add chopped tomatoes to this recipe, but I haven't added them to this.
Now add in the chopped cabbage, green peas, turmeric powder, mix well and saute for 30 secs.
Add rice, garam masala, salt, water, and give a quick stir.
Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 6 minutes.
Do a QUICK RELEASE (QR), OR if you have time, wait for NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE (NPR).
Once the pressure has released, open the lid. Add the juice of a half lemon and garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves and mix well.
The instant pot cabbage pulao/rice recipe is ready, serve with yogurt and raita.
Stovetop Pressure Cooker Method
- Follow the same steps, close the lid, place a whistle, and cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Pressure cooker Cabbage Pulao is ready.
Variation for Cabbage Pulao
- You can also add 2 tablespoons of shredded coconut (fresh or frozen) while grinding, which gives an extra flavor. But it's optional if you don't have it.
More Instant Pot Rice Recipes
- Tomato Biryani/Rice
- Coconut Milk Pulao
- Bisibelebath/Hot Lentil Rice
- Chickpea/Chole Biryani
- Cauliflower Pulao/Pilaf
- Beetroot Rice
Cabbage Rice (Cabbage Pulao) - Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice short grain rice can also be used
- 2.5 cups cabbage shredded or finely chopped
- ½ cup green peas (fresh/frozen)
- 1 medium onion thinly sized
- 2 tablespoon Oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin (jeera) seeds
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon garam masala powder or biryani masala powder
- juice of half lemon
- 2 tablespoon coriander leaves chopped
- salt to taste
- 1.5 cups water
Instructions
Instant Pot Method
- Grind/Blend green chilies, ginger, garlic, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom together to a coarse paste. Keep aside. You can also add two tablespoons of fresh coconut while grinding tastes excellent.
- Press SAUTE mode on Instant Pot. Add oil to the POT. Once POT is hot, add in the cumin/jeera. Then add the blended mixture and saute for 15 secs.**Note: the mixture can stick or burn to the bottom, stirring continuously.
- Then add in the onions and saute until the onions turn light brown.Note:You can also add chopped tomatoes to this recipe, but I haven't added them in this.
- Now add in the chopped cabbage, green peas, turmeric powder, mix well and saute for 30 secs.
- Add rice, garam masala, salt, water, and give a quick stir.
- Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 6 minutes.
- Do a QUICK RELEASE (QR), OR if you have time, wait for NATURAL PRESSURE RELEASE (NPR).
- Once the pressure has released, open the lid. Add the juice of a half lemon and garnish with coriander leaves and mix well.
- Cabbage Rice or Cabbage pulao is ready, serve with yogurt or raita.
Indian Pressure Cooker Method:
- Follow the same steps and close the lid place a whistle and cook for 2 whistles on medium flame. Pressure cooker Cabbage Pulao is ready.
Notes
Nutrition
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Shantimoy Paul says
Most of my childhood memory includes getting yelled at by my mother, punampaul.com and eat your veggies; but I used to pay no heed to it. However as time passes, most of us come around to eating vegetables as we are aware of the countless benefits they have for our health.
Cabbage is especially one of the world's most nutrient dense vegetables readily available for us to enjoy, rich in essential vitamins such as C, B6, K, saturated fat, thiammin, calcium, iron, magnesium phosphorus and a good source of dietary fibers.
But I never liked any cabbage recipe other than in noodles.
This cabbage recipe when I tried at home was not really appreciated by my family but it was really yummy too. Thanks for sharing this delicious preparation. Keep posting wonderful recipes like this.
Carey says
I pulled up this recipe at the last minute, because I was making a Tandoori style Salmon fillet and I had some leftover cabbage in the fridge. Prepared it on the stovetop with leftover yellow rice, onion, and most all the spices above. Really, really good, and I am tough on reviews. Well done! and I will make this again when I am not in such a rush. It was done before the salmon!
Bhavana Patil says
Thank you so much Carey 🙂 Coming from a Chef, I will take the comment with a lot of pride 🙂 Have a great day 🙂
Jennifer says
I made this on the stove top. My sone had already made a paste which was similar. I didn't have peas. It was great!