A detailed step-by-step post on how to cook a soft, fluffy, and perfect Indian Sona masoori rice recipe every time using the instant pot pressure cooker. Sona Masuri Rice is generally served with lentils(dal), curry, or any side dish in India.

I am from Karnataka, and rice is our staple food, and we use sona masoori for our everyday cooking.
Other rice recipes made from sona masoori rice are Paneer Fried Rice, Peanut Rice, Pongal, Curd Rice, Coconut rice, Raw Mango Rice.
I usually buy a bag of royal sona masoori rice from Costco or any Indian grocery store. Cooking sona masuri is easy and can be done on the stovetop, stovetop pressure cooker, rice cooker, and Instant Pot.
Today I will be sharing cooking sona masoori rice in an Instant pot in two methods—one directly inside the inner pot and the other by pot in pot method. When I am doing different recipes simultaneously, I use the pot in pot method (for example, curry and rice).
What is Sona Masoori?
Sona Masoori is a lightweight and aromatic medium-grain rice resulting from a cross combination of the rice varieties Sona and Mahsuri.
It is grown mainly in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka. This rice comes in both varieties of white rice and brown rice. - Source Wiki
How to Cook Sona Masoori Rice in Instant Pot
Firstly, rinse the rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear (removes extra starch), drain the remaining water, and add the rice to the Instant Pot steel insert.
Then add the water into the pot and stir well.
Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 5 minutes.
When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
Lastly, open the lid, fluff the rice with a fork or ladle, and serve with your favorite side dish.
Pot in Pot Method
- Add the rinsed rice and water to a stainless steel bowl.
- Add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot insert and place the rice bowl over the trivet in the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 5 minutes. When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and fluff the rice with a fork or ladle and serve with your favorite curry.
Brown Sona Masoori Rice
- Follow the same steps as above and Pressure cook for 22 minutes.
How to serve Sona Masoori Rice?
Serve Sona masuri rice with vegetable sambar (lentil stew), rasam, dal tadka, Kadhi (yogurt chickpea soup).
Tips
- Rice to water ratio is very important for cooking any kind of rice. For soft, fluffy, nonsticky sona masuri rice I use the 2 cups water for 1 cup rice. For curd rice, I use 2.5-3 cups of water for 1 cup rice. Fried rice, you can use 1 ¾ cups water for 1 cup rice.
- The water and cooking time also depends on the variety, age of the rice, and altitude of the location.
More Instant Pot Rice Recipes
- Vegetable Fried rice
- Cauliflower pulao/pilaf
- Palak Biryani|Spinach Biryani
- Paneer Biryani
- Chickpea Biryani
- Wild Rice
Check for more rice recipes from 25+ instant pot pressure cooker rice recipe collections.
Instant Pot Sona Masoori Rice
Equipment
Ingredients
Measuring cup used 1 cup = 250ml
- 1 cup sona masoori rice
- 2 cups water
Instructions
- Firstly, rinse the rice 2-3 times until the water runs clear (removes extra starch), drain the remaining water.
Main Pot Method:
- Add the rice to the Instant Pot steel insert.
- Then add the water into the pot and stir well.
- lose the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 5 minutes.When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
- Lastly, open the lid, fluff the rice with a fork or ladle, and serve with your favorite side dish.
Pot in Pot Method:
- Add the rinsed rice and water in a stainless steel bowl.
- Add 1 cup of water to the Instant Pot insert and place the rice bowl over the trivet in the Instant Pot.
- Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and set the timer to 5 minutes. When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and fluff the rice with a fork or ladle and serve with your favorite curry.
Brown Sona Masoori Rice:
- Follow the same steps as above and Pressure Cook for 22 minutes.
Notes
- Rice to water ratio is very important for cooking any kind of rice.For a soft, fluffy, non sticky sona masuri rice I use the 2 cups water for 1 cup rice.For curd rice for example i use 2.5-3 cups of water for 1 cup rice.For Fried rice you can use 1 ¾ cups water for 1 cup rice.
- The water and cooking time also depends on the variety, age of the rice and altitude of the location.
Nutrition
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