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mattar paneer pulao
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Mattar Paneer Pulao

Mattar Paneer Pulao, super simple spiced peas and paneer (Indian style cottage cheese) rice dish made with super simple ingredients in an Instant Pot.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time6 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 5

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Long Grain Uncooked Basmati Rice washed and soaked for 20-30 minutes
  • 2 tbsp Avocado Oil any oil of choice
  • 2 tbsp Salted Butter
  • 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
  • ½ cup Finely Chopped Yellow Onion
  • ½ cup Finely Chopped Green Pepper
  • ¼ cup Finely Chopped Scallions, white part
  • ¼ cup Finely Chopped Cilantro Stems
  • 2 tbsp Minced Garlic
  • 1 medium Finely Chopped Serrano
  • ¾ cup Finely Chopped Tomato
  • 7 oz Paneer, cubed in small pieces
  • 1 cup Frozen Green Peas thawed
  • 2 tsp Salt 1 tsp + 1 tsp
  • ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
  • 2 tsp Cumin Coriander Powder
  • 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp Garam Masala
  • 1 tbsp Pav Bhaji Masala
  • ½ tsp Kasuri Methi
  • ½ small Lemon
  • 1¾ cup Water

Instructions

  • Wash long grain basmati rice 2-3 times with water. Let it soak for 20-30 minutes.
  • Put Instant Pot on saute mode, if using Indian style pressure cooker, place it on a stove top with medium heat.
  • Add 2 tbsp of oil and 2 tbsp of salted butter in IP and let the butter melt.
  • Add in 1 tsp of cumin seeds, stir and cook for few second until it forms aroma.
  • Add in finely chopped onion, green pepper, white part of scallions, serrano, cilantro stem and 2 tbsp of minced garlic with 1 tsp of salt. Mix it all well and let it cook for couple of minutes, or until raw smell of garlic is gone. Do not brown/burn it.
  • Then add in chopped tomatoes, stir and cook for a minute.
  • Add in all dry spiced listed above along with 1 additional tsp of salt (makes total of 2 tsp of salt by now). Mix well, let it cook for a minute while stirring once or twice during this step.
  • Add in thawed green peas (without any water) and cubed paneer. Mix well.
  • Drain all the water from soaked rice and add it to IP. Give it a quick gentle stir and then add in 1¾ cups of water. Mix well and bring it to simmer.
  • Once simmering, squeeze in small ½ lemon. Then rub ½ tsp of kasuri methi between your palms and add it into IP. Stir it all well.
  • Close IP and set valve to sealing. Put IP on high pressure for 5 minutes. Once the timer goes off for 5 minute cooking time, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes then manually release rest of the pressure.
  • If using Indian style pressure cooker, everything remains same as above, once water starts to simmer, close the lid and do 2 whistles. Take it off the stove and let the pressure release all the way naturally.
  • Simply server it with boondi raita (details in notes below) and sliced cucumber.

Notes

1 cup fat free greek yogurt
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp of roasted cumin powder
1/2 tsp of black salt
1/2 tsp of chaat masala
1/4 tsp of red chili powder
1/4 tsp of black pepper powder
Mix all the above, add in as much boondi as you like right before serving.