Cauliflower Peas Pulao
Jun 24, 2016, Updated Jan 02, 2018
Aromatic Cauliflower Peas Pulao is an easy to make vegan dish which is made up of rice, spices, cauliflower and green peas! Making this pulao is a breeze if you already have some pre-cooked rice in your refrigerator.
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Aromatic pulao/pilaf with spices, cauliflower and green peas. Making this pulao is a breeze if you already have some pre-cooked rice in your refrigerator. It’s full of flavors and vegan too.
I come from a country where rice is always on the table. The food in north India might be very different from the one in south, which again might be very different from the one in east but if there’s one thing that’s common – it’s rice. Throughout the country, you will find rice in different forms and varieties but always a part of everyday lunch and dinner. In North, we usually eat it with dal or chole (chickpeas curry) or rajma (kidney beans curry) , in south you eat it as curd rice or as a part of  dosa (which is a lentil and rice crepe). We also make khichadi, pongal and pulao with rice, I mean what I want to say is that there are just so many ways we eat rice and so it’s an integral part of the Indian cuisine.
Since I make it so often, I always have some leftover rice in my refrigerator. And I use it to make a lot of things like this pineapple fried rice, capsicum rice, lemon rice and now this cauliflower peas pulao (or gobi matar pulao as we would call in Hindi!).
Pulao or pilaf as it’s commonly known in the western world is a mix of rice, spices and vegetables. Well of course it can be rice, spices and chicken/lamb too but since I am a vegetarian and this is a vegetarian food blog, we would take that as the definition of pulao 
 ! I already have a cauliflower and green peas sabzi recipe on the blog and it so happened that this day I was going to make this sabzi again but changed my mind at the very last moment. You can call it a blogger’s mind, always trying to make something different.
So yeah I just mixed the pre-cooked rice with some spices, onion, tomato, cauliflower and peas and it turned out to be one delicious pulao. My secret ingredient here is the pav bhaji masala. It’s a mix of spices which is used in a very popular dish called pav bhaji. It’s also used in several other recipes like this tawa pulao and I thought it was so perfect in this gobi matar pulao. You can easily find it any Indian grocery store.
I have added a lot of spices in this recipe and I really liked the way it turned out. You may add less spices if you like but I highly recommend to make this recipe as it is. I really wanted the cauliflower to have a good crunch here and not be soggy at all. For this, I cut the cauliflower into very small florets and then cooked them with little oil before adding them to the rice. This way they maintain their texture which is really important in this recipe. This cauliflower peas pulao is best enjoyed with plain yogurt or raita [spiced yogurt dish].
Method
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the tiny cauliflower florets to it. Cook for around 5 minutes or till the florets get lightly browned. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
In another pan (preferably heavy bottom) add 2 tablespoons of oil. Once the oil is hot add cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black cardamom, cloves and peppercorns. Saute for 30 seconds or till fragrant. Add cumin seeds and let them crackle.
Then add grated garlic, ginger and green chili. Saute for 30-40 seconds or till they start turning light golden in brown in color.
Add chopped onions and cook for another 2 minutes or till they start turning brown.
At this point add the tomato puree and mix. Cook the puree for 2-3 minutes.
Add pav bhaji masala, salt and cook for 2-3 minutes till the onion tomato masala dries out and oil starts oozing from the side.
Add sauteed cauliflower and peas. Mix and cook for a minute.
Add cooked rice and mix gently. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Cover the pan, switch off the heat and let the lid remain on the pan for 5 minutes.
Remove lid and add spring onions and cilantro. Squeeze in fresh lemon juice and serve immediately.
Gobi Matar Pulao is best enjoyed with raita on the side. My favorite to serve with this pulao is cucumber raita.
* You may use ghee or butter in this recipe if you don’t wish to make it vegan.
Cauliflower Peas Pulao
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups cooked basmati rice
- 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon vegetable oil divided
- 1.5 cups small cauliflower florets
- 1/2 cup green peas
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 large tomatoes pureed
- 1 teaspoon pav bhaji masala
- 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic
- 1 green chili chopped
- salt to taste
Whole spices
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 black cardamom
- 3 cloves
- 4-5 peppercorn
- 1 cinnamon stick
to garnish
- 2 spring onion greens chopped
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- juice of half lemon
Instructions
- Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the tiny cauliflower florets to it. Cook for around 5 minutes or till the florets get lightly browned. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
- In another pan (preferably heavy bottom) add 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Once the oil is hot add all the spices listed under "whole spices" - cinnamon stick, bay leaf, black cardamom, cloves and peppercorns. Saute for 30 seconds or till fragrant. Add cumin seeds and let them crackle.
- Then add grated garlic, ginger and green chili. Saute for 30-40 seconds or till they start turning light golden in brown in color.
- Add chopped onions and cook for another 2 minutes or till they start turning brown.
- At this point add the tomato puree and mix. Cook the puree for 2-3 minutes.
- Add pav bhaji masala, salt and cook for 2-3 minutes till the onion tomato masala dries out and oil starts oozing from the side.
- Add sauteed cauliflower and peas. Mix and cook for a minute.
- Add cooked rice and mix gently. Lower the heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Cover the pan, switch off the heat and let the lid remain on the pan for 5 more minutes.
- Remove lid and add spring onions and cilantro.
- Squeeze in fresh lemon juice and serve the pulao immediately with some yogurt on the side!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Cauliflower Peas Pulao
