Instant Pot Quinoa Matar Pulao
Sep 29, 2020
Quinoa cooked with whole spices and green peas, this quinoa matar pulao is made in the Instant Pot and makes a great vegan side or pair it with a main dish for a hearty meal!
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Quick and easy Quinoa Matar Pulao made in the Instant Pot.
Quinoa is tossed with whole spices and lots of green peas, making this a more wholesome alternative to the classic matar pulao.
Ever since I started cooking quinoa in the instant pot (which has been many years now), I cook it so much more often.
Earlier, I would always find excuses to not make it since it involved me standing and monitoring the pan for 20 minutes and I always found it time consuming.
With the Instant pot, even though the time taken to cook quinoa is same, but I don’t have to baby sit the pot at all and that for me is a game changer. I just add quinoa and water and it cooks without me having to do anything.
That’s actually the number one reason I love my IP so much- zero monitoring!
Since I cook quinoa a lot now, I also try to cook it in several ways and you guys seem to enjoy these recipes. This is the latest quinoa recipe which I loved- Quinoa Matar Pulao.
It’s a spin on the classic matar pulao (which is made with rice). Making it with quinoa makes it more wholesome.
This Quinoa Matar Pulao
✔is vegan and gluten-free.
✔is packed with protein and makes a wholesome meal.
✔great for breakfast or lunch.
✔comes together quickly with zero monitoring.
I cooked this pulao in exactly the same way as the traditional rice pulao. I like mine with lots of spices, green peas, onion and cilantro. This recipe uses a handful of ingredients.
Quinoa: I have used white quinoa here but you may used red quinoa or tricolor quinoa too.
An important thing to do (which I always do and recommend) is to rinse the quinoa very well for 1-2 minutes using a strainer.
This helps in getting rid of the bitterness, so make sure you do that before tossing the quinoa in the pot.
Whole spices: this recipe does not call for any ground spices, so whole spices is what give the dish a lot of flavor.
I have used bay leaf, cumin seeds, cloves, green cardamom, and black cardamom. These spices gives this pulao a robust flavor.
Often when I share recipes using whole spices, readers ask me whether we should pick the whole spices before serving or how exactly do we serve it?
I do not pick them but if you do not like biting into whole spices, remove them before serving.
Green peas: since it’s matar pulao (matar=green peas), peas are a key ingredient in this recipe. I like using frozen peas since I always have those in my freezer.
Soak the peas in warm water for 10 minutes before using in the recipe. You can use them directly from the freezer too but I prefer the taste better when I soak it in warm water prior to adding to the pot.
Other than these ingredients, I have also used cilantro and onion.
Another thing which would be great here will be cashews. I seriously wanted to add them but then ran out of them while making the dish. If you want, you can add some cashews after you add the spices and fry them a little before adding onion. It will give a nice crunch to the dish.
Quinoa to water ratio: For most quinoa recipes, I use a ratio of 1:1.25.
So, for 1 cup of quinoa, I use 1.25 cups water. I have tried various ratios and this is what works best for me. The quinoa dries off as it cools so I prefer this ratio.
But it’s up to you. If you prefer a drier and more separate grains of quinoa, you can use a 1:1 ratio as well.
Serving Suggestions
This is a complete dish on it’s own. I like serving it with yogurt on the side but it can be eaten as such.
You can also serve this as a side with dal or any curry of choice.
This quinoa matar pulao is great for breakfast and also for lunch or dinner.
Method
1- Rinse the quinoa under running water using a strainer for 1-2 minutes. Then set this aside. Also, add the frozen green peas to a bowl of warm water while you do the rest of the steps.
2- Press the saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add the oil and then add the whole spices- bay leaf, cumin seeds, green cardamom, black cardamom and cloves. Let them sizzle for few seconds.
3- Then add the sliced onion and green chili and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the onion is softened.
4- Drain the green peas and then add them to the pot along with cilantro.
5- Also, add the quinoa and toss everything together.
6- Add water, salt and stir. Close the pot with it’s lid.
7- Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 2 minutes (with the pressure valve in the sealing position). Let the pressure release naturally, which takes around 15 minutes.
8- Open the lid and using a fork fluff the quinoa.
Serve quinoa matar pulao with yogurt or as a side with any main dish.
More Instant Pot Quinoa Recipes
Instant Pot Red Curry Quinoa Fried Rice
If you’ve tried this Instant Pot Quinoa Matar Pulao Recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe! You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram to see what’s latest in my kitchen!
Instant Pot Quinoa Matar Pulao
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons oil 30 ml, I used avocado oil
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 whole green cardamom
- 3 whole black cardamom
- 3 whole cloves
- 1 medium red onion sliced
- 1 green chili chopped
- 1 cup quinoa 185 grams, uncooked
- 1.5 cups green peas I used frozen peas, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- 1.25 cups water 10 oz
- 1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
Instructions
- Rinse the quinoa under running water using a strainer for 1-2 minutes. Then set this aside. Also, add the frozen green peas to a bowl of warm water while you do the rest of the steps.
- Press the saute button on the Instant Pot. Once it displays hot, add the oil and then add the whole spices- bay leaf, cumin seeds, green cardamom, black cardamom and cloves. Let them sizzle for few seconds.
- Then add the sliced onion and green chili and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the onion is softened.
- Drain the green peas and then add them to the pot along with cilantro. Also, add the quinoa and toss everything together.
- Add water, salt and stir. Close the pot with it's lid.Press the manual or pressure cook button and cook on high pressure for 2 minutes (with the pressure valve in the sealing position). Let the pressure release naturally, which takes around 15 minutes.
- Open the lid and using a fork fluff the quinoa. Serve quinoa matar pulao with yogurt or as a side with any main dish.
Stove-top Instructions
- Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Add whole spices and let them sizzle, then add the onions and chilli and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until onions are soft. Then Add the peas, cilantro, quinoa and cook for 1 minute. Add 2 cups (16 oz) water and salt and mix. Increase the heat to high and bring it all to a boil.Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat to minimum (lowest) setting, cover the pan and let it cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, remove pan from heat and let it sit covered for another 5 minutes. Open the pan, fluff the quinoa pulao with a fork and serve.
Notes
- Add cashew nuts to add little crunch to the pulao.
- You can also add some powdered spices if you like. Coriander powder or a sprinkle of garam masala will be good.Â
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I love this recipe! I made it with red quinoa which gave the dish a beautiful contrast between the red and green colours. It also gives it a nicer taste I feel.
the contrast sounds nice!
Hello Manali,
Today I tried this Quinoa Matar Pulao and followed your recipe to the letter and it turned out yummy. I used tricolor Quinoa because that is what I had at my house.
You give us different alternatives for cooking recipes like Stovetop cooking, Instant Pot etc. which helps us greatly.
I made this on Stovetop as I don’t have Instant Pot in my house. Initially, I pressure cooked the Quinoa along with Matar in my Pressure Cooker. There after I transferred it in a cooking pot in which I put oil on medium heat. Added whole spices and let them sizzle, then added the onions and chilli and cooked for 2 to 3 minutes until onions were soft. Thereafter I transferred the cooked Quinoa and Matar in the pot and stirred them well with some cilantro. I also tried your Green Moong Dal made with mung beans, onions, tomatoes and spices and I have no words how tasty it turned out.
Good Luck for your continuous success!
Hi,
I had quinoa a few times at work and never liked it. Today, I decided to make it myself because some of my friends told me that the quinoa in office is not really the best quinoa. I used this recipe with few changes (because I realized that my quinoa was mixed with seaweed). I used 1.5 cups of water instead of 2 cups (I made it on stove top) and I didn’t strain the quinoa well, because mine had seaweed, the moment I put quinoa in the strainer, it got out hehe, next time I will read the packaging carefully before buying. Well the short story is that I ended up liking it and I am going to try other quinoa recipes on your blog. Thank you.