Perfect and easy pilau rice with peas. Pilau rice the perfect match for those rich dish curries. Beautiful grains of fragrant rice cooked to perfection. Pilau rice a popular dish in parts of South Asia and everyone has their own take in making pilau rice. It’s definitely not your everyday boiled rice. As much as we had white boiled rice growing up and a staple in our home, pilau rice was always made during special occasions. You just knew it was not the ordinary day when mom cooked up pilau rice. Either guest were coming over or we were celebrating a special day or event.

Pilau rice yummy and delicious, the flavors just want you having more. The best thing about pilau rice is how easy it is to make and it’s my go-to rice recipe in my home now as hubby and the kids love pilau rice and pretty much want to have it all the time.

More about pilau rice with peas

Truth is I never knew how to make pilau rice until I got married, luxury at parents home lol. I still remember the very first time I called my mom and asked for her pilau rice recipe. She gave me super easy and simple steps and my pilau rice tasted just like hers. I was like wow how easy was that lol. Since then I have been forever making pilau rice when friends and family come over or even on weekends when I like to cook up special lunch and dinners for the family. Also not to forget if there’s going to be a chicken korma then there’s definitely going to be pilau rice, pilau and korma my all time favorite.

Here in this blog I will be sharing a perfect and easy pilau rice with peas recipe. It’s exactly the same way you make plain pilau but I have just added frozen peas, it taste great and definitely worth trying out. The recipe is super easy peasy. But if you want a plain pilau you can just leave the peas out and follow all the other steps.

Ingredients you need to make peas pilau rice

Basmati rice the key ingredient when it comes to cooking pilau rice. You definitely want to use basmati rice as it is has a beautiful aromatic fragrance. The grains extend and give you long beautiful grains which is a unique characteristic of basmati rice compared to other types of rice. Rinse and soak the rice in water this will help to reduce the cooking time and give you that perfect cooked rice at the end.

Oil or ghee, a combination of oil and ghee or just one. I like to mix it up so just a little ghee for the extra flavor.

Whole cumin seeds, add these into the hot oil/ghee. Cumin seeds are packed full of flavor and season the pilau beautifully. Once they start to sizzle you know cooking has started lol.

Onions, thinly sliced. Onions make up the base of the pilau. Cook the onions in oil/ghee until golden brown. The more you cook the onions the darker they will turn and the more color you will get in your pilau.

Ginger paste, fresh ginger in pilau is a must. Ginger gives that warm and zesty flavor. Add the ginger paste once the onions start to cook.

Tomatoes, add to the color and flavor of the pilau. Cook the tomatoes with the onions until soft.

Garam masala, this is a mix of ground spices. Very pungent in flavor and adds a great depth of flavor to the pilau. Whole garam masala spices are also an alternative but I prefer to use ground spices just so you don’t bite into the whole spices. Add the garam masala once the onions and tomatoes are cooked and softened.

Green peas, the extra addition of green peas in the pilau just makes it that much tastier and adds a pop of color. Of course this step is optional, you could of course skip adding the peas if you want to go for a simple plain pilau. Add the peas to the masala mix and cook for a couple of minutes.

Water, measure the quantity of water and add into the onion base/masala. Best to use hot water as this will help to speed up the cooking process.

Cooking the Peas Pilau

Mix the rice and water in well, incorporating all the ingredients together.

Add salt to the rice and water for seasoning.

The last step, bring the rice and water to a boil and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer the rice for 15 minutes on a very low flame.

After 15 minutes take the lid off and very gently stir the rice and serve.

Enjoy Pilau rice with beef curry, chicken curry