If there is one food that I can eat for the rest of my life, then it is rice. Be it a bowl of plain white rice with dal or vegetables or something fancy like biryani, I love it in every form. Today I am sharing an easy one-pot rice dish mixed with a variety of vegetables and spices, called Tehari. It is hearty, spicy and flavorful. Tehari, which goes by various names is a unique rice dish from the Awadhi cuisine of northern India. Some may call it a pulao or vegetable biryani but tehari is a lot different in taste. It is quite spicy.
This recipe is available in a video on YouTube.
There are different kinds of Teharis that people make today, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, in South Asia. However, Awadhi tehari is predominantly a vegetable-based dish. It started as gobhi aloo ki tehari (cauliflower and potato tehari) then over time it transitioned into vegetable tehari. It’s kind of nostalgic for me since I remember my mom making this all the time when I was a kid with whatever vegetables she had on hand. It can accommodate any amount of vegetables, green beans, peas, cauliflower, potatoes to make the rice meal a perfect one-pot wonder.
What’s awesome about my recipe is that it cooks up fast in instant pot. Just start by heating olive oil in the instant pot then drop in whole spices, followed by onion. Sauté until translucent. Then add tomatoes and the vegetables. Add hard vegetables like carrot and potatoes first and cook them for 2-3 minutes then add softer vegetables like green beans, peas, and cauliflower. This makes sure all the vegetables are cooked through. The picture below shows how big the vegetables need to be cut. Frozen vegetables (except for peas) do not work in the instant pot tehari. After the vegetables, toss in the rice and let it toast slightly. Then add water and spices. Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 4 minutes. That’s all there is to it. It’s such an easy, straightforward meal. It can be made ahead of time and is perfect as a side or main dish any time of the year.
If you have someone who doesn’t like spicy you can easily omit red chili powder and green chilies from this recipe. I do it all the time when we have guests who are a little sensitive to heat and only put whole black peppercorns. If you do omit the chili, to keep those that want some heat happy, just serve raw or pickled green chilies on the side. To fully enjoy this tehari, eat it with mint cucumber raita and a tomato salad. They add the perfect touch of coolness and another dimension of flavor to this dish.
If you try this delicious dish, I would love to know if you enjoyed it as much as we do! Please leave me a comment! Share a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag me! I would love to see your creation.
Loads of vegetables, aromatic whole spices and rice, all cooked in instant pot for an easy lunch
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 ½ " cinnamon sticks
- 4 cloves
- 2 black cardamoms, only seeds 1/2 tsp
- 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 red onions, ¾ cup sliced
- 1 - inch ginger, chopped
- 2 green chilies, chopped
- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 potato, peeled and cut into bite size cubes
- ¾ cup peas
- 1 large carrot, scraped and diced or roundels of ½ "
- 1/2 cup fresh beans, cut into 1 " pieces
- 2 tomatoes, chopped ¾ cup
- 1 1/4 cup water
- Salt to taste
- Cilantro for garnish
- Raita and salad to serve
Instructions
- Soak basmati rice for 15 minutes.
- Set Instant Pot to Saute mode. Once hot add oil.
- Add all the whole spices and sauté for 30 secs until fragrant.
- Add sliced onion and cook until it has softened and started to brown.
- Add tomatoes and cook until soft. Next, add Potatoes and carrot. Cook for 2 -4 minutes stirring in between.
- Then add green beans, cauliflower, green chili, ginger and peas. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the drained rice. Saute 1 minute, stirring.
- Add water and scrape the bottom well to make sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.
- Now add the powdered spices, salt, red chili powder, coriander powder, and garam masala. Mix well.
- Close the lid with vent in sealing position. Change the instant pot setting to MANUAL or pressure cook mode for 4 minutes at high pressure.
- When the instant pot beeps, do a 10 minute NPR. This means let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes, then release the pressure manually.
- Fluff the rice gently. Enjoy with homemade yogurt or raita and salad.
Notes
If you end up with any leftovers it's great for lunchboxes. It reheats really well in the microwave. One of our favorite ways to repurpose this rice is to make burrito.
angiesrecipes
If you didn’t say it’s tehari, I would take this one as biryani. I like that you prepared this in Instant Pot. So much faster!
Breadandsalt
This is really very different vegan Tehari! I would like to try it. Ingredients are so rich and healthy.
Judee
I love all the fragrant spices that is used in Indian cooking. This really looks delicious and something I would try! My husband is with your- he loves rice and could eat it everyday!
John / Kitchen Riffs
This looks great — so quick to prepare, and look at all those flavors! Pretty, too. I definitely need to get an Instant Pot!
Dolly Aizenman
Such a lovely recipe, dear Bal, and I love cooking in Instant Pot. It is much healthier and preserves flavors.
evi erlinda
Hi Balvinder, Tehari rice looks so flavorful. I like those spices that you mixed with rice. I still have basmati rice and would like to try this yummy Tehari Rice. Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Laura
Balvinder, the list of spices is a such a fantastic collection of flavors! I love how simple this is to make, especially given the long list of ingredients. Also, nice to make in the Instant Pot!
Easyfoodsmith
Its one of our favourite meal to enjoy during summers…full of veggie goodness and flavours.