Palak Rice Recipe | Spinach Pulao

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Palak Rice Pulao is an Indian style Spinach Rice, made with spiced rice and spinach. It is a tasty and colorful green rice dish that not only looks great but is also packed with flavor and nutrition. It is a quick and easy one-pot meal that can be enjoyed on its own or served with raita, plain curd, kachumbar, papad, or pickles. Optionally vegetables like potato, peas, carrots and beans are also added making this spinach pulao recipe more nutritious meal.

Palak Rice, is also commonly known as Palak Pulao, makes a wonderful lunch or dinner option and is perfect for packing in a tiffin for kids. It’s a fun way to help them eat their greens! You can easily change up the recipe by adding some coriander or mint leaves when blending the spinach.

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About Palak Rice Recipe

Palak Rice or Indian Spinach Rice is made of Basmati Rice, Fresh or Frozen Spinach leaves, spices and herbs. The spinach is ground into a smooth paste with spices like ginger, garlic, green chilies and some whole spices and then added to the rice. This Palak Pulao is an iron packed nutritious rice recipe made in pure ghee and with vegetables like potato and green peas.

There are different ways, to prepare palak rice in India. It can be made with mixing the spices and spinach paste with freshly cooked basmati rice or leftover rice and sauteed in a wok. But in this recipe we cook the rice with the spinach, spices and vegetables in a pot making this recipe a one pot palak rice recipe.

I like preparing the rice with the spinach puree, as the rice absorbs the seasoned spinach mixture while cooking, resulting in a well-rounded taste.

More Spinach Recipes

• Palak Chicken
• Palak Thepla

Why You Will Enjoy This Recipe

Flavor : This recipe is a delicious combination of spices, herbs with fragrant Basmati rice, making the palak pulao extremely flavorful. The rice is cooked with sauteed spinach puree and spices and vegetables letting the rice absorb all the wonderful flavors giving it a well rounded and balanced taste.

Nutrition : Spinach is high in iron content and adding different vegetables increases its nutritional value. You can also add paneer, chicken or boiled eggs to add some extra protein.

Ease of Preparation : This Palak Pulao recipe is a super quick and easy meal to put together. This is one pot meal is prepared with very few ingredients and steps.

Suggestions and Variations

• Palak rice or palak pulao is usually prepared in two different ways. One is, as shown in this recipe where the spices and spinach is cook together with the rice. The other variation to prepare spinach rice is to cook the rice separately and then mixing it with the spinach puree and spices in a kadai. You can check Swathi’s Recipe for this method.
• Frozen spinach can also be used to prepare spinach rice instead of fresh spinach. To use frozen spinach you should thaw the spinach completely and remove the excess water it releases before grinding, to make the puree to avoid it from becoming too runny.
• If the spinach leaves are too big then you can add chopped spinach leaves to the blender.
• Adding vegetables to the rice is completely optional. You can skip it or add vegetables of your choice. Some vegetables options that go well with this recipe are: potatoes, peas, tomato, haricots beans, carrots, cauliflower, sweet corn and capsicums/bell peppers.
• To add extra flavor to the recipe you can add some mint leaves to the spinach puree.
• To add extra protein to the palak pulao add some fried paneer at the end as a great vegetarian option. Or add chicken cubes after adding the onions and cook for a few minutes and then follow the steps as mentioned. Another great variation is to add boiled egg to the pulao at the end.
• Substitute olive oil or coconut oil for ghee if you want to make the palak pulao recipe dairy free or vegan.

Tools You May Need

• Grinder/Blender  : for making the spinach with spices puree.
• Pot: for cooking the palak rice.
• Bowls: for washing and soaking the rice.
• Knife and Spoons

Ingredients

• Palak / Spinach: Use fresh or frozen spinach. If using frozen, thaw the spinach completely and remove excess water before pureeing the spinach.
• Rice: Basmati rice is used for this recipe but you can even use jeeragashala/jeeragasamba rice too.
• Whole Spices: You will need few cloves, cinnamon, green cardamom, cumin and bay leaf for this recipe. You can also add a star anise along with the cumin.
• Ground Spice: Just two spices are used, coriander powder or dhaniya powder and red chilli/paprika powder or lal mirch powder.
• Vegetables: I have used potatoes and peas in this but you can check the ‘Suggestions and Variations’ section above for more options.
• Onion: Onions are thinly sliced.
• Ginger, Garlic and Green Chillies
• Coriander Leaves
• Ghee
• Salt
• Water

How to Make Palak Rice : Step by Step Photo Guide

Wash and soak the rice

1 hour before starting to cook, wash the rice 3-4 times with water or until the water runs clear. Then soak the rice in 3 cups of water for atleast 1 hour or as per the instructions by the rice brand you are using.

Prepare the Spinach Puree

In a grinding/blender jar add the spinach leaves, coriander leaves, cloves, green cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, green chilies and grind into a smooth paste. Add water if the leaves are too dry and are not grinding properly. Optionally add few mint leaves for extra flavor.

Saute the Onions and vegetables

Heat a large pot and add the ghee. Then add the cumin seeds and bay leaf. Then add in the sliced onions and fry for 2-3 minutes or until lightly brown. Now add the potatoes, coriander powder and red chili powder and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Cook the Palak Rice

Now add the palak puree and mix everything well and cook for around 2 minutes. Do not over cook at this stage otherwise the color of the puree may change to brown.

Add the green peas, salt and rice and stir it in gently. Saute for 2 minutes. To this add boiling hot water, and give it a good stir. Cover it with a lid and cook on medium low heat till the rice is cooked properly. This can take around 10 minutes. Check in between to see if the rice is cooked.

Serve

After removing from heat, keep the lid on for 5 more minutes. Then remove the lid and fluff up the palak rice with a spoon gently. Serve hot with raita, pickle, and papads.

How to make Palak Pulao/Rice in a Pressure Cooker?

If you are in a time crunch or just prefer cooking rice in a cooker, Palak Rice or pulao can also be easily prepared in a pressure cooker. The steps are mostly the same, except you use a pressure cooker instead of the pot for cooking the rice. The taste and flavor of the palak rice remains the same when prepared in a pressure cooker, you just need less time to cook the rice.

Steps to make the Palak Rice Spinach Rice in a Pressure cooker:

• Soak the rice and grind the spinach as mentioned above.
• Then heat the pressure cooker pot on medium heat. Add the cumin seeds, bay leaf,onions and potatoes and fry for 2 minutes.
• Add the spinach puree, peas and salt and cook for another 2 minutes. Now add the rice and saute for a minute.
• Add the water and mix everything well.
• Put the lid on and cook till 1 whistle or as per the size of your pressure cooker. Let it completely release the pressure on its own and then remove the lid.
• Fluff it gently with a spoon and serve hot.

More Rice Recipes

• Keema Pulao
• Dal Khichdi

How to serve?

As a Main Meal: Enjoy this spinach rice as a main dish for lunch or dinner. It can be eaten with accompaniments as mentioned below or just as it is. It is a complete meal in itself. Add some fried paneer or fried chicken cubes to the dish to add some extra protein to the pulao.

For kids lunch box or tiffin : This palak pulao is a winner lunch box food. It is not just flavorful and colorful but is packed with nutrition. Not just for kids but it goes really well for a quick office lunch box. It just takes 30 minutes to prep and cook and it can be eaten as a complete meal without any or much addons.

Rice dish in a thali or in Festivals and gatherings : This green rice goes really well as a rice dish in a thali or a buffet. It not just adds a beautiful color to a thali but adds to the flavor of the buffet. It is a great party or potluck food idea, as it requires very little prep and cooks in just 20 minutes.

With accompaniments : The best accompaniments for this palak rice recipe are raita, kachumbar, pickles and papad. If you eat chicken then some fried chicken goes really well on the side.

Video Tutorial

Watch this video tutorial of Palak Rice:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How many calories are in Palak rice?

One serving of palak rice contains approximately 380 calories with 8gms of protien and 3.1mg iron. Check the complete nutritional facts in the recipe card below.

Can I use frozen spinach for Palak Rice?

Frozen spinach can also be used to prepare spinach rice instead of fresh spinach. To use frozen spinach you should thaw the spinach completely and remove the excess water it releases before grinding to make the puree, to avoid it from becoming too runny.

What protein can I add to Spinach/Palak Rice?

Simple Ways to Add Protein to Palak Pulao

• Fried Paneer: You can add some fried paneer at the end for a tasty vegetarian option.
• Chicken: If you prefer meat, add chicken cubes after the onions and cook for a few minutes before continuing with the recipe.
• Boiled Egg: Another great idea is to mix in boiled eggs at the end.

These options will make your palak pulao even more delicious and filling!

What type of rice is used for preparing palak rice (Spinach Pulao)?

Palak Rice is commonly prepared with long grain white basmati rice. Alternatively Brown rice (basmati), jeeraga samba rice, sona masoori or kolam can also be used. You can also prepare spinach pulao with leftover rice when preparing in a wok or kadhai.

Recipe Card

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