The easiest Indian pilau rice with caramelised onions. This is fluffy basmati rice cooked with warming spices and caramelised onions. A simple, comforting one-pot recipe that’s perfect for family dinners.
The easiest Indian pilau rice with caramelised onions. This is fluffy basmati rice cooked with warming spices and caramelised onions. A simple, comforting one-pot recipe that’s perfect for family dinners.
How to make Easy Indian Pilau Rice with Caramelised Onions
This is the Indian answer to butter pasta. Fluffy basmati rice, warming spices and deeply caramelised onions come together in one wonderfully simple, comforting dish.
There are recipes that require a shopping list, three pans and half a Sunday afternoon. And then there are recipes like this.
This easy Indian pilau rice is one of those dishes I make when I want something comforting, deeply savoury and totally delicious without making a big production of dinner.
The magic is in the onions. They cook slowly until soft, golden and sweet, then become tangled through fragrant basmati rice with whole spices and butter. The result is fluffy, buttery, gently spiced rice with little pockets of caramelised onion throughout.
Honestly, it tastes like you’ve tried much harder than you have.
What is Indian pilau rice?
Indian pilau rice, also known as pulao or pilaf, is rice cooked with spices and aromatics so that every grain becomes fragrant.
There are countless versions across India, South and Central Asia. Some are elaborate, packed with vegetables, nuts and dried fruit; others are wonderfully simple.
My version belongs firmly in the second camp.
It’s an everyday-style pilau: fragrant basmati rice, a handful of whole spices, ghee and plenty of onions. There’s no complicated masala base and no long list of ingredients.
Why I love this rice recipe
There are days when I don’t want to be the grown-up version of myself. I want to be the little girl who just wanted a bowl of rice.
Just rice cooked with ghee, caramelised onions and whole spices, with that ridiculously fluffy rice and the crispy bit at the bottom of the pot.
And I still make it exactly the same way.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It’s a one-pot recipe. Less washing up is always a win!
- It’s family-friendly. The spices are fragrant rather than fiery, making this a lovely rice dish for the whole family.
- It’s proper comfort food. Soft, buttery rice and sweet caramelised onions are an unbeatable combination.
- It makes Indian cooking feel approachable. If you’re new to cooking Indian food, this is a brilliant place to start.
And if you’re already very comfortable with Indian cooking, you’ll know exactly why a bowl of perfectly cooked pilau can be one of life’s greatest pleasures.
The secret is the caramelised onions
Don’t rush these.
I know. It’s tempting.
You’re standing there watching onions slowly turn golden and thinking, surely they’re done now?
Give them another few minutes. And then some more minutes. I like to cook them gently, for a total of 35-40 minutes, until they’re bronze, sweet and perfectly aromatic.
As they cook, their natural sugars slowly caramelise, turning them sweet, golden and intensely savoury. Some melt into the rice while others remain in little jammy strands. It’s worth the extra time.
If you’re making this for a special occasion, you can take the onions even further and make them deeply golden and almost crisp around the edges. I always top the pulao with more crispy fried onions.
Essential steps! How to make Indian pilau rice (recipe card with ingredients below)
1. Rinse and soak the rice
Put the basmati rice into a large bowl and wash it several times under cold water until the water runs mostly clear. Be gentle when you wash the rice, so that you don’t break the grains.
Cover with fresh water and leave to soak for 30-40 minutes.
Drain thoroughly.
This little bit of preparation makes a big difference. Rinsing removes excess surface starch, helping you achieve separate, fluffy grains rather than sticky rice.
2. Caramelise the onions with spices
Heat the ghee in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium-low heat.
Add the whole spices along with the sliced onions and a small pinch of salt.
Cook gently for around 30 minutes, stirring regularly, until the onions are soft, deeply golden and caramelised.
Don’t crank up the heat to hurry them along. You want them sweet and golden, not burnt.
3. Add the rice
Add the well-drained basmati rice and gently stir it through the onions and spices.
Cook for around 1–2 minutes, allowing the grains to become coated in the buttery, spiced mixture.
Be gentle here. You don’t want to break the rice grains.
4. Add the liquid
Add the hot water. Stir once and then leave it alone. No more stirring!
5. Cook the rice
Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat. Allow to cook until almost all the water has evaporated and small holes appear on the surface of the rice.
Reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting and cover the pan tightly with a lid.
Cook for around 8 minutes. Do not lift the lid.
Switch the heat off and allow to stand for 20 minutes. Again, do not lift the lid at any point.
Leave it alone.
The steam is doing important work. This resting time is just as important as the cooking time. It allows the steam to finish cooking the rice and helps the grains firm up.
6. Rest and fluff
Remove the lid and fluff gently with a fork.
Finish with fresh coriander and crispy fried onions.
How to get perfectly fluffy pilau rice
There are three things that make the biggest difference:
- Rinse the rice well: This removes excess starch from the surface.
- Don’t use too much liquid: Too much water is one of the easiest ways to end up with soggy rice.
- Let it rest: Once the rice has cooked, resist the urge to serve it immediately. 20 minutes with the lid on makes a surprisingly big difference.
- And please don’t stir it constantly while it’s cooking: Rice is not risotto. It wants peace.
What to serve with Indian pilau rice
This caramelised onion pilau is brilliant alongside a curry, but you absolutely don’t need one.
For an easy family dinner, serve it with:
- Cucumber raita
- Plain yoghurt
- Paneer tikka masala
- Black chickpea curry
- Vegetable curry
- A simple dal
- Chana masala
- Paneer curry
Can I make this pilau rice ahead of time?
Yes. In fact, pilau rice is a great make-ahead dish when you’re feeding a crowd.
Cook the rice as directed, allow it to cool quickly and refrigerate it in an airtight container.
When you’re ready to eat, reheat it until piping hot throughout.
I prefer reheating it in a saucepan with a splash of water and a little extra butter, covered with a lid, until steaming hot. Or just microwave it!
Could I freeze pilau rice?
Yes. Allow the cooked rice to cool quickly, then portion it into airtight freezer-safe containers.
Freeze for up to around 1 month for the best quality.
Defrost thoroughly in the refrigerator and reheat until piping hot, adding a splash of water if necessary.
Can I use brown rice?
You can, but you’ll need to adjust the cooking time and liquid according to the particular brown rice you’re using.
For this recipe, I strongly recommend basmati rice. Its long, slender grains give you that wonderfully fluffy pilau texture.
Can I make this vegan?
Absolutely.
Simply replace the butter or ghee with a neutral oil or vegan butter.
Everything else in the recipe is naturally plant-based.
A note on the spices
You might look at the list of whole spices and think, I don’t have those.
Don’t panic.
Indian cooking doesn’t need to be an all-or-nothing affair. In fact, that’s my whole cooking philosphy in my cookbook, Modern Masala.
If you don’t have every single spice, make it anyway.
The fennel seeds, cumin and cardamom are particularly lovely here, but the beauty of an everyday pilau is that it can flex around what you have in your spice cupboard.
And if, like me, your kitchen cupboards are already bursting with jars of spices, this is exactly the sort of recipe that makes them earn their keep.
Why this is one of my favourite kinds of Indian cooking
I think there’s a tendency to believe that Indian food has to mean a long list of ingredients, lots of chopping and several different pots bubbling away on the hob.
And yes, there are Indian dishes that are wonderfully elaborate.
But there’s another side to Indian cooking that I love just as much.
The food you make without thinking too hard.
The food that gets eaten around the kitchen table on a Thursday night.
That’s this pilau.
It’s just really, really good rice.
Easy Indian Pilau Rice with Caramelised Onions | How to make Easy Indian Pilau Rice
Easy Indian Pilau Rice with Caramelised Onions
Easy Indian pilau rice with caramelised onions, fragrant basmati and warming spices. A simple, comforting one-pot recipe perfect for families.
Ingredients
- 300g long-grain basmati rice
- 5 tbsp ghee or unsalted butter
- 1 tsp whole cumin seeds
- 1 tsp whole fennel seeds
- 2 cloves
- 2 cardamom pods, cracked
- 2 large brown onions, finely sliced
- 1 tsp salt
- 600ml hot kettle water
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
To garnish:
- Handful crispy fried onions
- Handful fresh, chopped coriander
Instructions
- Wash the rice throughly in several changes of cold water to remove excess starch. Soak in plenty of cold water (enough to cover) for 30 minutes. Drain well and set aside until needed.
- Heat the ghee or butter in a large non-stick pan or rice pot. Once melted, add the cumin, fennel, cloves, cardamom, onions and salt. Stir well to coat the onions in the ghee and cook over a low heat, stirring often until the onions are golden and caramelised, about 30 minutes.
- Add the drained rice and stir gently to coat the grains in the ghee and spices, cooking for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour in the hot kettle water and turmeric, and give the rice a brief stir. Bring to the boil over a medium-high heat and cook, uncovered until the rice is bubbling and most of the water has evaporated, about 5-6 minutes. Once you see small holes forming on top of the rice, turn the heat down to the lowest possible setting and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Allow to cook for a further 8 minutes or so. Do not lift the lid at any point.
- By this point, most of the water will have absorbed, but do not uncover to check. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to stand, still covered for 20 minutes. No peeking!
- If you'd like your rice to have a golden, crispy bottom, you can uncover it after the 20 minutes have elapsed and return the pot to a medium heat for around 5 minutes.
- Fluff up the grains with a fork and serve sprinkled with crispy fried onions and fresh coriander.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 261Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 9gUnsaturated Fat: 6gCholesterol: 38mgSodium: 558mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 4gSugar: 2gProtein: 3g
If you like this, you’ll love my recipe for Chilli Paneer Fried Rice
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