Cabbage Rice is a tasty Indian meal loaded with vitamin-packed cabbage. It is gluten-free and vegan with the perfect spicy kicky from fresh ginger and green chilies.
This is one of my mom's newest recipes that I got to taste and learn when she visited me this summer. When she first made it on the stove-top, I was not sure if it would be a good recipe for Instant Pot. As this recipe does not use a lot of water. The soaked rice is basically slow-cooked with little water and then all the juices from shredded cabbage. It did take us a couple of tries to achieve this perfect Instant Pot recipe!
Prep
We started with a whole head of cabbage bought fresh from the farmer's market. After chopping it into smaller pieces, we grated them in the food processor. We had about eight heaping cups of cabbage that we used in this recipe!
This recipe uses long grain Basmati rice and is cooked mostly in the water released from the cabbage. The rice button, which is a 12-minute low-pressure setting works perfectly for this recipe. And if there is some rice browned at the bottom, just scrape it and enjoy it.
Here is a good article I recently came across that explains asafetida or hing used as an optional ingredient in this recipe!
Pro Tips
- Use long-grain white Basmati Rice. I love Kohinoor Extra long grain Basmati Rice
- Soak Rice for 2 hours. Soaking removes extra starch and also makes the rice fluffy and light
- Use fresh ginger and curry leaves for the best taste
- Allergic to peanuts? You can add cashews or even substitute with chana dal
Step by Step Recipe
- Rinse the rice 2-3 times and then soak the rice in 4 cups of warm water for 2 hours. Drain the rice and keep it aside.
- Turn Instant Pot to Saute(more) mode and heat oil. Add asafetida, mustard seeds in the oil and allow the mustard seeds to pop. It may take 3 to 4 minutes for the mustard seeds to pop. Add peanuts and sauté for a minute. Add turmeric, curry leaves, ginger, and green chili. Mix everything together and cook until peanuts are golden brown.
- Add grated cabbage and salt. Mix again. Add drained rice and gently mix everything together. Add 2 cups of water.
- Close the Instant Pot lid with the pressure valve to sealing. Press the ‘Rice’ button. Allow Natural Pressure Release. Open Instant Pot and add lemon juice. Garnish with cilantro and coconut.
Serving
The flavor-packed cabbage rice tastes amazing as is. You can also pair it with some Indian pickle and yogurt or serve it with a cooling raita.
Store any leftovers in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. To reheat simply microwave in a serving bowl for 1 to 2 minutes. This cabbage rice can also be frozen and comes in handy as a quick meal for busy weeknights.
I always keep cabbage stocked in my refrigerator. It is inexpensive, has a long shelf life and so easy to make quick meals.
Here are some of my favorite cabbage recipes:
- Cabbage Stir Fry - Indian style Patta Gobi Subzi
- Cabbage Salad - Spicy cabbage salad with an earthy tempering of mustard seeds
- Purple Cabbage Parathas - These parathas are easy and delicious. You can use either red or green cabbage
- Cabbage Slaw - Both red and green cabbage are perfect to make crunchy slaw for Tacos
Recipe
Cabbage Rice - Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups Basmati rice
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida optional for gluten free
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ cup peanuts
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 20 curry leaves
- 2 tablespoons ginger grated
- 4 green chillies minced
- 8 cups shredded cabbage packed
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- ½ cup cilantro chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh coconut grated
Instructions
- Rinse the rice 2-3 times and then soak the rice in 4 cups of warm water for 2 hours. Drain the rice and keep aside.
- Turn Instant Pot to Saute(more) mode. Heat oil, add asafetida and mustard seeds and allow them to pop. This may take 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add peanuts and sauté for a minute. Add turmeric, curry leaves, ginger and green chili. Mix everything together and cook until peanuts are golden brown.
- Add grated cabbage and salt. Mix again. Add drained rice and gently mix everything together. Add 2 cups of water.
- Close Instant Pot lid with pressure valve to sealing. Press the ‘Rice’ button. Allow Natural Pressure Release. Open Instant Pot and pour lemon juice. Garnish with cilantro and coconut. Enjoy hot!
Video
Nutrition
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Neeti says
can I substitute qunoa for the rice?
Archana says
Absolutely
Radha Gulati says
Hi, I have made cabbage rice as per your recipe in the IP and loved it each time.
I dont have an IP now and want to know how to make in pressure cooker. How many whistles or minutes should it cook?
Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Radha, So 3 mins of pressure cook time on IP is same as one whistle. So Cook for 3 to 4 whistles. You can also cook it on stovetop if you like.
Sri says
Made this for lunch today. Yummm. We loved it. I am not a fan of cabbage but I was able to finish the whole head of cabbage in one meal. This is a keeper recipe.
Archana says
Thank you for the feedback. I am so glad you enjoyed it.
Laura says
I really loved this recipe! Totally forgot the coconut at the end, so now leftovers are even more exciting! We are thinking to air fry some tofu and make a wrap with some of the rice too for a nice lunch 🙂
Archana says
Thank you for your feedback. Love the idea of making a wrap with it.
Mugdha says
I typically use sona masoori rice. Would the soaking and cooking time be the same for that rice as well? Thank you!
Archana says
Yes same recipe for sona masoori
Vidhya says
Absolutely delicious
Archana says
Thank you for your feedback.
swati bhardwaj says
hi, can I use brown rice instead of white rice.and I be using same amount of water.
Archana says
yes! Increase the pressure cook time to 20 minutes.
Prarthana says
Hi, can you use a mix of red cabbage as well as the white?
Archana says
yes! The color will look a bit different.
Priya says
How much water should i add if I make this with brown rice?
Archana says
same amount of water will work for brown rice too. Just increase cook time to 20 mins with NPR
Kishore says
Two cups water for two cups rice seems too little - is it because you have pre-soaked for two hours? Should we stick to this ratio even for standard sona masoori?
Archana says
yes you can use same ratio for sona masoori. Remember to soak rice and also cabbage releases lots of liquids when pressure cooked. So its perfect!
Pooja says
Can halving all the ingredients result in a similar end result? Reason is, I have the baby instant pot.
Archana says
yes! Go for it 🙂
Pam says
Can I omit the peanuts in this recipe? Will that make a big difference in taste??
Archana says
Yes you can completely skip nuts or add nuts you like! No change in flavor.
Sushma says
. Perfect consistency and great taste.
Neha says
Hi Archana, I am looking forward to making this recipe. I want to reduce the serving size to 4; so for 1 cup of rice and 4 cups of cabbage, should I reduce the water to 1 cup? Thanks.
Archana says
yes! 1 cup of water will be perfect.
Manny says
Should the cooked peanuts be crunchy or soft?
Archana says
They will have a nutty bite!
Supriya says
Hi I have made this several times and it comes out excellent. If I want to use brown basmati or a low GI rice how much water should I use
Archana says
I would use the same water ratio for brown rice but increase cook time to 20 mins with natural pressure release
Ss says
What changes do I need to make if I want to use brown basmati rice?
Ss says
Sorry just saw the comment above. Can’t wait to try this . I plan to use the 365 coleslaw mix!
Archana says
Great idea to use the coleslaw mix.
Archana says
Increase the pressure cooking time to 20 minutes and do a 10-minute natural pressure release.
SS says
I halved the recipe and used the 365 Whole Foods brand chopped coleslaw mix and brown basmati rice. It came out perfectly and my picky kids wolfed it down. Thanks for a great recipe! I might add some chili powder next time for a bit of heat.
Archana says
As you can see I am catching up with the comments here 🙂 So glad your child enjoyed it! Thank you for the feedback.
catmum says
I'm getting ready to make this tonight, I have brown basmati. My Instant Pot does not have a "rice" button. How long do I need to set the manual for please? thanks
Archana says
Use Pressure Cook(Hi) option for 20 minutes followed by natural pressure release.