Instant Pot Beetroot Rasam Rice

Beetroot rasam rice is a comforting one-pot meal from the South Indian cuisine. Cooking it in the Instant pot makes it a quick & easy go-to vegetarian dish!

Course Instant pot, Main Course

Cuisine Indian, South Indian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 15

Servings people

Calories 261.41kcal

Author Priya Lakshminarayan

Equipment

Instant Pot

Ingredients

½ cup rice
½ cup tur dal
1 tablespoon ghee
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
4 peppercorns
¼ teaspoon asafoetida
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 tomatoes chopped
2 beetroot peeled and chopped
2 tablespoon rasam powder
salt
4 cups water
¼ cup cilantro chopped
2 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

Soak rice and lentils seperately for 15 minutes. Drain the water and keep it aside.
Turn on the Instant pot in saute mode. Add ghee.
Once it melts, add mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, and peppercorns. They will begin to crackle.
Add asafoetida and turmeric powder. Fry for 10 seconds.
Then add chopped tomatoes along with curry leaves and saute for a minute.
Then add chopped beets and continue to saute for another minute.
Add rasam powder. Mix and fry this for 15 seconds.
Now add the drained rice and lentils. Cook lentils and rice together for 30 more seconds.
Add water along with salt and stir it all together. Cancel the saute mode. Close the IP with the lid. Select manual mode, Ensure the vent is in seal position. Cook manually for 10 minutes.
Release pressure naturally. Open the lid. Garnish with chopped cilantro and lemon juice. Lightly mix it all together.
Serve it warm with a generous dollop of ghee on top. Serve a side of papad and pickles with it.

Notes

Besides ghee, this dish is vegan. Swap ghee with any cooking oil to make it your vegan Indian food. To make it gluten-free, skip adding asafoetida.
If you don't have an Instant pot, you can even make this in a regular pressure cooker.
The other way to enjoy rasam rice is to make it separately. Follow any of my rasam recipes and then serve it with steamed rice.
You can swap white rice with brown rice, couscous or quinoa. I have used Surti Kolam rice, but even Jasmine rice, Sona masoori or Basmati rice will work.
If you don't wish to soak the rice and lentils prior, add them raw and increase the cooking time to 15 minutes.
You can use tamarind instead of lemon. if using tamarind. Soak a lemon sized tamarind in hot water for 15 minutes. Then squeeze out the water and add the tamarind water to the pot when adding tomatoes. Or use tamarind paste.
You can even make this without the beetroot. It will just be simple rasam rice. You can also add carrots instead of or along with beets.
Homemade rasam powder tastes best, but even the ones available at the stores and on Amazon is fine. If you want to quickly make it at home - Grind a few peppercorns, cumin seeds, 2 dried red chilies, and a few curry leaves roughly and use instead of rasam powder. Optionally add a couple of cloves of garlic, if you love garlic rasam.
I have used tur dal here, but you can use any lentils available to you. Moong dal and masoor dal also tastes great. Soaking the rice and lentils beforehand helps to speed up the cooking process.
If making this Indian food for kids, tone down the spice level.
If you want, you can give a second tadka on top. Fry mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and curry leaves in ghee. Pour this tadka over the prepared rasam rice before serving.
You can make this vegetarian Indian dish ahead of time and store it in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Nutrition