Ghee Turmeric Rice

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This ghee turmeric rice recipe features fluffy, bright yellow strands of rice and soft green peas in a simple, subtly flavored base.

With just five simple ingredients, you can put this easy rice dish together and enjoy it as a main or as a side to any of your other Indian mains.

Flavored rice is a staple in Indian cuisine, and while I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my lemon rice and mango rice to the core, I really wanted to try something a bit more rustic, and that’s when this turmeric rice recipe was born.

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Ingredients For the Recipe
How to Make the Ghee Turmeric Rice
Frequently Asked Questions
Tips & Tricks to Make the Ghee Turmeric Rice
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Ingredients For the Recipe

You will need just 8 simple ingredients to make the ghee turmeric rice, and yes, one of them is actually just water.

Ghee: 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds: 2 tsp
Bay leaf: 1
Rice (soaked): 1 cup
Water: 2 cups
Green peas: ½ cup
Turmeric: ¼ tsp
Salt: 1 tsp

How to Make the Ghee Turmeric Rice

Once you have all your ingredients ready, here is what you will need to do to make the ghee turmeric rice from scratch.

Soak the rice in water for at least 2 hours.

Next, take a pressure cooker and heat ghee. Add the cumin seeds and bay leaf and let them crackle.

add soaked rice to the pot and let it cook

Next, add the soaked rice.

add powdered spices and green peas with water

Add water next along with the peas, turmeric and salt and mix well.

Pressure cook for 2-3 whistles or until the rice is done.

Serve hot with curries of your choice.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Else Can I Add to the Ghee Turmeric Rice?

I added some green peas to lend the turmeric rice a pop of color and bring some protein punch into the mix. You can also add other veggies like chopped carrots, green beans, or even some potatoes if you want to.

How Do I Store the Leftovers?

Your leftover ghee turmeric rice can be refrigerated for two days and then reheated in the microwave.
Remember to add a splash of water into the rice before you reheat it to get it nice and soft, and keep fluffing the rice with a fork at every 30 second interval.

Tips & Tricks to Make the Ghee Turmeric Rice

Making this key turmeric rice recipe super easy, but you might want to take note of these tips and tricks to

Ghee or clarified butter is what lends this rice dish that delicious smoky flavor. If you are looking to try out this recipe in a vegan version, you can skip adding the ghee and use some olive oil instead, or practically any other cooking oil of your choice.
Remember to choose aged rice for this recipe and ideally the long grained variety. It really makes a difference in how the rice dish turns out.
The key to getting the rice to have the right fluffy consistency and texture is to cook the rice in just the right amount of water. Adding too much water can cause the rice to become mushy, which is not what you would want.
Soaking the rice beforehand cuts down the cooking time and also helps reduce the arsenic content in it.
If you don’t have a pressure cooker, you can prepare this rice dish in a pot as well. Just remember to choose a heavy bottomed pot to ensure even distribution of heat, and to keep the

Serving Ideas & Suggestions

While turmeric rice already has its own flavor and can be enjoyed on its own, I would recommend pairing it with a nice side dish of your choice.

Look for Indian salads and side dishes or even some chutneys for that matter. I think it would pair wonderfully with some cucumber corn salad or a tangy raw mango salad.

And of course you can also enjoy this rice dish the traditional way by pairing it with an Indian curry of your choice.

I think it would taste incredible when teamed up with a soya chunks curry or a vegan chicken kofta meatball curry.

If you enjoyed making this rice dish and are inspired to try some more rice recipes, here are a few good flavorful recipes to choose from.

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