Tehri is a type of vegetable pulao popular in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. It is made with rice, vegetables and a bunch of whole spices. I grew up eating this one-pot dish as it was often made in my house. It’s packed with flavors, vegan and also really easy to make. It’s also easy to pack in your lunch boxes.

You can make tehri on a stovetop pressure cooker or Instant Pot or even in a pan. With the weather beginning to cool down, this will be the perfect comfort food!

What is Tehri

Tehri is a rice pulao/pilaf popular in the state of UP in India. My family is from eastern parts of Uttar Pradesh and tehri is a very common dish in that region. It is made with a lot of whole spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf etc. Vegetables like potato, green peas, carrots, cauliflower are also often added to it.

I grew up eating a lot of tehri, it was a staple in my house, much like nimona. But in my house, we only added potatoes and peas to tehri and so I still follow the same. My nani made the best tehri, there was something special about that tehri made in her pressure cooker. All those wonderful aromas and spices are still fresh in my mind.

Ingredients

Rice: in my house, tehri was made with a medium grain white rice that was grown in my village. However now, I just make it with basmati rice.

Whole spices: lots of whole spices like cinnamon, cloves, peppercorn, cardamom are used in tehri. If you don’t like biting into these whole spices, you can also tie them in a muslin cloth and then add it to the cooker.

Vegetables: I have used only onions, green peas and potatoes but you can also use veggies like cauliflower, carrots, beans etc. Some people also use tomatoes although we never used it in my house.

Oil: we always used mustard oil in tehri, but if you are not a fan of mustard oil or simply don’t have it, you can use any oil of choice.

How to Make Tehri- Step by Step Instructions

1. Rinse 1 cup (200 grams) of basmati rice until water turns clear. Then soak it in enough water for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes are up, drain the water using a strainer and set aside the rice. Meanwhile chop 1 medium potato into 1-inch cubes.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon mustard oil (or use any oil) in a stovetop pressure cooker on medium heat. If using mustard oil, make sure the oil gets really hot before you add anything to it. Add the cubed potatoes to the oil.
3. Sauté the potatoes for 3-4 minutes until they develop a light golden skin on top. Then remove the potatoes from the cooker.
4. Add 1/2 tablespoon more oil at this point and lower the heat to medium so that the spices don’t burn when you add them to the cooker. Add 1/4 teaspoon hing and then all the whole spices: 1 bay leaf, 1 whole mace, 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, 3 whole peppercorns, 2 cloves, 3 green cardamom, 1 black cardamom, 1-inch cinnamon stick and 2 dried red chilies. Cook the spices for 30 seconds.

5. Add 2-3 chopped garlic and cook for 1 minute until the garlic starts changing color. Then add 1 cup chopped red onion and 1 sliced green chili and cook for 2 minutes.
6. Then add 1/2 cup green peas. I used frozen peas and added them to hot water for 10 minutes before using them in the dish. You can also add any veggie you like at this point like carrots, beans, cauliflower. Cook for 1 minute.
7. Then add the soaked and drained rice to the cooker. Stir to combine everything.
8. Roast the rice for 2 to 3 minutes on medium heat, stirring constantly.

9. Add in the semi-fried potatoes back into the cooker and stir.
10. Then add 1/2 teaspoon turmeric and 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1 & 1/2 cups water. Mix everything together.
11. Close the cooker with the lid and cook on high heat for 2 whistles. After 2 whistles, lower the heat to low and cook a minute more and then turn off the heat. Let the pressure release naturally.
12. Once the pressure releases naturally, open the cooked and fluff the tehri with a fork. Serve hot!

Serving Suggestions

We used to eat tehri with spicy cilantro chutney. And that too the chutney that was made on sil-batta (grinding stone). But you can also eat tehri with any raita like boondi raita, cucumber raita or even with a pickle (achar).

Making Tehri in Instant Pot

To make this recipe in the Instant Pot, follow all the steps as is (you can skip soaking the rice, just wash it nicely until the water turns clear). Then close the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 5 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally and then fluff with a fork.

Stovetop Instructions

If you neither have an Instant Pot or a stovetop pressure cooker, you can also make tehri in a pan. The instructions will remain the same. After you add the water, close the pot with a lid, set heat to medium and let the rice cook for 10 to 12 minutes until it is soft and tender. Fluff with a fork.

Making Tehri with Brown Rice

I have personally not tried but you can definitely make tehri with brown rice. I would not add potatoes in that case, would probably use veggies like peas, and add more vegetables later on once the rice is cooked. For cooking the brown rice, use the Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 24 minutes.

Expert Tips

• Adjust spice levels to taste. This dish gets spice from all the whole spices as well so I don’t like using more green chilies. But you can definitely add more and you can also add red chili powder which I skipped.
• You can use any veggies of your choice. Cauliflower, carrots, and beans will also go well there.
• Try to make the tehri with mustard oil, it gives the tehri an unique taste. However, as always with using mustard oil, make sure its heated very well before you add anything to it. If you add spices etc. to mustard oil before it’s really hot, the oil will taste raw and ruin your dish.
• Dry ground spices like coriander powder, red chili powder can also be used in this recipe.
• I recommend not skipping the step of roasting the rice with spices for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir constantly while roasting so that the rice doesn’t burn and so this over medium heat.