Vermicelli aka Semiya pulav, is a one pot meal that is flavorful made with whole masala, fresh mint and coriander.
You are thinking… humm I can find the recipe for this on every vermicelli packet and its pretty easy to make what’s new here?
It’s a Instant pot version that is even easy and quick to make!!
I love my semiya upma very much and its a fam favorite. I do make different varieties of semiya – lemon semiya , tomato samiya etc… I had wanted to try the vermiclli pulav in my Instant pot – Duo Mini 3 qrt that I had recently bought as my travel kitchen companion.
Monday night dinner was the perfect time to give this a try. I had my farmers market fresh veggies and Semiya ready to go.
I cut about 1 to 2 cups of mixed veggies and cooked it until 3/4th done along with the whole dry masals and then added in the roasted vermicelli to the mix. Add in the chopped mint( which elevates the flavor of the pulav) and cook it for quick 3 minutes on Instant pot on high pressure. Let it natural release the pressure and serve hot. You can squeeze some lemon if you like to add a bit of a tang to the dish.
This is perfect when served it Raita/thayir pachadi. I served it with tomato pachadi.
I used to call these the Indian style pasta when I introduced this to my kids and the name stuck until now :). Now I am trying to team them the correct names and taste of different dishes from different cuisines and appreciate it different flavors ( of course all within the vegetarian/vegan family)
Instant pot Vermicelli Pulav | Semiya Pulav
Equipment
- Instant Pot – Duo Mini
Ingredients
- 2.5 cups Vermicelli dry roast to golden brown
- 2.5- 3 cups vegetable stock or Water
- 1 cup Mixed vegetables Beans, Potato, Carrot, Peas
- 1 Onion Large, sliced
- 2-3 Tbs Oil
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1 clove Garlic optional
- 2 green chillis Slit in half ( to taste)
- Salt to taste.
Dry masala
- 1 tsp Jeera
- 3 nos Cloves
- 2 nos Green Cardamom
- 2 piece Cinnamon
- 1 nos Javethri
- 1 nos Bay leaf
- 2 Tbs Mint chopped
- 1 Tbs Coriander for garnish chopped.
Instructions
- Slice the veggies of your choice into long pieces. I used onions, carrot, beans, potato. you can also use – cauliflower, broccoli, peas etc…
- Slit the gree chillis, grate the ginger and smash the garlic and set it aside.
- Turn on the Instant pot – Duo mini on saute mode and let it heat. once hot add the oil to the insert.
- Once the oil is hot add the jeera/cumin and let it splutter. Then add the dry masalas to the pot.
- When the masalas start relaseing aroma add in the slit chillis, grated ginger and the garlic. Saute it for about 1 minute.
- Now add in the sliced onions and some salt and let the onion sweat.
- Then add in all the vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes. Add more salt if needed.
- Cook veggies until 3/4th cooked for about 5 minutes. Then add in the roasted vermicelli and give it a good mix. Do not over cook the veggies.
- Coat the vermicelli with the oil, veggies and the masala. Add in the chopped mint and give it a good mix.
- Now add in the 2 and half cups of water and mix well. Adjust water a little bit based on your instinct**
- Now turn the instant pot from saute mode to pressure cook mode.
- Close the lid and cook pressure cook the pulav for 2 minutes and let it release naturally. Takes about 4 – 6 mins.
- Fluffy aromatic pulav is ready to be served.
Notes
- Since vermicelli is long like broken pasta I like to slice my veggies to the same shape and length to keep the texture consistent.
- **The water does look a bit too little for the vermicelli, but this is enough as we are going to steam the dish. if you add more water it may become sticky.
- Add vegetable stock instead of water for enhanced flavor.
- You can squeeze some lemon if you like to add a bit of a tang to the dish.
Tried this recipe? I’d love to know your feedback. Tag @amomscookbook on Instagram and hashtag it #amomscookbook. You can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for more such recipes.
