- 5MINS
- 20MINS
- Serves 6
- 153KCAL
Made with simple store-cupboard spices, now you can have a slimming friendly, authentic takeaway feeling from the comfort of your own home!
Also in these categories:
Easy Peasy 
- Gluten Free Use GF stock cube
- Vegetarian
- Dairy Free
- Vegan
- Freezable
5
NutritionPer Serving
- Calories153
- Carbs32g
- Protein3.9g
- Fat0.8g
- Saturates0.1g
- Sugars0.9g
Your dishes
You’re amazing, look at the Pilau Rice dishes you’ve made…
Lesley McGregor, Paisley
For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card below. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff in the blurb!
Pilau Rice is a classic Indian side dish the complements so many curries! Usually, it’s packed full of oil and not a great choice when following a slimming plan like Weight Watchers. We’ve made some simple swaps to help you enjoy this aromatic rice as part of your fakeaway, guilt-free!
We’ve used dried spices that you may already have in your cupboard, and don’t be tempted to skip these: they give the rice that distinctive warming, spiced flavour that makes it so good!
Rice can be a little tricky to get the hang of, and we’ve used a method that uses steam to finish
We love to enjoy this rice with our favourite curry, but there’s nothing stopping you using it alongside other dishes such as Seekh Kebabs or Chicken Shawarma as an alternative to boiled rice.
What diets is this Pilau Rice suitable for?
Pilau Rice can be enjoyed on vegetarian, gluten free, vegan and dairy free diets, as long as you substitute the stock cubes for suitable alternatives.Check the packaging as stock cubes can often have gluten in them.
If you’re cooking for people with allergies, be extra careful when checking ingredients and preparing food!
Do you need any special ingredients to make Pilau Rice?
Nope! Any of the spices you don’t already have in the cupboard you can find in the spice aisle at the supermarket.
You’ll also need a saucepan with a lid, as we’ll be using steam to continue cooking the rice.
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‘Absolutely gorgeous! Who knew DIY pilau rice was so easy and so low cal! Absolutely amazing! Paired with Korma Meatballs this was a great hit!’
Hannah
How many calories are in this Pilau Rice?
This Pilau Rice is included in our Everyday Light category because it contains just 153 recipes!
This Pilau Rice recipe is ideal when following any of the larger diet plans such as Weight Watchers or counting calories.
The average woman needs around 2000kcal per day to maintain a healthy body weight, and men typically need slightly more at 2,500kcals, but you may want to reduce these if you are aiming to lose weight. You can find more information on the NHS website.
Step 1
Rinse the rice in cold water until the water runs clear and set aside to drain.
Step 2
Spray a saucepan with low calorie cooking spray and set on a medium heat.
Step 3
Add the onion and fry for 2 minutes until just starting to soften. Add all the spices to the pan, giving it a good stir.
Step 4
Pour in the water and rice, then crumble in the stock cube.
Step 5
Stir the pan and bring to the boil.
Step 6
Turn the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid leaving on a very low simmer for 10 minutes.
Step 7
Stir the rice, turn off the heat and leave covered with the lid on for 10 minutes. The steam will continue to cook the rice.
Step 8
Remove the bay leaf, cardamom pods and cloves and serve alongside your favourite curry.
What could I serve with this Pilau Rice?
Dish up this Pilau Rice alongside a delicious curry! Why not try one of these Fakeaway favourites this week?
Easy Peasy
- 45MINS
- 381KCal
Creamy Chicken Curry
- 45MINS
- 373KCal
Chicken Balti Curry
Easy Peasy
- 1HR
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Lamb Rogan Josh
How do you know when Pilau Rice is cooked?
You should cook this Pilau Rice until the rice is fully cooked and all of the liquid has been absorbed. This will take around 20 minutes in total.
To keep your family safe, the advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes.
How long can you keep Pilau Rice in the fridge?
Make sure that you eat this recipe within 4 hours of serving it.
If you have any leftovers, then make sure that you allow them to cool before popping them in a container with a lid and refrigerating. Leftovers of this Pilau Rice can be kept in the fridge for around 3 days.
Rice can be a source of serious food poisoning as it can contain heat resistant spores that may turn into bacteria if it’s not stored properly, so you should always take extra care when cooling and reheating.
- Make sure it’s cooled and refrigerated as soon as possible after cooking
- Use chilled rice within a day
- Always reheat until piping hot, and never more than once.
Can I freeze Pilau Rice?
YES you can freeze this recipe! If you do, then remember to do the following:
- Allow it to cool and then freeze as soon as it is cold enough.
- Place in a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.
- Add a label with the recipe name and what date you froze it (no one likes mystery meat!)
When freezing rice, you should always take extra care when cooling and reheating just like when storing it:
- Make sure it’s cooled and frozen as soon as possible after cooking (you can freeze in batches to speed this up).
- Always reheat until piping hot, and never more than once.
How do I reheat Pilau Rice?
From chilled: Place in a microwave proof container with loosely fitting lid and heat for 4-7 minutes until piping hot.
From frozen: Allow to defrost, and heat covered in the microwave for 3-5 minutes then stir. Cook for a further 5-7 minutes until piping hot.
For more information about reheating rice please take a look at the NHS website.
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Pilau Rice
Made with simple store-cupboard spices, now you can have a slimming friendly, authentic takeaway feeling from the comfort of your own home!
- Gluten Free
- Vegetarian
- Dairy Free
- Vegan
- Freezable
- Prep Time
5 MINS
- Cook Time
20 MINS
- KCals 153
- Carbs 32G
- Serving
6 6
- Up
- Down
- Metric/Cups
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Ingredients
- 240 g basmati rice
- ½ onion finely diced
- 400 ml cold water
- 4 cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 vegetable stock cube
- low calorie cooking spray
- pinch of salt
Metric - US Customary
We use a fan assisted oven for all of our recipes. Check outour oven temperature conversion guide.
Please do not screenshot this. Recipes are updated often
Instructions
- Rinse the rice in cold water until the water runs clear and set aside to drain.
- Spray a saucepan with low calorie cooking spray and set on a medium heat.
- Add the onion and fry for 2 minutes until just starting to soften. Add all the spices to the pan, giving it a good stir.
- Pour in the water and rice, then crumble in the stock cube.
- Stir the pan and bring to the boil.
- Turn the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid leaving on a very low simmer for 10 minutes.
- Stir the rice, turn off the heat and leave covered with the lid on for 10 minutes. The steam will continue to cook the rice.
- Remove the bay leaf, cardamom pods and cloves and serve alongside your favourite curry.
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Recipe notes
Tip: Don't be tempted to lift the lid on the pan once you've turned off the heat: you want all the steam to carry on cooking the rice!
We love seeing your photos of Pilau Rice, don’t forget to tag us in your creations!
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4 comments
See what others have to say
MegWednesday 28th April 2021
Mine always ends up stodgy when I cook rice like this and it has again
Reply
HollyWednesday 28th April 2021
Hey Meg, you need to really make sure your rinse the rice well this will remove extra starch before cooking. Once you’ve added the rice and water to the pan bring to the boil lower the heat right down and simmer for 10 minutes then turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 10 minutes. This allows any extra water to be absorbed and your rice will be really fluffy. Hope that helps.
Reply
LisaTuesday 20th April 2021
Hi, on the ingredients list it says cloves, is that garlic cloves?
Reply
HollyWednesday 21st April 2021
Hey Lisa, no the recipe uses whole cloves if you have a look at the ingredient photo at the top of the page they are the little black seed looking spice. Hope that helps!
Reply
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