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Pudina rice is a one pot delicious, healthy and fragrant Indian dish made with rice, mint leaves and spices. ‘Pudina’ is a Hindi word for ‘mint leaves’, which is a fragrant herb widely used in Indian cuisine to make chutney, curry, biryani, pulao & a lot of rice dishes. Make super aromatic and healthy pudina rice in 2 ways following my easy recipes in this post.
About Mint Rice
This South Indian style mint rice is always a winner for its simplicity, taste and refreshing aroma. Both these recipes are a great way to use up any fresh mint leaves left behind in your refrigerator.
Since mint leaves are the star in this pudina rice recipe, I have not used any other veggies. But if you prefer, you can add some mixed vegetables like potatoes, peas, carrots and beans. Do note the flavour changes with the addition of veggies.
You can serve this with any curry, plain yogurt, raita or a simple curry. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian curries go well. Pudina rice can also be taken to school or work. Some vegetable salad or kachumber goes well too.
Here are some delicious dishes that go well with this mint rice.
Bagara baingan
Mixed vegetable kurma
South Indian chicken kurma
Chicken curry
Contents hide
1 About Mint Rice
2 How to Make Pudina Rice (Stepwise photos)
3 Pro tips
4 Lemon Mint Rice – Recipe 2
5 Recipe Card
Pudina rice can be made in 2 ways. The first method is a one pot recipe where ground mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilies and onions are sautéed and then the rice is cooked with it.
The second method is similar to the South Indian lemon rice and we call this as lemon pudina rice. I can’t tell you how delicious, unique & amazing this tastes! With this method you basically cook the plain rice and then temper it similar to the lemon rice but you have the mint leaves added to the tadka.
Variations you can make
These variations are for the first recipe (one pot)
- I have used coconut, you can replace it with onions too. Both yield good pudina rice, with different flavors.
- You can even add vegetables like potato, peas, mushroom or baby corn too while frying the paste to perk up the nutrition.
- You can add a handful of cashew nuts to the pot while frying the spices.
More Rice recipes
Pulao recipe
Veg biryani
Green peas pulao
Tawa pulao
Potato pulao
Recipe 1 – One pot Method
How to Make Pudina Rice (Stepwise photos)
Preparation
1. Add ginger garlic, pudina, green chilies, coriander leaves, onions or coconut to a blender jar and make a fine paste, as fine as possible.
2. Pour oil to a pressure pan or cooker and heat it. Saute the dry spices till they begin to sizzle. you can even add nuts at this stage or fry and keep them aside for garnishing.
3. Add the paste and fry for 2 to 4 minutes, depending on the kind of your utensil. This is done to bring out the flavor of the mixture. Do not burn, stir well, it sticks too quickly. If using mix veggies, you can add them now and saute for 2 mins.
Make Mint Rice
4. Pour water and stir in the salt. bring it to a boil.
5. Add washed and soaked rice. Stir and cook until the water almost evaporates.
6. Close the lid when there is very little water left. Put on the flame to low.Cook for just 5 minutes and switch off. do not let the cooker whistle if using basmathi rice. if using regular rice, allow it to whistle once.
7. Lastly open the lid when the pressure goes down. A layer of mint and coconut is visible on top, you can sprinkle lemon juice and fluff up the rice gently.
Serve with onion raita or potato kurma or egg masala curry.
Pro tips
- Salt & vinegar can be sprinkled over the mint leaves and set aside for 10 minutes before cleaning. This helps to get rid of the pesticide residue on the leaves.
- To skip blending the leaves in a blender, try to mince them as finely as possible.
Lemon Mint Rice – Recipe 2
Lemon pudina rice recipe– one of the most easiest and flavorful rice that can be made for lunch box or for a quick meal. This is one of our favorites and preferred over the regular lemon rice. It can be served without any side. But to add little more nutrition to the meal, we accompany it with raita Raita or a quick mixed vegetable salad. Here are the ingredients to make
Ingredients
- 1cupriceuncooked
- oilas needed
- 1cuppudina leavesor mint leaves (tightly packed)
- 1sprigcurry leaves
- ½tspmustard
- ¾ tbsp chana dal (optional)
- ½ to ¾tbspurad dal(optional)
- 2tbsppeanutsor cashews
- turmeric powderlittle
- lemon juiceas needed(as much as we use for lemon rice)
- 1broken red chili
- 2green chilies(skip for kids or deseed use 1)
- olive oil(optional)
- ½ to ¾tspgrated ginger(optional)
Instructions
- Firstly pluck mint leaves, add them to a large pot filled with water. Rinse them well in more water. Drain them in a colander.
- Soak rice for at least 15 to 20 minutes.
- Cook it and set aside to cool completely. You can cook rice in electric cooker, pressure cooker or pot. The rice must be grainy and not mushy.
- While the rice cooks, add the mint leaves to a small blender jar. Blend it little coarsely without adding water. Set this aside.
- To make pudina rice, heat oil in a pan. Next add peanuts, chana dal and urad dal when they are lightly golden, add mustard and red chili. Lower the heat. When mustard splutters, add curry leaves, ginger, green chilies.
- Ginger may get burnt, be quick. Add the pudina. Saute for 1 minute. Switch off the stove.
- Add turmeric to the pan and add this to the cooled rice. Lastly sprinkle salt and squeeze off lemon all over the rice. Mix well. I also like to add some extra virgin olive oil before the rice is mixed.
- lemon mint rice is ready.
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Recipe Card
Pudina Rice | Mint Rice Pulao
Pudina rice is a one pot rice dish made with spices, mint & rice. This mint rice turns out very flavorful, delicious & can be eaten with some yogurt or raita. This recipe post shares 2 methods to make.
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For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Prep Time10 minutes minutes
Cook Time20 minutes minutes
Total Time30 minutes minutes
Servings3
AuthorSwasthi
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- 1½ cups rice uncooked
- 1 cup mint or pudina (loosely measured)
- ¼ cup coriander leaves (optional)
- 2 green chilies
- 1 inch ginger or paste
- 3 small pods garlic or 1 to 2 large pods
- ¼ cup chopped coconut or 1 medium onion cubed
- Salt as needed
- 2 tablespoon Oil or ghee as needed
- 2½ cups water (adjust to suit your rice variety, 3 cups for pot)
- 1 to 2 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)
- 1½ cups mix veggies (optional) carrots, peas, potatoes, beans
Whole spices
- 1 bay leaf / tej patta
- 1 star anise /chakri phool
- 1 small strand mace /javitri (optional)
- ½ teaspoon cumin or shahi jeera
- 6 cloves /laung
- 2 inch cinnamon /dalchini
- 4 green cardamoms /elaichi
Instructions
Preparation
Wash 1½ cups rice and soak it for about 15 minutes.
Pluck and wash 1 cup mint and handful of coriander leaves. Drain them completely.
Grind mint, coriander, 1 to 2 green chilies, 1 inch piece of ginger, 3 small pods of garlic, ¼ cup chopped coconut or 1 large cubed to as smooth as possible without adding water.
How to Make Pudina Rice
Heat a pan with 2 tablespoons oil or ghee.
Add 1 bay leaf, 1 star anise, 1 strand mace, half teaspoon cumin, 6 cloves, 2 inch cinnamon and 4 green cardamoms.
Saute till they begin to sizzle.
Add the ground paste and fry on a medium to low flame for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Optional – If using mix veggies you can add 1½ cups of mixed vegetables now & then saute for another 2 mins.
Pour water and add salt.Mix and check the salt. Bring it to a boil.
Add washed and drained rice. Cook until done in your preferred way.
Pressure cooker method
Cook the rice till the water almost evaporates.
When there is very little water left in the cooker, close the lid.
Cook it for about 5 minutes on a low flame and switch off.
Do not allow to whistle. If making with normal rice, let it whistle once.
When the pressure releases, open the lid and mix gently.
You will see a layer of the mint mixture on top, pour lemon juice all over and mix it gently .
Serve pudina rice with a simple onion raita or a potato kurma.
Open pan or pot method
Cook covered on a low heat until rice is fully cooked. Serve with raita or plain yogurt.
Notes
If you don’t have a grinder, finely chop onions, pudina, green chilies, coriander leaves, ginger garlic. Finely mince everything well on the chopping board. Crush or mash until smooth. Make sure the mixture is roasted for a while before you add water, the raw smell should disappear.
Alternative quantities provided in the recipe card are for 1x only, original recipe.
For best results follow my detailed step-by-step photo instructions and tips above the recipe card.
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
Nutrition Facts
Pudina Rice | Mint Rice Pulao
Amount Per Serving (1.25 g)
Calories 482Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Fat 10g15%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 524mg23%
Potassium 294mg8%
Carbohydrates 87g29%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 3g3%
Protein 8g16%
Vitamin A 635IU13%
Vitamin C 16.8mg20%
Calcium 90mg9%
Iron 2.3mg13%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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About Swasthi
I’m Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthi’s Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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