Tawa Pulao, a popular street food from Mumbai city, India, is spicy, buttery, and full of veggies. It is full of flavors, vibrant, comforting, and deliciously satisfying!

Having dietary restrictions on onion and garlic does not mean that we can not indulge in popular and delicious food. So, if you are looking for a street-style Mumbai Tawa Pulao without onion and garlic, this recipe is for you!

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Street Food Style Tawa Pulao
What To Love About This Recipe
Ingredients
How To Make Tawa Pulao Step-by-Step
Serving Suggestions
Helpful Tips
More Rice Recipes
Recipe Card

Street Food Style Tawa Pulao

Tawa Pulao is a famous Mumbai street food consisting of rice and vegetables with butter and pav bhaji masala. This rice dish is spicy, buttery, bright, tangy, and full of flavors.

As the name suggests, the entire dish is made on just one tawa. Tawa is a prevalent concave shape round pan in India, and there are lots of recipes made entirely on tawa. Especially some street foods like Tawa bhaji or Tawa Pulao, made on tawa, are trendy. I have made this Tawa Paneer recipe entirely using Tawa, which I got from India.

But alternatively, we can make this dish using a frying pan or skillet as well. The recipe is easy and highly customizable. Make it as spicy as you prefer, and add as many or a few vegetables as you want.

The best part of this Tawa Pulao is that we can make it with leftover rice as well. And if using leftover rice, this recipe becomes amazingly quick.

The star of the dish is pav bhaji masala, so I would say it is a must for this pulao. If you decide to make the pulao less spicy, I will suggest reducing the amount of red chili powder and not skimping on pav bhaji masala.

Similarly, the pulao made with butter tastes very delicious and flavorful. But if you follow a vegan diet, you can use oil instead of butter.

What To Love About This Recipe

Easy and Quick Recipe
Loaded with Vegetables
Homemade but Street-Style
Delicious, Flavorful, Tempting
Highly Customizable
No Onion, No Garlic

Ingredients

Rice: Use the best quality and aged basmati rice to get the perfect Tawa Pulao. If you do not have basmati rice, you can use other best-quality long-grain rice. Also, cook the rice only until it is just done. Overcooking the rice will result in mushy and not good-looking Tawa Pulao.
Vegetables: For this recipe, I have used green beans, carrots, celery, cabbage, green pepper, tomatoes, and green peas. But you can use less or more vegetables of your choice. However, I suggest using those vegetables that do not take long to cook. If you decide to add cauliflower and potatoes, steam or boil them separately, and then add them when you add green peas.
Butter or Oil: Butter makes the Tawa Pulao very flavorful and delicious. So, I highly recommend using butter but replace it with oil or non-dairy butter if you follow a vegan diet.
Spices: We need turmeric powder, red chili powder, and coriander powder.
Pav Bhaji Masala: This magical spice blend is a must for this Tawa Pulao, and use either homemade masala or the brand that you trust and prefer.
Herbs and Lemon Juice: This recipe requires fresh coriander leaves, Kasoori Methi, and lemon juice. However, if tomatoes are very tangy, you may need to skip the lemon juice. So taste the pulao and then only squeeze lemon juice if you want.

How To Make Tawa Pulao Step-by-Step

Cooking The Rice

Take one cup of rice in a bowl and rinse it with water a few times or until water runs clear of starch.
Soak the rice in enough cold or room-temperature water for 20-30 minutes.

Then, drain the water completely and set the rice aside.

Boil 4-5 cups of water in a big pot.
Add drained rice, salt, and oil to boiling water.
Do not cover the pot with the lid; let the rice cook for about 10-12 minutes or until well cooked.

Keep an eye on the rice while cooking; we should not overcook the rice.
If overcooked, then rice will be mushy and sticky. So make sure to boil rice just enough so each grain stays separate.

Once the rice is cooked, pour it on the strainer and remove all the water from the rice.
Then, spread the rice on the big plate and let it cool completely.

Making The Tawa Pulao

Cook green peas in salted boiling water, drain, and set aside.
You can use either fresh or frozen peas.

Heat butter or oil in a large non-stick pan or wok (or tawa if you have one) and add cumin seeds.
You can also use half butter and half oil.

After the cumin seeds start sizzling, add grated ginger.

Saute for a few seconds, and then add chopped celery, green beans, and carrots.
Cook them for about 2-3 minutes on medium-high heat.

Then add chopped cabbage and green pepper, and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often.

Add chopped tomatoes and salt to taste, and mix well.
Cook tomatoes until they are soft and mushy.

Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, and pav bhaji masala and mix well. Continue cooking for 2-3 minutes.
If the vegetable mixture looks dry, add a tablespoon of water.

Then, with a potato masher, mash the tomato mixture lightly.
The mixture will become mushy and pulpy.

Add boiled green peas, chopped coriander leaves, and Kasoori methi, and mix well.

Turn the heat on low, add cooked rice, and mix very gently so the rice grains do not break.
Once everything is well combined, taste and adjust the salt as needed. Turn off the heat.
Garnish the tawa pulao with more coriander leaves, squeeze the lemon juice, and serve.

rice mixed with vegetables for tawa pulao

Serving Suggestions

Tawa Pulao is very flavorful and can be served with plain yogurt.
Or serve it with your choice of yogurt Raita, like Boondi Raita (Quick and Easy) or Cucumber Raita (Easy and Healthy).
For a complete treat, serve Tawa Pulao as a side with Pav Bhaji.

Helpful Tips

Rice: The look and taste of the Tawa Pulao greatly depend on the type of rice used. So, use good-quality basmati rice that produces perfectly long grains.
Do Not Overcook The Rice: It is essential for the Tawa Pulao that cooked rice grains stay separate and do not become mushy. And for that, make sure not to overcook the rice. Cook the rice in a big pot with enough water. Also, do not leave it unattended while cooking; even cooking for a couple more minutes may make the rice overcooked. Also, immediately after straining the rice, spread it on a big plate to prevent it from further cooking and sticking together.
Vegetables: Add vegetables of your choice. You can add more vegetables than mentioned in the recipe or fewer vegetables. If you decide to add potatoes and cauliflower, steam or boil them separately and then add them when you add green peas.
Paneer: If you want your pulao to be more satisfying, filling, and protein-packed, add some paneer cubes.
Make It Vegan: Use oil instead of butter or non-dairy butter to make this pulao.