Craked Wheat Upma / Bulgar Pilaf / Dalia Pulao made in the instant pot. Bulgur wheat cooked with vegetables, garlic and spices. This is one of our favorites, and a great substitute for rice pulao, that can be cooked in under 30 minutes.

Dalia or Bulgur is popular all over the wheat-consuming regions of North India. It is a kind of dried cracked wheat, which can be consumed as a sweet or savory dish. Dalia has more fiber and protein, a lower glycemic index, and higher levels of most vitamins and minerals. This dish a great alternative to rice pulao, and much more nutritious.
This quick and easy recipe is made in an instant pot, but can be made in a traditional pressure cooker as well.
Check out our Rice pulao and Quinoa pulao recipe.

📖 Recipe

Instant Pot Bulgur Pilaf Recipe (Dalia Pulao)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Bulgur (Broken Wheat/Dalia)
- 1 Onion small chopped
- 2 Tomato small chopped
- 1 Green Chili Pepper chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 cups Mixed vegetables (bell peppers, green peas, carrots, beans)
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 ¾ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice
- Cilantro to garnish
Spices
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- ½ teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- ½ teaspoon Red Chili powder (Mirchi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
- 10 Black pepper whole
Instructions
- Heat the instant pot in Sauté mode and add oil. Add cumin seeds, whole black pepper and green chillies.
- After they start to splutter, add onions and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until onions are lightly browned.
- Add tomato, salt and spices. Stir and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add the mixed vegetables and stir well. Add dalia, water and mix well. Scrape of anything stuck to the bottom and deglaze the pot. Close lid with vent in sealing position.
- Change instant pot setting to manual or pressure cook mode at high pressure for 5 minutes.
- When the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes. The release the pressure manually (10 minutes NPR). Mix the juice of one lemon and garnish with cilantro. Serve hot with yogurt or raita.
Notes
- This recipe was created in a 6qt Instant Pot DUO60 Multi-use Pressure Cooker.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Kathy says
Excellent recipe! I pretty much made it as written, including yellow bell pepper, carrot, and green peas as my veggies. Very colorful, delicious, and healthy! I opted for 500ml of water (per the metric measurements) rather than 2-3/4 cups (per the US Customary) based on another reviewer's comment and that worked out perfectly! Also, the recipe card does not indicate when to add the garlic so I tossed it in with the onions. I will certainly make this again!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Kathy - Happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
NC says
How much water needs to be added? Thanks.
Meeta Arora says
Hello - I have included amount of water to be added in the recipe card. You can click "jump to recipe" at the top of the post to get to the recipe ingredients.
Aparna Poojari says
Loved this recipe always make it for lunchtime and so satisfying too 🙂
Thanks for sharing this recipe
Meeta Arora says
Hi Aparna - Glad to hear you enjoyed it!
Aparna Poojari says
Although in the step-by-step guide there is no mention of Garlic, I am guessing we add it when we add cumin seeds?? Is that correct? I have made it for lunch again today 😀
Amanda says
I tried this recipe and was amazed that it came out very delicious 😋
Piping Pot Curry says
Hi- So happy to hear that. Thank you for sharing it back 🙂
Kay says
Previously tried with pressure cooker, this time tried with Instant pot with double quantity. Recipe says for 1 cup cracked what , to use 2 and 3/4 cups of water. I think 2 cups water should suffice. Otherwise came out well.