Keema Pulao ( Keema Biryani )
Try this delicious Keema Pulao recipe! Cook minced meat with onions, spices, and tomatoes until tender. Boil Basmati rice with fragrant spices. Layer rice over the meat mixture, add food color if desired, and cook until rice is fluffy and flavorful. Serve hot and enjoy the aromatic blend of spices in every bite!
Ingredients
- 400 grams of minced meat beef, chicken, or lamb
- ½ cup of cooking oil
- 2 large onions finely sliced
- ½ tablespoon of red chili powder
- ½ tablespoon of salt adjust to taste
- 1 tablespoon of ginger-garlic paste
- 2 medium-sized tomatoes finely chopped
- 3 whole green chilies slit
For Rice
- 2 cups of high-quality Basmati rice
- 5-6 whole black peppercorns
- 4-5 cloves long
- 2 black cardamom pods
- 1 bay leaf
- 2-3 small pieces of cinnamon stick
- Salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon of food color for garnish
Instructions
MAKING KEEMA:
- Heat a sturdy pan and add the cooking oil. Heat it up, and then add the finely sliced onions.
- Sauté the onions on medium heat until they turn a rich golden brown. This can take about 10-12 minutes. Patience here is key for achieving the desired flavour.
- Introduce the minced meat to the pan, stirring continuously. Cook until the meat changes colour and loses its pinkness.
- Add the ginger-garlic paste and continue to stir, frying for a few minutes until it loses its raw smell and becomes slightly golden.
- Add in the finely chopped tomatoes, salt, red chilli powder, and ½ cup of water to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid and allow it to simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
- Next, uncover the pan, add green chillies, stir the mixture, and mash the tomatoes while you continue to cook. The masala needs to be cooked until the oil separates from the masala. Once you observe this separation, remove it from the heat. The keema masala is done.
MAKING RICE
- Wash the Basmati rice thoroughly until the water runs clear. Soak the rice in water for 30 minutes, then drain it.
- In a separate large pot, bring enough water to the boil so that the rice will be well submerged in it. Add the whole black peppercorns, cloves, black cardamom, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and salt to season the water according to your taste.
- Once the water is boiling, add the drained rice and cook until it's about 70-80% done. It should still have a slight bite to it. Drain the rice through a strainer or colander. Be careful! The water is boiling, and the steam emerging from it is equally dangerous.
ASSEMBLING
- Assembling the keema pulao involves making layers of the prepared keema masala and boiled rice. This leads to an even distribution of the keema and rice. So you get a bit of both in every bite!
- In a heavy-bottomed pot, layer the partially cooked rice with the prepared minced meat. This is done by adding a layer of rice, followed by a layer of the keema mixture, and then another layer of rice. Continue this layering process until all the rice and keema are used up.
- Sprinkle the food colour evenly over the top for an appealing presentation.
- Place the pot on “dum,” which is a slow-cooking method. Cover it with a tight-fitting lid and let it cook on very low heat for about 10 minutes. This slow-cooking method allows the flavours to meld and the rice to absorb the flavours of the keema fully and become super fluffy and soft.
MAKING CHUTNEY
- To prepare a refreshing chutney to complement the spicy pulao, blend a large tomato, 3-4 green chillies, and half a bunch of fresh coriander leaves with a small amount of water. Adjust the number of chillies based on your preferred level of heat.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!