This is my mother-in-law’s very special beef pulao recipe, with a few tweaks of my own. Simple, yet so friggin delicious, with meat that comes out fall-off-the-bone tender. It has all the potential to become the star recipe at your dawats, and I'm speaking from years of experience.
Do you see those fluffy, separate grains of rice in the photo? Khilay huay chawal, as we'd say. You need basmati sella rice to get that kind of result. Regular basmati works too, but most commercial-style pulao recipes use sella, so that’s what I go with.
I’m all for potatoes in my rice mains, but not this one. It doesn’t need that extra bit of starchy satisfaction because it's so dang good on its own.
This is one of the dishes friends and family ask me to make most often (biryani tops that list). And if I ever publish a cookbook, this would make the cut without a doubt.
I’m not one to complain about the patience, love, time, and the not-so-short list of ingredients desi recipes sometimes require. But this one’s on the simpler side, not that it’s a five-ingredient recipe, but in terms of method, it's fairly easy and tastes like you've put in big effort.
If you’ve got all the ingredients on hand and know your way around a pressure cooker or an Instant Pot, the rest is fairly easy, even for novice cooks.
Pre-cooking notes
- Using fresh ginger, garlic, and chilies is essential. You won’t even come close to the same taste with store-bought pastes.
- You’ll see green chilies mentioned twice in the ingredient list, and that isn’t a mistake. You need some for the paste, and then some whole chilies for the final steps. Green chilies can vary a lot in spice, so adjust the quantities, not only to your spice preference, but also based on how spicy your chilies are. If unsure, use less.
- Whether you live in Pakistan or outside, it always helps to tell your butcher that you need tender and fatty meat chunks/boti cut for pulao. Some cuts can be very dry and chewy.
- You can use regular basmati rice (instead of basmati sella) if that’s all you have, but it’s way less forgiving if you overcook, and the rice might end up mushy. When using regular basmati, soak for 30 minutes and steam for 10 minutes instead of 15. All the other steps stay the same.
- I find Himalayan salt tastes much saltier, so adjust quantities if using other kinds of salt.
A visual guide for making beef pulao
Here are photos of the key steps to guide you through the recipe. For a printable version with quantities and notes, see the recipe card below.
Blend ginger, garlic, and green chilies with a little water into a paste. In the Instant Pot, combine this paste with beef, salt, and water. Pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Let it rest 15 minutes, then do a quick-release of pressure. Remove beef and set aside. Measure the broth. You need 1.5 cups liquid per 1 cup rice. If there isn’t enough, add water to make up the difference.
In a large pot/saucepan, heat oil, and saute onion over medium-high heat, until softened, but not golden or brown.
Add black cardamoms, green cardamoms, cinnamon stick, black peppercorns, cloves, fennel seeds and star anise. Sauté 1 minute.
Add whole green chilies. Sauté until slightly softened.
Add broth and beef, bring to a boil, then add rice. Stir gently.
Partially cover, let liquid reduce over med-high heat (or medium if burner is strong). As liquid cooks down, you'll start to see small bubbles and steam holes across the surface of rice. That’s your cue to give it a brief, gentle stir.
Cover completely, reduce heat to lowest setting. Let it steam 15 minutes. DO NOT remove the lid.
Turn off the heat. DO NOT remove the lid yet. Leave pot on the same burner. Let rice rest for 15 minutes, and then serve.
Top tips
- I prefer using a slicer/mandoline for onions. But if you don’t have one, try to get the slices as thin as possible, or you’ll see pieces when the pulao is done.
- Some people are wary of using sella rice because it can taste undercooked. All you have to do is soak it for at least 2 hours. In a pinch, I’ve soaked the rice in warm (not hot) water for an hour, and that turned out alright, not as good as the full 2-hour soak, though.
- For perfectly cooked rice, always use 1.5 cups of water or other liquid for each cup of rice, even in other rice dishes. Many rice packages suggest 2 cups, but this often results in overly soft rice.
Serving ideas
I love my pulaos with raita, kachumber, and sliced onions tossed with some lemon juice. Mint or coriander chutneys also go well. I'd avoid pickles as they can overwhelm the taste.
If you try this pulao recipe, I'd love to hear how it turned out. Leave your rating and comment below.
Happy cooking – Nelo
Beef Pulao (Beef Rice Pilaf)
Ingredients
- 3.5 cups (500 g) sella/parboiled basmati rice - washed, soaked for 2 hours, then drained (see Note A)
For the broth
- 1.5 inch piece of ginger - peeled, avoid store-bought paste
- 10 cloves garlic - peeled, avoid store-bought paste
- 8 small green chilies - adjust quantity to taste (see important Note B)
- 2 pounds (1 kg) beef - I prefer bone-in, but boneless also works, cut approximately into 2 to 3 inch pieces
- 3.5 teaspoons salt
For the pulao
- ½ cup (120 ml) cooking oil
- 1 large (150 g) onion - cut into thin slices
- 6 whole black cardamoms - aka bari elaichi
- 10 whole green cardamom - aka choti elachi, pods should be intact, not broken
- 1 inch piece cinnamon stick - aka dalchini
- 16 pieces whole black peppercorns - aka sabut kali mirch
- 12 whole cloves - aka laung
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds - aka saunf
- 1 whole star anise - aka badiyan ka phool
- 8 small green chilies - whole, uncut
Instructions
- Have all ingredients prepared and ready before you start cooking. You can use the checkboxes next to each ingredient to track your prep.
- Blend ginger, garlic and 8 small green chilies into a paste. Add only enough water to make it smooth.
- In an Instant Pot, add beef, ginger-garlic-green-chili paste, salt and 4 cups water. Mix, secure the lid, set to pressure cook on high for 30 minutes. Wait 15 minutes, then quick-release the pressure and open the lid. (See Note C below for regular pressure cooker instructions)
- Remove the beef, set it aside. Measure the broth in cups. You need 1.5 cups of liquid per 1 cup of rice. So for 3.5 cups rice, you need 5.25 cups liquid. If there isn’t enough, add water to make up the difference.
- In a large pot/saucepan, heat oil, and saute onion over medium-high heat, until softened, but not golden or brown.
- Add black cardamoms, green cardamoms, cinnamon stick, black peppercorns, cloves, fennel seeds and star anise. Sauté 1 minute.
- Add 8 small whole green chilies (pull the stems out, but chilies should have no cuts or openings to avoid extra heat). Sauté until slightly softened.
- Add in the measured broth and the cooked beef, bring to a boil, then add strained, presoaked rice. Stir gently to mix.
- Partially cover the pot with lid and let liquid reduce over medium-high heat (or medium if your burner is strong). Don't stir yet, just keep an eye. At first, the bubbles on the surface will be big and vigorous. As the liquid cooks down further, you'll start to see small bubbles and steam holes across the surface. That’s your cue to give a brief, gentle stir. Some liquid (around 10 to 20 percent) will still be left, which is intended.
- Cover completely with lid right away, and reduce heat to the lowest setting. Let it steam for 15 minutes. If using regular basmati instead of sella basmati, steam 10 minutes instead. DO NOT remove the lid. No peeking, no stirring.
- Turn off the heat. DO NOT remove the lid yet and leave the pot on the same burner. Let the rice rest for 15 minutes so it finishes cooking in residual heat.
- After the resting time, remove the lid, plate the rice using a flat, wide utensil like a rice paddle, and enjoy.
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