Easy Keema Pulao (Keema Rice)
Easy, one-pot keema pulao is a rice dish combining together long grain basmati rice, minced meat(lamb) and aromatic spices. Serve with a yogurt (raita) for a hearty meal.
Ingredients
- 200 g (~1 cup) Basmati Rice Aged, Extra long grain or Long grain
- 4 tablespoon mustard oil substitue with cooking oil of choice
- 1 large onion sliced (~160g-180g)
- ½ tablespoon ginger minced
- 1 tablespoon garlic minced
- 350 g ground lamb I use 85-15 (Use mutton mince or goat meat mince)
- 2-3 tablespoon plain greek yogurt or thick yogurt, beaten
- 1 medium potato peeled and cubed in 1.5 inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder optional
Whole Spices
- 1 large bay leaf tej patta
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds jeera
- 7-8 black peppercorn kali mirch
- 3 cloves laung
- 1 large black cardamom badi elachi
- 3-4 dried kashmiri chilies adjust to taste
- 2 twig mace javitri
- 1 inch cinnamon stick
Instructions
SOAK THE RICE
- Measure the basmati rice. Add it to a large bowl, cover the rice with water and use your hands to scrub the rice for a little bit. You will see white starchy water initially and by the 3rd or 4th rinse, the water will be clear. Soak rice in excess water for about 20-30 minutes.
BROWN THE KEEMA
- In a heavy cooking pot (I use a 3 qt enamaled cast iron cooking pot), warm up the mustard oil.
- Add all the whole spices. Fry the spices for 10-15 seconds in hot oil taking care they don't burn.
- Add the sliced onions. Over low medium heat, brown the onions for next 8-10 minutes. Stir intermittently. The more you stir, the softened onions tend to get mushy and steamy. We want crispy browned onions that will become slighty stringy at the end of cooking the pulao.
- Add the minced ginger, garlic and a tablespoon of water. At this stage you can add some red chili powder, minced green chillies or slit green chilies (hot indian variety)for added kick to your pulao. I don't add green chillies because my kids do not prefer spicy rice.
- Fry everything for 10-15 seconds. Add the ground lamb now. Sprinkle salt & ground black pepper (optional) over the lamb keema. Break the ground meat using a wooden spoon and mix with onions.
- Now, we are going to brown the meat on high heat. Browning the meat at first pushes the moisture out that's why you will a lot of water getting released in the pot.
- After about 5-8 minutes, you will see that the moisture starts reducing, the color of meat is deep brown and it is starting to glisten. We don't want to completely dry out the moisture of meat but the keema mixture should not be too watery. Please adjust time since quality of ground meat varies.
- Once keema is browned, add yogurt and immediately stir to prevent the yogurt from curdling. Fry on low medium heat for 2-3 minutes until the fat of yogurt is rendered.
- Next, add the cubed potato(if using) and the chopped mint leaves. Fry the potatoes and meat together for 1.5-2 minutes to get the potatoes started.
COOK KEEMA PULAO ON STOVE TOP
- Add the soaked basmati rice and salt now. Pour 2 cup warm water for 1 cup basmati rice. Add lemon juice. Gently mix. Taste and adjust the salt quantity if needed. For perfectly seasoned pulao, the water should taste sharp salty right now.
- On low medium heat, bring the water to a slow boil. Once boiling, cover the pot with a lid, reduce to low flame and let cook for 8-12 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.
- Open the lid, check if all the water has absorbed,cover again and let the pulao sit for 7-9 minutes for rice to firm up. Do not fluff right now - the rice is very soft and it will turn mushy.
- After 10 minutes, gently fluff the rice. Using a soft spatula or a small saucer, scoop the pulao from side of the pot.
- Garnish the keema pulao with some deep fried onions or chopped coriander leaves. Serve with a tangy side like raita, fresh salad and green chutney with this pulao. Keema pulao leftovers stay well (without changing taste) for 2-3 days refrigerated
COOK KHEEMA PULAO IN INSTANT POT OR PRESSURE COOKER
- For Instant Pot use 1:1 rice to water ratio. Pressure Cook on high for 4 minutes and then let pressure naturally release for 10 minutes and then manually release. Open the lid and fluff the rice.
- For Pressure Cooker, use 1:1.5 rice to water ratio. Cook on low medium heat for 7-8 minutes (or 2-3 whistles). Let pressure come down naturally.
Video
Notes
- Brown The Meat - One of the best ways to get instant flavor boost in any meat dish, be it with keema or meat pieces is to take your time to brown the meat. Browning helps get rid of moisture of meat and meat releases its fat . Fat = flavor! Those charred bits of meat that contribute immensely to flavor too.
- Don't use unsoaked rice- Always soak rice. For at least for 20 minutes. Soaking helps the rice soften and contributes to even cooking. Secondly, soaking helps get rid of soluble starches in rice, reduced level of starches mean that the rice wont be sticky when you cook it. Lastly, I feel that the rice tastes much softer & takes less time when we cook it after soaking.
- Don't skimp on oil - If you reduce oil quanity, your pulao will taste like steamed rice. Also, chances are that the pulao will be sticky becasue oil prevents the rice grains from sticking to each other.
- Avoid using too many spices - This is my personal taste preferance. I dont like adding a ton of spices in pulao dishes and let the flavor of meat(keema) has to shine.
- Use a Heavy Pot - Traditional cookware like a deg(or lagan) work perfectly. Else use good old dutch oven for stove top cooking. A heavy pot retains heat, will not get scorched easily and most of all, aid in even, consistent cooking of rice.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!