Get ready to eat this mouthwatering, aromatic brown rice beef/lamb biryani. Tender pieces of meat and perfectly cooked, springy grains of rice are coated in a perfect blend of spices.
Before getting an instant pot, I’d only make biryani on special occasions. Now, we can make this one-pot brown rice and meat dish on a whim.
I shared a recipe for chicken biryani a while back, but have gotten many requests for beef biryani and lamb biryani. I decided to use brown basmati rice in this recipe because it cooks perfectly in the same amount of time as either beef or lamb.
If you read my post on cooking brown basmati rice in an Instant Pot then you already know it takes 22 minutes. Thankfully, you can cook beef and lamb cubes in that amount of time as well. The result: tender morsels of meat mixed in nutty brown rice.
It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with my Instant Pot, especially when it comes to Indian cooking. In fact, I wrote a blog post with 5 Reasons Why Instant Pot is Perfect for Indian cooking. The main reason: what traditionally took several pots and pans plus several hours to cook can now be made in a single pot!
Biryani is an example of one of those recipes that used to take hours to make, a dish reserved for special occasions. Now we eat some type of biryani almost weekly – sometimes we’ll have shrimp biryani and other weeks we’ll enjoy egg biryani, keema biryani or veggie biryani.
Some background on biryani: there are two main methods to making biryani: pakki biryani and kacchi biryani.
With pakki biryani, you cook the meat separately and partly cook the rice then you have to layer them together then cook the whole thing together. A lot of steps, right? The only reason I would ever use this method is if I have leftover curry that I want to use (like my leftover goat curry biryani).
With kacchi biryani, you marinate the meat for a long time then cook it with the rice over low heat.
Then there’s my method. Skip the marinating and cook both the meat and rice together in ONE pot in an electric pressure cooker. This new method is clearly my favorite one. You get all the same flavor of traditional lamb biryani (or beef biryani) with the least amount of work.
That said, my method works with brown rice because the cook time for the meat and the rice works out perfectly.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of this dish! If you love it, then be sure to check out my Instant Pot Cookbook: Indian Food Under Pressure for more Indian recipes!
Instant Pot Brown Rice Biryani with Beef or Lamb
Instant Pot Brown Rice Biryani with Beef or Lamb
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown basmati rice soaked 15 minutes
- 2 tablespoons oil
Whole Spices
- 5 cardamom pods
- 4 whole cloves
- 2 bay leaf
- ½ cinnamon stick
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 pound beef stew meat or lamb the meat should be cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 4 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons minced ginger
Ground Spices
- 2 teaspoons coriander powder
- 2 teaspoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons salt adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne adjust to taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 cup water
Optional Garnish:
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- 2 tablespoons golden raisins
- ⅓ cup cashews halved
- Cilantro leaves chopped
- Mint leaves chopped
Instructions
- Soak the brown basmati rice in cold water for 15 minutes. Drain, rinse and set aside.
- Press the sauté button, adjust the heat to high, and add the oil to the pot. Allow it a minute to heat up, then add the whole spices and stir. Once they begin to sizzle, add the meat and the onions. Stir-fry for 5-7 minutes, or until all sides of the meat have browned.
- Add the garlic, ginger, ground spices and stir, then add the rice and water to the pot. Give everything a good stir.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 22 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure for 10 minutes, then open the valve to release any remaining pressure.
- Discard the whole spices, add garnish if desired and serve.
Optional Garnish:
- While the rice is cooking, melt ghee in a pan over low-medium heat on the stovetop. Add the cashews and raisins and stir-fry until the cashews begin to turn golden.
- Sprinkle the ghee-coated cashews and raisins along with the cilantro and mint on top of the biryani.
Neeta says
Hi Ashley
Thank you so much for making our lives easy with the Instant Pot with such yummy recipes
I’d love to make this biryani tonite but only have chicken thighs-would that be ok? And do I keep it still at 22 mins?
Thanks so much
Neeta
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Neeta, I’m sorry for the late reply – hopefully you made it and enjoyed it! I’m sure chicken thighs will be great – and yes, I’d keep the same cook time if you’re using brown rice.
Allen James Jones says
Dumb question (I’m a guy). Should the whole spices be kept together tied in a piece of cheesecloth? Thanks.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
I get asked about this so often that I wrote a blog post explaining what to do with whole spices: https://myheartbeets.com/do-i-remove-whole-spices-before-serving-indian-food/ Personally, I would add them directly to oil and just eat around them.
Keith says
The flavor is excellent! However, I am having the same issue as Kamna where my rice is still practically raw even after the 15-minute pre-soak and 22 minutes pressure cooking. I use ground beef instead of beef stew meat but that’s the only change I make. Might this be the culprit?
I am using Lundberg brown basmati rice. I do have brown jasmine rice so I might try that next time and increase the soak and cook times.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Keith, glad you like the flavor! As for the rice being raw – I do think in this case it’s because of the ground beef. Stew meat releases more liquid than ground meat – I typically use 1 ¼ cup water when making brown basmati rice, so if you use ground beef next time then I would suggest adding an extra ¼ cup of water. Now that I’m thinking about it, in Kamna’s case, since goat meat is leaner than beef and lamb, perhaps it didn’t release enough liquid too.
Keith says
I added more water and it definitely helped! The rice was still a bit under-done but I used lean ground beef (it’s what I had) and I think this rice is old. I’ll try fattier beef and a new bag of rice, and hopefully with the extra water that’ll do the trick! Thank you!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
That’s good to know – hopefully it’ll be perfect the next time around 🙂
Kamna Kanesh says
Hi Ashley. Thank you for the amazing recipes using instant pot. I have been using instant pot for some Indian recipes but not everything. I am in the process of trying your recipes to save time. Today i tried brown rice biryani and used one cup brown rice with one cup water. I used goat meat with bones. I used 22 minutes pressure cook but after I opened the lid, the meat was tender but rice was still raw. Can you please suggest how do I fix that? I am not sure if you would be able to reply tonight but thought of trying. Thanks in advance
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Kamna, I’m glad you’re liking my recipes. To answer your question, it’s odd that the meat was cooked and the rice was raw – I have no idea why that would happen. Have you had any trouble with that rice before? Please let me know if you were able to figure it out! If not, you can always try asking in my facebook group (Instant Pot for Indian Food) – sometimes it helps to see photos.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Kamna, after replying to another reader, I started thinking about your issue and I think that because goat meat is leaner than beef and lamb, perhaps not enough liquid was released from the goat meat in order to cook the rice. If you make this again with goat, try adding another ¼ cup of water. I know it’s been a while but I hope that’s helpful!
Kamna Kanesh says
Hi Ashley. Thank you for your reply. I am sorry I didn’t see your reply in February. I kept checking after I left comment but then I thought i would receive some sort of notification from you in my email. Anyway, today I am again trying to make brown rice lamb biryani but with boneless lamb…hope same timings and same quantity work this time. Food chemistry always amazes me..trying to learn more. I am part of facebook and you are right, it does help with the photos..
Once again thank you so much for amazing recipes. Last time I tried roghan lamb for dinner party and it turned out so good (my first time experience with cooking lamb at home) and every single person loved it.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Kamna, I thought my site sent email notifications too – sorry about that! I’ll have to look into it. So happy to hear that the Rogan Josh was a hit! Let me know how it goes this time with the lamb 🙂
Pratibha says
I’ve never thought brown rice could be so tasty. We recently shifted to brown rice and after trying this recipe I’m in love with that. This biryani recipe is super easy and yummy. Even my 4 year old fuzzy eater loves this recipe. Thank you Ashley for such amazing recipes. It makes my work so mush easier to put delicious food on table with little effort.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Pratibha, that’s so great to hear! I’m glad you and your 4-year-old like this. 🙂 Thank you for letting me know how this turned out for you.
Emily says
I love this recipe! I just make it on the stove, so I adjust the cooking times. But it comes out very nice.
Thanks!
My Heart Beets says
Emily, that’s so great to hear 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how much you like this recipe!
Srishti Bhagat says
Tripled the recipe and it came out perfect except the raisins were chewy. I think I’ll include them in the rice next time and fry only the cashews. Browned the meat in two batches to allow it all to brown properly. Every last bite got eaten among a family of 10.
My Heart Beets says
Srishti, I’m so glad you liked it (minus the chewy raisins)! I’m guessing the raisins needed more time in the ghee to plump up? Cooking them in the rice should do the trick – that’s a good idea. Great to hear that your family of 10 enjoyed this!
Alvina says
Hey Ashley,
I really want to make this dish, but what if I only have regular brown rice? How will that affect the cooking time? I am trying to work with what I have during this quarantine!
I just want you to know I have shared your recipes to many people and your recipes have always worked so well for me. They have made me way more confident with Kerala/Indian cooking in the kitchen!
Thanks so much, Alvina
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Alvina, I’m so sorry I missed this comment! Did you end up making it with brown rice? I think that should be fine. Also, thank you for sharing my recipes with others – I appreciate it 🙂
Christine de la Cruz says
Luckily, even in quarantine 🙂 I had all the ingredients (except I used ground chicken) WOW!!! So happy to have found this recipe and for it to be in the instant pot and using brown rice, I just can’t say enough great things about it, thank you, thank you, thank you!
My Heart Beets says
Christine, I’m so glad you were able to make this and happy to hear that you liked it 🙂 Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you!
Stace says
Hello,
We tried this recipe today with white basmati rice and it was perfect
Stace says
I should mention it was leftover slow cooked lamb we used
My Heart Beets says
Stace, so happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out with the white rice!