Instant Pot Keema Biryani (Spiced Ground Meat and Rice)

This flavorful keema biryani, a spiced ground meat and rice dish, is going to be your new favorite one-pot meal. 

Keema biryani or keema pulao is a one-pot dish made up of spiced ground meat, long-grain basmati rice and aromatic spices. It’s a weeknight favorite at our house as well as a dish we serve when we have last minute company. It’s easy to make and impressive too!

If you have my cookbook then this recipe might look familiar to you. In my book, I called this dish keema pulao. The word keema means ground meat and pulao is just rice cooked with spices. I decided to change the name of this dish to keema biryani here on the blog (because apparently there are more people who search for “keema biryani” than “keema pulao” – these are things that food bloggers have to think about).

This dish is very flavorful so I suppose it really is more like biryani since pulaos are typically a bit more subtle in flavor. You can call this keema biryani or keema pulao or keema rice or ground meat pualo. Or just call it “that super scrumptious rice dish from myheartbeets” which to be fair, could refer to any one of my super tasty rice recipes… okay, it’s not like we really need another name for this dish, lol. Whatever you call it, know that it’s absolutely delicious.

If I’m making this keema biryani on a weeknight, I’ll sometimes leave out the herbs (I usually have cilantro in the house, but I don’t always have mint). If you’re serving this on a special occasion though then be sure to add the herbs. They add a bright fresh flavor to the dish. My goal for the spring/summer is to grow my own cilantro, mint and parsley so hopefully I’ll always have fresh herbs nearby. I have a brown thumb (both literally and figuratively) so I’m hoping I don’t kill my new plants right away. It makes me so happy to see pretty green herbs every day.

If you’ve tried my chicken biryani or my shrimp biryani or my lamb/beef biryani then you know I know good biryani. Biryani has been one of my favorite things to eat for as long as I can remember so I know what good biryani should taste like. This keema biryani is so dang good. You are going to love it!

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!

Keema Biryani (Keema Pulao)

Keema Biryani (Keema Pulao)

This one-pot dish of spiced beef and rice is both a weeknight favorite at our house and a dish we serve when we have company. It’s flavorful and really quick to make. I’ll sometimes leave out the chopped cilantro and mint, but if you want it to taste extra special then don’t forget to add the herbs.

4.91 from 52 reviews

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Course Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Indian

Ingredients

 

• ▢ 1 ½ cups basmati rice soaked for 15 minutes
• ▢ 2 tablespoons oil of choice

Whole Spices

• ▢ 5 cardamom pods
• ▢ 4 whole cloves
• ▢ 1 bay leaf
• ▢ ½ cinnamon stick
• ▢ ½ teaspoon cumin seeds

• ▢ 1 pound ground meat of choice
• ▢ 1 onion diced
• ▢ 5 teaspoons minced garlic
• ▢ 2 teaspoons minced ginger
• ▢ ½ – 1 Serrano pepper or green chili minced, adjust to taste

Ground Spices

• ▢ 3 teaspoons coriander powder
• ▢ 2 teaspoons paprika
• ▢ 2 teaspoons salt
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ ½ teaspoon garam masala
• ▢ ½ teaspoon turmeric
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon cayenne

• ▢ 2 tomatoes diced
• ▢ 1 ½ cups water
• ▢ ¼ cup cilantro leaves chopped
• ▢ ¼ cup mint leaves chopped

Instructions

 

• Soak the basmati rice in cold water for 15-30 minutes. Drain, rinse and set aside.
• Press the sauté button, then add the oil to the pot. Allow the oil a minute to heat up, then add the whole spices to the pot and give them a stir. Once the spices begin to sizzle, add the ground meat, onions, garlic, ginger, Serrano pepper and cook until the meat is mostly browned.
• Add the ground spices, mix well, then add the tomatoes and cook for 5-6 minutes, or until they have softened.
• Dump the rice on top of the meat (do not mix) then pour water on top. Sprinkle half the cilantro and mint on top of the rice.
• Secure the lid, close the pressure valve and cook for 6 minutes at high pressure.
• Naturally release pressure for 10 minutes. Open the valve to release any remaining pressure.
• Remove whole spices and sprinkle with remaining cilantro and mint.

Did you make this recipe?Tag @myheartbeets on Instagram and hashtag it #myheartbeets!