I use ground lamb, however mutton mince, goat keema, chicken mince, ground beef or ground turkey will also work beautifully in this recipe. Keema pulao takes about 40-45 minutes to make on stove top.
I am also including the instant pot and pressure cooker instructions (these two methods save you about 10-12 minutes of rice cooking time).
Keema pulao or keema pasta are dishes that I did not grow up with. The only meat pulao that mom cooked was mutton yakhni pulao. At home, mutton keema was commonly transformed into either keema masala or shami kebabs, while chicken keema found its way into chicken keema curry or chicken kofta.
I ventured into developing this ground meat and rice recipe around a decade back when my elder one was a toddler and had a fondness for ground meat. Just like chicken pulao, it instantly became our favorite weeknight meal because it’s really quick & easy to make. What makes it even more appealing is its versatility—you can incorporate vegetables and experiment with various flavors to make it a delightful for the entire family.
What Is Keema
Keema, kheema or qeema, no matter how you spell and pronounce it - in Hindi or Urdu, it simply means minced meat. Keema is used in a ton of ways all over the indian subcontinent to make a variety of dishes such a tikka and kebabs, keema curries, kofta dishes or as a filling for naan or samosas. Lets talk about keema in a bit of detail, shall we? Now, all keema is not created equal.
- Typically, in the india, keema or minced meat is made by coarsely grinding superior cuts of meat with fat. Though I am guilty of referring to ground meat as keema many times, but ground meat or chicken often has water or binders added in while grinding. Also the fat content varies- that’s why you find all these 80-20 or 93-7 lean ground meat varieties at your store.
- Dad used to purchase “haath ka bana hua keema” from butchers, which was prepared by mincing the meat with hands using very sharp knifes. As a result, the texture or keema is coarser and you could sometimes spot tiny pieces of meat in there. Ground meat is typically finer in texture.
- Lastly, flavor! Both minced meat and ground meat are meant for different dishes. For pulao and curries, I recommend a coarse grind with strong flavor of meat but if you are making seekh kebab or burgers, ground meat with a milder flavor is a better choice. I don’t own a meat grinder and do not have the luxury of a butcher who will grind meat for me so I settle for what’s available in the store shelf (sigh!). However, if you have the oppurtunity, get hold of your butcher and ask him to keep the keema slightly coarse for making keema pulao or keema biryani.
Keema Pulao
Keema pulao is made together by cooking together keema,browned onions, spices and basmati rice. I prefer using whole spices when it comes to my pulao recipes and since meat is so flavorful on its own, I go lighthanded on the whole spices too. To make it more hearty and since we love the combination of meat and potatoes, I add potato cubes to my keema pulao recipe. You can leave them out, but who can say no to potatoes? Definitely not me.
Is this Keema biryani?
Simple answer - No. I will tell you why.
No Layers - Primarily, biryani is a layered rice dish. When I make biryani, I create layers of par boiled basmati rice and cooked meat (or chicken) together with crispy fried onions, fresh herbs etc. Here, in keema pulao, I simply cook rice and keema together with whole spices. No Dum Cooking - For me, it is not a biryani unless I dum cook the rice dish - meaning slow cooking layers of rice and meat in a sealed pot over indirect heat. Mild flavors - Biryani has intense flavors from birista (fried onions), biryani masala and aromatic ingredients such as kewda water or saffron. Pulao has a mild flavor and hint of whole spices.
Ingredients
Keema - Hero Ingredient! I use lamb keema (or goat meat keema whenever I am lucky enough to find it). You could use ground beef too. The taste of will slightly vary depending on kind of keema that you will use. For this recipe, I like using 85/15 lamb keema. 85/15 means 85 percent lean ground lamb with 15 percent fat. This ground lamb brings about the best flavor without making the pulao heavy. Aged Long Grain Basmati Rice - I love use extra long basmati rice in our house and thats what I use for pulao. I am really obessed with fluffy, well cooked rice in my rice dishes. This brand of extra long grain basmati rice is what I use. It cooks out beautifully! Make sure that you are purchasing aged extra long grain or long grain basmati rice cultivated in india. It is different from long grain white rice. Whole Spices - Bay leaf, mace, cinnamon, cloves, black peppercorns, black cardamom, cumin seeds and kashmiri dried chillies. You could switch up whole spices to your liking. Use green cardamom if you do not have black cardamom. Fresh Mint Leaves- With lamb, fresh mint pairs beautifully. Onions - I prefer using red onions. Yellow onions will work too. Potatoes - I use russet potatoes. Cut the potatoes small so that they cook in the time that rice takes to cook. You could use vegetables like green peas, diced carrots or bell peppers. Mustard Oil - If you visit my website often, you already know that I love to cook north indian food in mustard oil. However, subsitute with avocado oil or any cooking oil you prefer to use at home. Other Ingredients - Salt, minced ginger garlic (paste will work too), yogurt lemon juice
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.
Cooking 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.
Recipe Tips
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.
