Beef Biryani
This rich and aromatic meal is one of the most delicious amongst the rice dishes. Tender morsels of steak cubes cooked in a beautifully thickened spicy gravy, served over fragrant basmati rice makes the beef biryani a meal to remember.
Ingredients
Marination Ingredients
- 500 gm steak - preferably rump steak or fillet cubed
- 1/2 cup fresh plain yoghurt whipped
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. oil
- 1 heaped tsp. garlic paste
- 1 heaped tsp. ginger paste
- 1 tbsp. tomato puree/paste
- 1 tsp. whole jeera/cumin
- 1 tsp. pinch of saffron
- red chilli powder/chilli flakes
- 5 black pepper
- 2 cloves
- 2 cardamom
- juice of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp. chopped coriander
- 1 green chilli chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder
Masala Ingredients
- 4 tbsp. oil
- 4 onions sliced and fried until golden, then crushed
- 3 tomatoes cubed
- 1/4 tsp. garlic paste
- 1/4 tsp. ginger paste
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 green chillis chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh plain yoghurt whipped
- 1 tbsp. tomato puree/paste
- 1 tsp. sugar to cut the acidity from the tomatoes
- 2 1/2 - 3 cups water
- 4 potatoes peeled and quartered, then fried until tender
- salt to taste
Ingredients for Rice
- 2 cups rice long grain basmati (wash/rinse the rice well and then soak in water for 30 minutes)
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1 cinnamon sticks
- 2 cloves
- 4 tbsp oil
- a few strands of saffron and/or orange food colouring soak the saffron in some warm water and mix the food colouring in a bit of water
- salt as needed
Instructions
- Mix the steak cubes with the rest of the marination ingredients and allow to marinate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.Heat the oil in a pot, add the tomatoes and cook until they are mushy and oil begins to separate from them. Add the ginger and garlic paste, followed by the cinnamon stick and chopped green chillies and cook the mixture for a few seconds then add the marinated steak. Fry on high heat for 3 minutes.In the meantime, in a bowl, mix the yoghurt with the crushed fried onions, tomato puree, sugar and 1 tsp. salt. Pour this mixture into the pan and cook until the gravy is dry. Add the water, turn the heat down to low and cover the pot. Allow to simmer and cook gently for 15-20 minutes or until the beef is tender and the gravy is thick.Taste and adjust salt and spice. Add the fried potatoes and give it a mix.Rice RecipeBring a big pot of water to boil, add salt, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and cloves plus 2 tbsp of oil.Drain the pre-soaked rice and add it to this water when it is boiling. Cook until the rice is about almost done and then strain out all the water.Put the rice back into the empty pan and sprinkle a handful of fried onions and some chopped fresh coriander. Then drizzle about 2 tbsp. of oil and the saffron water over the rice. Add the food colouring on one side and mix it up a bit with a spoon and then cover the pot tightly. Steam this on low heat for 15 minutes or put in a 180 C preheated oven for about the same time.Serve hot, topped with beef masala/gravy and garnished with more fried onions, chopped coriander leaves and chopped green chillies!Enjoy! 🙂
excellent dish! couldn’t stop
excellent dish! couldn’t stop raving about it as i was eating it! so good.
when marinating shoud we keep
when marinating shoud we keep in the fridge?
Yes, always marinate meat
Yes, always marinate meat/chicken products in the fridge.
nom nom. Looks delicious. I
nom nom. Looks delicious. I love how it looks! Can I replace beef with chicken?
Thanks and yes you can,
Thanks and yes you can, chicken will cook faster. 🙂
Hi! does the meat has to be
Hi! does the meat has to be pre cooked in a pressure cooker or something to make it tender? wont it be hard?? thank you!
Hi. No the meat will get
Hi. No the meat will get cooked if you follow the directions. 🙂
yummy food……..i just love
yummy food……..i just love biriany!!
thanks for ur post.but when we have to add the potatoes??in gravy or rice??plz reply asap,i m going to cook it today..
thanks
Thanks. The addition of
Thanks. The addition of potatoes is mentioned in the instructions.
Aswas. As biryani is always
Aswas. As biryani is always layered. Can we do
D same wid dis biryani. N if yed.den how
Do I do it.thnkd
W/Salaam, actually biryani is
W/Salaam, actually biryani is not ALWAYS layered. 🙂 It depends on what type of biryani. In any case, yes you can layer the cooked rice and cooked masala and then steam them together in the end for 10-15 minutes.
Hi, first great thanks for ur
Hi, first great thanks for ur recipes. Today I have tried this biryani, so yummy….
But i missed saffron. .even though it tasty..
Thanks
one question which salad is best for this biryani?
Hi, thanks! Kachumbar salad
Hi, thanks! Kachumbar salad goes best with this.
Hi, tried the beef biryani
Hi, tried the beef biryani and it came out so well.
Can we use this recipe for
Can we use this recipe for mutton.also chilly powder is 1 tsp.is it mild flavoured biryani can i increase the chilly p
Yes you can and yes it is
Yes you can and yes it is mild, you can increase the chilli to your taste.
Fauzia in canada onion size
Fauzia in canada onion size is too large, I use 1 onion & 1.5 tomatoes for 2 cups rice, but biryani doesn’t come good. What you will suggest for onion
Weigh the onions, if you are
Weigh the onions, if you are using a certain weight of meat then use HALF that weight in onions. If meat is 1kg onions will be 500gm.
On rice you said to sprinkle
On rice you said to sprinkle hand full of grated onion , should we have to keep hand full of onion from 4 onions in recipe or it’s extra????
Not handful of grated,
Not handful of grated, handful of FRIED onion, and yes you can either reserve a bit from the fried ones from earlier or just fry a bit extra and keep it for this stage.
Can we try this in chickn.
Can we try this in chickn.
You can although I do have
You can although I do have some chicken biryani recipes that you could use instead of this beef one.
Looks authentic, will try
Looks authentic, will try soon Inshaallah
Dear Fauziah,
Dear Fauziah,
I would like to try out this recipe, but I cant seem to find the saffron spice anywhere near me. I am in Nairobi. kindly recommend any stores in which I can get the saffron. thank you. Winnie
Hi, have you tried checking
Hi, have you tried checking at a shop called Chandarama (I think)?
Fauziah
Fauziah
Do I discard the marination material or include it in the recipe??
Thx
Use it in the recipe.
Use it in the recipe.
Can you use boiled meeat instead of fresh meat
Yes you can.
Loved the outcome of the recipe! I’ll definitely use it again and again