Instant Pot beef biryani
Yogurt-marinated beef and fragrant basmati layered and pressure cooked, finished with crispy golden onions and fresh herbs.
- 110 min total
- 40 min hands-on
- A little more hands-on
- Serves 6
- About $3.03 a serving
- 500 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- ½ cup plain Greek yogurt
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 1½ lb stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups basmati rice
- 2 yellow onions, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
- 6 sprigs fresh mint, leaves only (optional)
- 1 lemon, cut into wedges (optional)
From your pantry
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2½ tsp salt, divided
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2¼ cups water, divided
Each serving has about 500 calories, 30 g protein, 56 g carbs and 17 g fat, and costs about $3.03 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No plain Greek yogurt? Plain yogurt or sour cream works.
- No stew beef? Chuck roast works.
- No basmati rice? Jasmine rice or long-grain white rice works.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Stir the yogurt, garlic, ginger, garam masala, cayenne, turmeric, cumin and 1½ tsp of the salt in a bowl, add the beef, and it in the fridge, covered, for 30 minutes, or overnight.
Marinate. Marinating means letting food sit in a flavorful liquid, called a marinade, before you cook it. Always marinate in the fridge, and never reuse marinade from raw meat unless you boil it first.
How you’ll know: The food is coated all over, sealed in a bag or covered dish, and chilling in the fridge.
Timer: 30 min
While the beef marinates, the rice in cold water until it runs almost clear, then leave it to soak in fresh water for 20 minutes and .
Rinse. Rinsing means running cold water over rice or canned beans in a strainer while you swish them around. It washes off loose starch and can liquid, so rice cooks up fluffy and beans taste clean.
How you’ll know: The water running out goes from cloudy to mostly clear; it doesn’t have to be perfect.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Timer: 20 min
Dolly’s tip: Soaking is what gives biryani its long, separate grains instead of a sticky clump.Set the Instant Pot to sauté, add the oil, and cook the onions 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until deep . Scoop out half for the top.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 13 min 30 sec
Dolly’s tip: Be patient here. The dark golden onions are where most of the flavor comes from.Add the beef with all its marinade and ½ cup of the water, and on the bottom. Lock the lid and cook on high pressure 25 minutes, then quick release.
Scrape up the browned bits. It means loosening the brown bits stuck to the pan with a wooden spoon, usually right after adding liquid. Those bits are concentrated flavor, and they melt into the sauce.
How you’ll know: The bottom of the pan looks clean again, and the liquid turns darker and richer.
Timer: 25 min
Check that the beef is . If it still fights back, cook it 5 minutes more on high pressure.
Fork-tender. Fork-tender means cooked until a fork slides in with almost no push. It’s how you know potatoes, carrots or slow-cooked meat are soft all the way through.
How you’ll know: The fork slides in and out easily, and meat pulls apart with very little effort.
Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Spread the drained rice over the beef without stirring, sprinkle it with the rest of the salt, and gently pour the last 1¾ cups of water over it, pressing any dry rice under.
Dolly’s tip: Don’t stir. The rice steams on top of the beef, and that layering is what makes it biryani.Lock the lid and cook on high pressure 6 minutes. Let the pressure come down on its own for 10 minutes, then release the rest.
Timer: 16 min
Gently fluff and mix the rice and beef, then top with the crispy onions, cilantro and mint, with lemon wedges on the side.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
