Name: Keema Biryani
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indian Restaurant Style Cooking
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons rapeseed oil or ghee; 1 teaspoon panch poran; 2 onions - finely chopped; 4 cloves garlic - finely chopped; Equal amount of ginger - finely chopped; 2 red or green chillies - finely chopped; 2 tablespoons Kashmiri chilli powder (More or less to taste); 1/2 tsp ground turmeric; 1 teaspoon garam masala; 500g (1 1/4 lbs) minced beef, lamb or chicken; 150g (3/4 lb.) baby spinach leaves - washed and optional; 200g (1/2 cup) chopped tomatoes; 3 cups (or so) cooked, cold basmati rice; Salt to taste

Jump to Recipe

This keema biryani can be prepared with the meat of your choice.

You are going to love this keema biryani. It's a recipe from Northern India and Pakistan. I prepared it with beef so it is more of a Pakistani version but you could also use chicken, turkey, lamb or any other minced meat you have on hand. Venison would be superb!

You will find this recipe easier than my other biryani recipes. It can really be thrown together quickly. If you have any leftover rice, you can skip making the rice and just heat your leftovers through in the sauce.

About this keema biryani recipe

There are of course many recipes for keema biryani and it only takes a little imagination to make this recipe your own. I decided to play it safe and stick to a recipe I learned while in staying with a friend in Delhi but you could add other ingredients to this dish. Throw in some sweetcorn, more chillies, chickpeas... whatever you like.

I decided to add spinach to my normal recipe which makes this a keema saag biryani but you could leave that out if you like. It was nice though.

What do you serve with this biryani?

All you need is a little raita and you're on your way to keema biryani heaven. I can highly recommend serving it with this mint and coriander chutney.

That's what is drizzled over it in the photos and it is so good.

How is this keema biryani different than other biryanis?

Most of the biryani recipes I have on my site are cooked dum style. That is, they are slowly cooked in a sealed pan.

With this keema biryani, all you need to do is cook the sauce and add some cold rice. The rice is then carefully and gently stirred into the sauce and you are left with a delicious meal in no time.

How long can you keep leftovers in the fridge?

You can store the leftovers in the fridge for at least three days. Be sure not to leave it sitting though because of the rice. You want to get it right into the fridge and cool as quickly as possible.

Can you freeze this?

Yes and it freezes really well too. You can store your keema biryani in the freezer for up to 6 months with little to know loss of flavour.

If you are doing this, be sure to freeze it in portion sizes that are convenient for you.

Step by step photographs.

Ingredients for the biryani. — Get all your ingredient together and prepared before you start cooking.

Adding panch poran to the oil in the pan. — Heat the oil over medium heat. When visibly hot, toss in the panch poran and temper the spices for about 30 seconds

Adding onions, garlic, chillies and ginger to the pan. — Sauté the onions for about five minutes until soft and translucent. Then add the garlic, ginger and chillies.

Adding ground spices to the pan. — Stir in the ground spices and fry for another minute or so.

Adding the beef to the biryani. — Brown the meat for a couple of minutes, breaking it up as you do.

Adding water to the pan. — Pour in about 500ml (2 cups) water and continue stirring. You don't want any lumps in the meat.

Adding spinach and chopped tomatoes to the pan. — Stir in the spinach, if using and the chopped tomatoes. Cover the pan and simmer on medium for about 10 minutes.

Simmering the meat in the pan. — Stir the spinach into the meat from time to time and it will blend into the sauce.

Adding the cold rice to the biryani. — Add the rice and then very gently stir it into the sauce. Do not stir to vigorously or the rice grains will split.

The finished keema biryani. — Season with salt to taste and serve hot.

Keema biryani served on a plate. — Drizzle with a good raita and enjoy.

If you like this keema biryani recipe you might like to try some of these too:

Pakistani Chickpea Biryani
Beef Biryani
Chicken Biryani
Railway Curry
Lamb Curry
Keralan Lamb Curry
Stir Fried Lamb
Beef Haleem

Have you tried this keema biryani recipe?

If yes, please give it a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I love receiving your feedback and I'm sure other readers of my blog do too. Thank you.

Yield: 4

Keema Biryani

I served this delicious and easy keema biryani with homemade coriander and mint raita.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

3 tablespoons rapeseed oil or ghee
1 teaspoon panch poran
2 onions - finely chopped
4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
Equal amount of ginger - finely chopped
2 red or green chillies - finely chopped
2 tablespoons Kashmiri chilli powder (More or less to taste)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
500g (1 1/4 lbs) minced beef, lamb or chicken
150g (3/4 lb.) baby spinach leaves - washed and optional
200g (1/2 cup) chopped tomatoes
3 cups (or so) cooked, cold basmati rice
Salt to taste

Instructions

Heat the oil over medium heat. When visibly hot, toss in the panch poran and temper the spices for about 30 seconds and then add the chopped onions.
Sauté the onions for about five minutes until soft and translucent. Then add the garlic, ginger and chillies.
Fry for a further minute and then stir in the curry powder followed by the minced meat. This can be any minced meat of your choice.
Brown the meat for a couple of minutes, breaking it apart with your spatula. You don't want any bit lumps of meat so really break it down.
Stir in the ground spices and then add about 500ml (2 cups) water and bring it to a simmer while continuing to break the meat apart.
Add the chopped tomatoes and spinach and then cover the pan. Allow it to simmer gently for about 10 minutes. Stir from time to time and the spinach will fall apart into the sauce.
To finish, stir in the cold cooked rice and carefully move it around into the other ingredients. Do not stir to vigorously or the rice grains will split.
Season with salt to taste and serve.