The Only Lamb Biryani You Want To Make

Sharing this lamb biryani is something I should have done a long time ago. Because biryani made with red meat is ever popular in Pakistani cuisine, it’s a must-have recipe in the collection. 

Lamb Biryani

Although Pakistani food is rooted in Indian cuisine, when it comes to meat dishes, Pakistani cooking draws heavily on the Mughal style. 

The Pakistanis love their meat, and you will always find 70/30 dishes of meat and vegetables in their food spread.

This lamb biryani is no exception. It often makes an appearance in the food spreads at occasions or gatherings.

You’ll know why this dish is so loved when you try it. The aromatic, savory lamb meat gives a deep flavor to the rice, and it tastes comfortingly delicious.

Does It Have to Be Lamb Meat?

If you have this biryani in Pakistan, it will likely be biryani with goat meat. Because sheep only live in certain areas in Pakistan. Goats are more common livestock for people. 

You can always use any other red meat you prefer, including beef.

However, I’d say you should stick to lamb if you can because the lamb meat tastes better in this rice dish. At least, that’s what I personally think. Feel free to use whichever meat you prefer.

Ingredients for the Biryani

Forewarning: Do not get discouraged or disheartened by the long list of ingredients you need to make this lamb biryani. I promise that chances are most, if not all, of the ingredients are already in your kitchen. 

Ingredients for lamb biryani are lamb meat, basmati rice, brown onion, garlic, ginger, Kashmiri red chili powder/ Asian chili powder, ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric powder, ground black pepper, salt, cloves, green cardamom, cinnamon quill, potatoes, tomatoes, cooking oil, and water.

I think every item is quite self-explanatory. I would only note that for red chili powder, choose Asian/Indian red chili powder if you cannot get Kashmiri red chili powder. I prefer the latter because it is more vibrant in color and tastes much better than the other chili powder. Another option is cayenne pepper, which I have been using quite a lot recently after learning that it has beneficial health properties.

As for potatoes, you can choose any salad potatoes. I like Charlotte or Jersey. 

If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can use tinned ones. One cup of tinned tomatoes is more than enough for this recipe.

1. Fry the chopped onion until golden brown, and add the minced garlic and ginger.
2. Then add the meat and brown it. 
3. Add the remaining spices, whole spices, and salt.
4. Let it cook until it releases an aroma and the meat is coated with spices. Next, add the chopped tomatoes

5. Add some water and leave to cook slowly over moderate-low heat with the lid on. Just check the spice mixture occasionally to ensure it doesn’t burn on the bottom. It takes me an hour to properly slow-cook the lamb. 

6. About halfway through, add the potatoes to the masala. Let it cook slowly until the meat is tender, the potatoes are cooked, and the water thickens into gravy. When you add the potatoes to the meat, get the rice ready at the same time. Drain the rice, then cook it in 5 cups of hot, boiling water until al dente. 

7. Check the meat curry again, stir well, then add the yogurt. Mix again and put the lid back on.

8. Keep checking the masala to make sure it doesn’t get burned on the bottom. Once you see the oil separates from the spices, and there is about one cup of gravy in the meat, get the rice ready. Drain and discard the water from the rice.

9. Place the rice over the meat and carefully spread it evenly. Then, line the inside of the lid with a kitchen towel or paper towel and put the lid on. Cook the lamb biryani at low heat for about 12-15 minutes until steam comes out. Check the rice to see if it’s fully cooked, and gently stir it so that the masala spreads over the rice.

What Do You Serve Your Lamb Biryani With?

This rice dish with aromatic spiced lamb is like a one-pot dish. You get your carbs and protein at the same time. So, you can enjoy the dish as it is.

Traditionally, the dish is served with raita, dahi boondi, or mint yogurt chutney—basically, any yogurt condiment. Then, a simple salad is put alongside the lamb dish. 

That is the common way to enjoy biryani daily.

However, this lamb biryani may be served on special occasions or gatherings along with other dishes such as chicken karahi, achari chicken, aloo palak, etc. 

Storage Matter

I am not keen on freezing rice unless I have no choice. I find that reheated frozen rice does not taste as nice. So what I tend to do is, I would make the biryani masala in bulk. Freeze the masala, and when I need it, I will reheat it. Then follow the steps for making the rice and put it together with the masala. This way, I can have biryani ‘freshly’ at another time.

If you have leftovers and know you can finish them in a few days, you can keep your biryani rice in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you like, you can also freeze this lamb biryani for up to 2 months. 

More Pakistani Rice Recipes 

Should you need some ideas, the following rice recipes from my Pakistani kitchen may be of interest. 

• Chicken biryani.
• Chicken pilau rice.
• Chicken tikka biryani.
• Lamb pilau rice.
• Matar Chawal: green pea pulao rice.
• Vegetable pilau rice.
• Yakhni mutton pulao rice.

Lastly, please follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. To sneak a look at what’s cooking in my kitchen. 

Lamb Biryani Recipe

5 from 63 votes

Ever wonder why lamb biryani is so special? Check out our recipe and try it out to find out how the aromatic spices and lamb make the rice so delicious.

BY: Devy Dar

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Prep : 15 minutes mins

Cook : 1 hour hr

Total : 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Servings: 5 people

Equipment

• Mixing bowl
• Chopping board
• Kitchen knife
• Wooden spoon
• Colander
• 5 quarts Cooking pan

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Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

US CustomaryMetric

• 1.3 pounds lamb meat cut in chunks (see the note).
• 1 brown onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic minced or pounded to paste
• ½- inch ginger minced or pounded to paste
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder/ Asian red chili powder see the note
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ground black pepper
• 15 cloves
• 10 green cardamom
• ½- inch cinnamon stick/ quill
• 1 cup natural yogurt beaten
• 2 cups basmati rice
• 5 small potatoes see the note, cut into big chunks
• 3 tomatoes see the note
• ½ cup oil
• 2 cups water

Instructions

• Wash, rinse, and soak the rice in plenty of water. Make sure every grain is submerged in the water. Set it aside.
• On a cooking pan, fry the chopped onion until golden brown.
• Add minced garlic and minced ginger to the onion. Give it a stir and cook further for about a minute before adding the meat.
• Then add ground coriander, ground cumin, turmeric powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, ground black pepper, and salt.
• Next, add the whole spices such as cloves, green cardamom, and cinnamon quill.
• Put the chopped tomatoes into the meat and pour in the water. Give it a stir and leave it to cook for about half an hour with the lid on. Ensure you check it every now and then to make sure it doesn’t get burned at the bottom.
• Add the potato chunks and give it a stir. Let it cook for about 15 minutes with the lid on.
• Then add the beaten yogurt and stir well. Put the lid back on and continue cooking.
• In the meantime, drain the rice and cook it in 5 cups of hot boiling water until it is al dente.
• Once the meat masala is ready and the rice is half-cooked, drain the rice and discard the water.
• Stir the masala and place the rice over the meat masala. Spread it evenly. Then line the inside lid with a kitchen towel or kitchen paper. Put the lid on and cook the masala and rice at moderately low heat for about 12-15 minutes or until the steam comes out.
• Gently stir the rice to make sure the spice masala spreads around the rice.

Notes

• I use the shoulder of lamb cut in small pieces. You can also use the leg of lamb. It is better to include some bones in the biryani masala. So we can get the savory and more flavor from the bone.
• Please be mindful of the different levels of heat in chili powder. Some are hotter than others. If you’re not sure, you can check and taste your chili powder to make sure you put enough. And if you want to make sure your biryani is mild and not spicy so you can feed the littles, you can always replace red chili powder with paprika powder. Or, mix it half-half.
• I find small waxy potatoes are best for biryani. My favorites are salad potatoes, Charlotte, and Jersey.
• If you don’t have fresh tomatoes, you can substitute with tinned tomatoes. For this recipe, you need 1 cup of tinned tomatoes.

Nutrition

Serving: 200grams | Calories: 741kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 17g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 839mg | Potassium: 1077mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 746IU | Vitamin C: 25mg | Calcium: 184mg | Iron: 5mg

Devy Dar

Devy founded So Yummy Recipes and Drizzling Flavor to share her love of food after exploring various cultures and cuisines for more than two decades. Her mission is to help others easily recreate traditional and non-traditional food with readily available ingredients. Her works have been featured in Reader’s Digest, Al Jazeera, MSN, Yahoo, Bon Appétit, and more.