Tender Pakistani Beef Biryani (Instant Pot) is known as the king of biryanis. It’s made with fluffy rice coated in a rich, flavorful beef gravy. This recipe shows you how to make delicious beef biryani in the Instant Pot — no water needed!
Tender Pakistani Beef Biryani (Instant Pot) is a rich and flavorful rice dish made with a tasty beef gravy. It’s even better than restaurant biryani! After lots of practice, I’ve learned how to make the perfect tender beef gravy without adding any water — too much water can make the rice soggy.
My daughter has gone through different biryani phases — first Chicken Biryani, then Mutton Biryani, and now she’s all about Beef Biryani. She constantly switches between them, depending on her mood. But one thing never changes — she always has to have it with her favorite Biryani Raita.
I recently visited an Indian restaurant in Memphis where they served their Chicken Biryani with a halved hard-boiled egg on top — a unique little twist I actually thought was pretty cool. But if I ever tried that at home, my daughter would probably disown me for messing with her favorite dish, haha!
As I mentioned in my previous Biryani post, my daughter is absolutely addicted to Biryani — she can eat it anytime, anywhere!
I have a little secret to confess — I think Biryani is the best dish in the world. If I could, I’d make it every single day. But shhh… don’t tell my daughter, or she’ll hold me to it!
INGREDIENTS
- Beef – Shank beef is perfect for biryani because it’s tender and has those delicious meaty strands, known as resha. Make sure the beef pieces are about 1–2 inches long — smaller chunks can affect the texture and overall feel of the biryani.
HOW TO COOK THE PERFECT BIRYANI?
HOW TO PREPARE THE RICE FOR THE BIRYANI?
I have written a whole blogpost about Basmati rice and how to perfectly boil them for every time without getting soggy and mushy.
HOW TO LAYER AND STEAM (DUM) A BIRYANI?
HOW TO STORE THE BIRYANI?
For the best results never put the biryani in the freezer. The rice will get hard and contracted, if stored for long. The best way to store the beef biryani is to refrigerate it.
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Let's Make Beef Biryani!!!
Tender Pakistani Beef Biryani (Instant Pot)
Equipment
- tawa
- stove
- Aluminium foil
Ingredients
Gravy
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 lbs beef shank (bone-in)
- 3 tbsp homemade biryani masala
- 2 tomatoes chopped
- ½ cup yogurt
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 4 dried plum
- 5 black peppercorns
- 3 medium green pepper
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp kewra
- food coloring
Rice
- 3 cups basmati rice
- 2 cloves
- 2 anise star
- salt
- olive oil
- water
Instructions
- Turn on the instant pot , select sauté mode.
- Add oil, and let it heat up. Now add the onion sauté the onion until they are brown. Next add in ginger garlic paste and sauté that for 15 seconds.
- Add the beef and mix it for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add tomatoes and yogurt, mix well and let it cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Add 3 tbsp homemade biryani masala and mix well.
- Next add black peppercorns, red pepper powder, fresh lemon juice, plums, and green pepper, and mix well.
- Close the lid, select pressure and put the pressure for 50 minutes or until the meat is tender.
- Vent the steam out. This will allow the excess steam to shoot out of the lid immediately, and the Instant Pot will be depressurized within minutes.
- After depressurizing the Instant Pot, open the lid. Mix well and set aside.
Rice
- Presoak the rice in water for 30 minutes.
- Drain the water.
- In a large pot, on medium heat, add 8 cups of water, 1½ tsp salt, star anise, and cloves.
- Bring it to a boil, then add the drained rice in the pot.
- Now let the rice cook for 6-7 minutes remember you're doing this on medium high heat. Check the are cooked up to 75-80% or until the rice are parboiled.
- Remove the pot from the stove and drain the water. Set aside.
Layering
- In a large pot, add 1 tbsp oil and 1 tbsp water scatter that across the bottom of the pot.
- To set the first layer lay out one third of rice in the bottom of the pot as your first layer. Then sprinkle few pinches food coloring on top of the rice.
- Next place half of beef gravy that you made earlier and on top sprinkle some fresh cilantro.
- Now add another one third of the rice in the pot, sprinkle some food coloring, remaining of the beef gravy, and cilantro.
- Now add the remaining rice, sprinkle food coloring, and sprinkle some cilantro along with Keira .
Steaming/Dum
- Wrap the lid with aluminum foil. Steam should not escape.
- Place a tawa on the stove.
- Place the pot of biryani, close lid, wrapped with aluminum foil.
- Now turn the stove on high for 7 minutes only.
- Turn the stove on medium heat for the next 7 minutes.
- Turn the stove on low for 45 minutes.
- Now turn the stove completely off and let the pot sit for the next 10 minutes.
James says
I Love biryani when I was younger, now I’m 43 nd I still love it
Sarah Mirza says
we love biryani also.
James says
Biryani My favorite