The Only Lamb Biryani You Want To Make - So Yummy Recipes (2024)

Lamb Biryani

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

Although Pakistani food is rooted in Indian food, when it comes to meat dishes, Pakistani cooking has a big influence from the Indian Mughal way of cooking.

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

This lamb biryani is no exception. It often makes an appearance among the food spread 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 the people.

So, you can always use any other red meat you prefer. You can even use beef if that’s what you prefer.

Though I’d say, you stick to lamb if you can because the lamb meat tastes better in this rice dish.

Things you need to make the biryani

Forewarning: do not get discouraged or disheartened looking at the long list of ingredients you need to make this lamb biryani.

Promise most of them, if not all, ingredients are things that you may already have 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, make sure you choose Asian/ Indian red chili powder if you can not get Kashmiri red chili powder.

I prefer the latter because it has a more vibrant color, and it tastes much better than the other chili powder.

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

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

Easy way to make lamb biryani

You will find making this biryani is so easy. I’ve tried simplifying the methods for any (if not all) recipes in this blog. I understand that life is so hectic already that you don’t want to spend ages in the kitchen trying to figure out how to cook one dish. Right?

In short, you need to cook the lamb masala and the rice separately before you put them together.

So, firstly, wash, rinse, and soak the rice. Set it aside. Then, let’s make the masala.

Fry the chopped onion until golden brown, and add the minced garlic and ginger. Then add the meat in and brown the meat.

Add the remaining spices, whole spices, and salt. Let it cook until it releases an aroma and the meat is coated with spices. Next, add the chopped tomatoes and pour the water in. Leave to cook slowly at moderate low heat.

Just make sure you check the spice mixture occasionally to ensure it doesn’t get burned at the bottom.

It takes me an hour to properly slow-cook the lamb.

About halfway through, add the potatoes to the masala. Let it slowly cook until the meat is tender, the potatoes are cooked, and the water turns into thick gravy.

Once you add the potatoes to the meat and you think the meat is ready in approximately 10 minutes, drain the rice and start cooking the rice in 5 cups of hot boiling water until al dente.

Drain and discard the water when the rice is half cooked in al dente.

Check and stir the meat. Make sure there is about one cup of gravy in the meat.

Place the rice over the meat and carefully spread it evenly. Then, line the inside lid with a kitchen towel or kitchen paper and put the lid on. Cook the lamb biryani at low heat for about 12-15 minutes until steam comes out.

Check the rice if it’s fully cooked, and gently stir around so that the masala will spread around 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, really, it doesn’t take anything else to enjoy the dish.

But, traditionally, the dish will be served with raita or dahi boondi. Basically, any yogurt condiment. Then, a simple salad will be put alongside the lamb dish.

That is the common daily way to enjoy biryani.

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 must admit I am not keen on freezing rice unless I have no choice. But you can always freeze this lamb biryani for up to 2 months.

My tip is, you can make the masala in bulk so that you can have biryani for some other time ‘freshly’. Freeze the meat masala, and when you need it, you can reheat it and follow the steps of making the rice and putting it together with the masala.

And if you have leftovers by any chance and you know you can finish them in a few day’s time, you can keep your biryani rice in the refrigerator for up to a week.

More Pakistani rice recipes

Thank you for checking out this lamb biryani recipe. I hope you will try it out soon. When you do, please share what you think about the recipe in the comments below. I really appreciate it.

Before you go, don’t forget to look at other rice recipes from my Pakistani kitchen that you may like.

• 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.

Take care and all the best.