Instant Pot Lamb & Rice Casserole (Lamb Dum Biryani) Recipe on Food52 (2024)

Indian food has been prepared in stovetop pressure cookers for years. Indian home cooks have been using them for so long, so when it comes to writing Indian recipes for the Instant Pot, there's no translation needed. Biryani is usually worth the trouble (lots of cleanup; worrying about rice and lamb cooking to the right doneness at the same time; takes several hours). But on busy weeknights, try this version: it’s done in about an hour.

You know how you make a traditional Indian lamb biryani? First, you get ready to dirty about six different pots in your kitchen. Next you obsess over the exact doneness of the rice. What is “50 percent done” or “75 percent done” rice, as traditional recipes ask you to gauge? Then you worry about the lamb not cooking as fast as the rice. Finally, six hours later, when your kitchen looks like a hurricane hit it, you pick up the phone and order pizza. Or you can make this stupid-simple recipe for an authentic biryani instead. Yes, the lamb will cook in the short time, as long as you marinate it and cut it into bite-size pieces. You can substitute beef for the lamb as well, if you like.

This garam masala is the base of much of my Indian cooking. I’ve tried many different recipes, but this is Raghavan Iyer’s recipe (of 660 Curries fame), and he has been generous enough to allow me and all who cook from my recipes to use it. Everyone who has tried it will agree—store-bought garam masalas cannot hold a candle to this recipe. Trust my advice and take the ten minutes to make it. You’ll thank me.

Excerpted from INSTANT POT FAST & EASY © 2019 by Urvashi Pitre. Photography © 2019 by Ghazalle Badiozamani. Reproduced by permission of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. All rights reserved. —Urvashi Pitre

Directions

1. Garam Masala
2. In a clean coffee grinder or spice grinder, grind the chiles, cinnamon, bay leaves, coriander, cumin, cardamom, cayenne, and cloves, shaking the grinder gently as you go so all the seeds and bits get into the blades, until the mixture is the consistency of a moderately fine powder.
3. Unplug the grinder and turn it upside down. (You want all the spice mixture to collect in the lid so you can easily scoop it out without cutting yourself on the blades.)
4. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place for up to 1 month. Shake or stir before using.

1. Lamb and Rice
2. In a colander, rinse the rice under cool running water; set aside to soften and absorb some of the water.
3. In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt, finely chopped onion, chopped cilantro, mint, chile, ginger, garlic, turmeric, cayenne, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, 2 teaspoons of the garam masala, and 1 teaspoon of the salt to combine. Add the lamb and toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes while the rice rests.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the broiler to high. Break the onion slices apart with your fingers and arrange on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with the oil and season with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine. Broil the onions, stirring just once or twice, for about 15 minutes, until browned and caramelized.
5. In an Instant Pot, arrange the lamb mixture so it covers the bottom. Carefully spread the rice all over the meat in a uniform layer. Carefully pour 1 cup of water over the rice, gently pushing down on the rice until it’s submerged in the water. (Do not mix the lamb and rice together.)
6. Secure the lid on the pot. Close the pressure-release valve. Select Manual and set the pot at High pressure for 6 minutes. At the end of the cooking time, let the pot sit undisturbed until the pressure has released. (This part is important, as it approximates the traditional steam cooking process.)
7. Serve topped with the browned onion garnish and cilantro leaves.

Recipe by: Urvashi Pitre