← Nouns Cooking · West & East African

Ingredients

• 600 g beef (sirloin or chuck), cut into 2 cm cubes
• 1½ tsp Salt, divided
• 4 cloves Garlic, minced, divided
• 4 cm piece Ginger, grated, divided
• 1 tbsp Cumin seeds
• 8 cardamom pods
• 1 tsp Cloves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 400 g Basmati rice, rinsed until the water runs clear
• 60 ml Vegetable oil
• 2 Red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 Green chilli, finely chopped
• 2 Potato, peeled and quartered
• 2 Tomato, diced
• 1 handful Coriander (cilantro), chopped

Method

1. Put the beef in a pot with 1 tsp of the salt, half the garlic and ginger and 700 ml water. Cover and simmer for 40–45 min until tender. Strain and keep the broth; top it up with water to 800 ml. Soak the rice in cold water while the beef cooks.
2. Toast the pilau masala spices in a dry pan over medium heat for 1–2 min until fragrant, then grind them to a powder.
3. Heat the oil in a heavy pot over medium heat and fry the onions for 12–15 min, stirring, until deep brown but not burnt. This gives pilau its colour.
4. Add the rest of the garlic and ginger, the chilli and the ground masala and stir for 1 minute. Add the beef and potatoes and fry for 3 min, then the tomatoes for 3 min until soft.
5. Drain the rice, add it to the pot and stir gently for 1 minute to coat it in the spices. Pour in the hot broth and the remaining salt.
6. Bring to the boil, cover tightly and cook on the lowest heat for 18–20 min until the rice is tender. Rest, covered, for 10 min, then fluff and scatter over the coriander. Serve with kachumbari.

Tips

• Short on time? Use 1 tbsp ready-made pilau masala instead of the whole spices.
• Cool leftover rice quickly and refrigerate within an hour.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Chef Lola's Kitchen Eat Well Abi