My Favourite Rice Recipes
Pilau, also known as Pilaf, Pilaff, Pilao, Pilaw, Plov, Polu, or Pulao, is a rice dish, flavoured with whole and ground spices, usually cinnamon, cloves, cumin and cardamom, and cooked in stock, to which meat, poultry, vegetables or fish may be added. The dish is widely spread in different parts of the world and therefore there are so many variations in cooking.
In this version I marinated the beef in a yoghurt marinade with cumin, chilli and coriander for one hour, but it can be marinated overnight in the fridge. The marinated beef is then fried with whole spices and cooked until tender, then stock and rice is added and simmered to perfection. I cook many different versions of pilau. I hope you love this version.
- Ingredients for Marinade
- 500g beef diced
- ⅓ cup plain yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon or lime rind
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for pilau
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or ghee
- 2 cinnamon sticks broken into pieces
- 8 whole cloves
- 8 whole cardamom pods
- 1 large onion, moon sliced
- 4 small cloves garlic crushed
- Marinated beef (above)
- 500g (2½ cups) basmati rice
- 1000ml (4 cups) beef stock
- 1 cup (125g) frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
Marinade: Combine all marinade ingredients with beef
and mix well.
Set aside for one hour.
Please assemble all ingredients before you start
Heat oil in a wide non-stick pan (pot), cook cinnamon, cloves and cardamom for about one minute until they crackle (be careful they tend to pop up).
Add onions and cook for 5-7 minutes until golden. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute.
Add the marinated beef and increase heat and cook for 2-3 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30-45 minutes until the beef is cooked and the liquid is almost evaporated.
Add rice and stir, to combine, then add stock, season with salt and pepper (if necessary) and bring to a rolling boil. Cover the pot, reduce heat and simmer for 12 minutes without lifting lid (after about 5-6 minutes the water will reduce drastically, just lower the heat further and make sure it doesn’t burn at the bottom).
Switch off heat and let stand on the hot plate for another 10 minutes. Meanwhile heat frozen peas in microwave until piping hot and fluff with the rice once it’s ready. Garnish with coriander and serve.
It was a great meal
We all enjoyed it
Beef Pilau
Preparation time: 30 minutes + 1 hour standing time; Cooking time: 1½ hours; Serves: 4-6
Ingredients for marinade
- 500g beef diced
- ⅓ cup plain yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons red curry paste
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons grated lemon or lime rind
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Ingredients for pilau
- 4 tablespoons olive oil or ghee
- 2 cinnamon sticks broken into pieces
- 8 whole cloves
- 8 whole cardamom pods
- 1 large onion, moon sliced
- 4 small cloves garlic crushed
- Marinated beef (above)
- 500g (2½ cups) basmati rice
- 1000ml (4 cups) beef stock
- 1 cup (125g) frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons chopped coriander
Instructions
- Marinade: Combine all marinade ingredients with beef and mix well. Set aside for one hour.
- Heat oil in a wide non-stick pan (pot), cook cinnamon, cloves and cardamom for about one minute until they crackle (be careful they tend to pop up).
- Add onions and cook for 5-7 minutes until golden. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute then add the marinated beef and increase heat and cook for 2-3 minutes, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30-45 minutes until the beef is cooked and the liquid is almost evaporated.
- Add rice and stir, to combine, then add stock, season with salt and pepper (if necessary) and bring to a rolling boil. Cover the pot, reduce heat and simmer for 12 minutes without lifting lid (after about 5-6 minutes the water will reduce drastically, just lower the heat further and make sure it doesn’t burn at the bottom). Switch off heat and let stand on the hot plate for another 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile heat frozen peas in microwave until piping hot and fluff with the rice once it’s ready. Garnish with coriander and serve.
Point to Note:
- For basmati rice add 1½ cups water for every cup of rice.
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Yum yum! 🙂
Love Pilau!
Me too!
Liz
Not so simple 🙂 , but looks fantastic and delicious.
Thank you
Liz
This looks so good, Liz!
I’d love to try to make some, but I’d use pork because my aunts (just like many other Chinese folks here) do not eat beef.
🙂
Hi Hari,
You can use any other meat you like. It would just work out fine. I wish you a happy cooking. I didn’t know you don’t eat beef. Why? have a great weekend.
Liz
Excluding beef from the diet is commonly done by Mahayana Buddhists in Asia.
Some people call it as the first step towards being a vegetarian. 🙂
That means I haven’t taken my first step towards becoming a vegetarian. Not yet!!!
Liz
Yum! I shouldn’t be looking at this now, just finished my workout and haven’t had lunch yet!
You have a strong willpower I workout sporadically!
Liz
Wow – talk about flavorful !! This is one impressive pilaf !!
Thank you, Cecile. Enjoy the weekend!
liz
Your rice and pasta recipes are my favourites. This one looks very good too and I like Basmati rice best.
Thank you so much. I am so glad you like them. I love Basmati rice!
Liz
One dish meals are wonderful!
Thank you
Liz
Super! Love this!
Me too!
Liz
yumyumii , it’s look very delicious, we cook this recipe in arab country
Oh yes Pilau is cooked in so many parts of the world! I wish you a happy week!
Liz
very tempting image…
Thank you!
Liz
Just made me hungry 🙂
Hi Joseyhina,
Nice to see you and thanks for your compliments!
Liz
Yumm! It looks so delicious!
Thank you!
Liz
Your grains of rice always look so long? Do you buy a special kind?
Virtual hugs,
Judie
I use Basmati, always. It’s one of the best long grain rice varieties, from India. Cooks awesome and tastes really good!
Virtual Hugs
Liz