Ground Lamb Pulao Recipe (2024)

Barb, your intuition's right. Many variants of pulao (or biryani) call for browning 1-2 chopped onions, though separately. (You can use the rendered fat from Step 2, which has a lot of flavor). Combine half the onion with the rice at the start of Step 6, half after it's cooked at the end of Step 7. The Middle Eastern lentil-and-rice dish mujaddara also uses browned onions - liberally - this way to elevate what would otherwise be an indifferent dish.

Absolutely delicious overall. Two comments I’d add are: 1) there is just no need for presoaking the rice that I can discern. Basmati rice is usually only a 15 minute simmer using the same exact procedure. 2) the teaspoon of salt at the rice stage was a bit slim. The rice definitely was under seasoned. Loved this and will definitely make again!

Jim - in India, "red chili powder" refers to cayenne - the commonest cultivar grown there. But you're right- even in Indian stores here, there are 3 varieties: Kashmiri (mild, like paprika), regular (no qualifier - presumably what this recipe calls for) and Extra-hot. Growing conditions determine heat - with water restriction and hot weather, the chili plant produces more capsaicin (a defensive molecule). See Amal Naj's excellent book "Peppers: a Story of Hot Pursuits".

Used this as a base to have some fun! -added a yellow onion after melting ghee into the lamb, along with roasted salted peanuts & RAISINS. The raisins made the dish & I will add even more next time. Also, I made the basmati in a rice cooker after rinsing it until water ran clear but not soaking. In the rice cooker, I added some cardamom pods, cumin seeds, ghee and salt along with the turmeric and lime juice. Then mixed rice into the lamb & followed the rest of recipe. Amazing!

I did this with brown rice and lean ground pork it was delicious!I also halved the amount of rice to cut down on on the carbs and boosted the veg with some chopped baby spinach.

You should definitely follow the instruction for soaking the basmati before cooking it. This process helps strengthen the grains so they don't break. It is traditional in South Asian cooking.

It was delicious. I did add some leftover cubed eggplant and lowered the meat content to lighten it. The eggplant took on the flavors of the meat and gave the meal extra depth.

I prefer to brown the onions along with garlic and ginger paste followed by the powder spices and some tomato to enliven the dish before adding the ground lamb. Makes a huge difference.

This is great for leftovers; it makes a wonderful filling for burritos. Scramble some eggs and wrap with the pulao in a tortilla for a fantastic breakfast dish.

I would have to fry an onion with the lamb.

Rest your index finger on top of the rice in the pan and add water to the level of the first knuckle. Do not push your finger into the rice--just rest it on top. Top joint of a finger is about 1". I've gotten perfect rice every time using this measuring method.

This was fantastic. I fried a thinly sliced white onion in a glug of olive oil until caramelized, then added it to the lamb at the end (prior to mixing with the rice.) It gave the dish a wonderful depth of flavor. Also added a finely diced Serrano chile to the lamb at the same time as the ginger and garlic.

The use of lamb in this otherwise traditionally vegetarian dish is great! Rich flavor to render spices in. Recipe is approachable to me as a novice Indian cook. Requires some raita (yoghurt) and maybe pickled achaar to accompany.

Decrease the pepper, spice? ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Start by following the directions on the rice package. With practice you will know how to adjust the water:rice ratio to suit your tastes. This approach works for Uncle Ben's, basmati, jasmine, and sticky.Washing & soaking seem to be matters of opinion, but here's a site for thought:https://food52.com/blog/25586-should-you-wash-rice-before-cooking?utm_campaign=20200925_eds_friday_buyer&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_term=21600204

I amped up the spices and added shredded coconut on top. Delicious!

Upped the chile & turmeric to 1 tsp each. Brown-fried 1 med. onion and mixed with the browned lamb. Rinsed and soaked the basmati for 30 min., then cooked in a deep saute pan for just 10 min. Rice was fluffy with separate grains. Stirred in lamb mixture, some raisins, and some cashews and let steam awhile. Excellent served with a peach chutney.

Add more salt and less garam masala and maybe more lime juice. Don’t use this method for rice but make spicy rice instead with plenty of onion and add the turmeric to it.

I loved Flufflhead’s idea of adding raisins, the sweetness is definitely welcomed! And I absolutely recommend doubling the garlic, ginger and spices. This is delicious and we enjoy it with a side salad for dinner.

Ground lamb from the farmers market. Heavy handed with spices and aromatics. After I removed the browned lamb and spice mix, I left the rendered fat and sautéed some onions. Made the rice more like a risotto, letting it soak up the fat before I added water. It was perfect, warm and spicy, and I can’t wait for leftovers for lunch.

I cut cooking time down to half an hour, I started the rice in a rice cooker with salt and lime juice, while the rice cooked I stated cooking the lamb with salt and MSG (optional), wiped down pan with rolled up paper towel as I go it browns faster, from here follow recipe , in the end leave lamb in pan cook pan off with 1 TBS of ghee and 1/2 cup of cornstarch slurry for a nice sauce add scallions, mint and rice,

Rice came out a mushy mess. I’ll make this again, but I’ll measure my water by the cup next time.

Definitely needs more salt. Maybe 2x?I also added a while onion, diced, after browning the lamb. Made a big difference.

Very tasty! I did not have garam masala, so I just added some cumin, coriander, and cinnamon. Turned out delicious! Added some caramelized onions as well.

Sautée onion’s separate with lamb fat, add half with rice and half reserved. Add peas. Yogurt with cumin/garlic

My crowd loved, loved it. My initial thoughts are this is my main. What are my sides? Suggestions /?

Great and felt it could be better by upping the spices. Yes to fried onions. And def more salt.

I made this with ground lamb, and it was delicious! I used a little less garlic and a little less red chili powder, but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I highly recommend it.

This was very meh, even adding an onion before the spices, adding spice to the meat while cooking it, adding cumin to the garam masala, and parsley to the mint and scallions. Not enough spice to flavor the lamb, somewhat greasy even having gotten rid of the vast majority of the lamb fat. Makes a TON of food, though i used only 1.5 cup of rice to 1lb of lamb. And i am not looking forward to the leftovers...

This was so nice. I was gifted some ground lamb that I didn't know what to do with (I've hated the gamey taste of lamb ever since I was a kid) but tried this on a whim. Happy to say that the warm spices and lime really cuts down the gamey-ness and this is the first lamb I've had in maybe a decade that I actually enjoyed. To the point where I might actually seek out ground lamb to make this again in the future! My mother would be shocked!!