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    Home » Indian

    Instant Pot Kheema Pulao

    Published: May 15, 2022 by Archana · This post may contain affiliate links · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases · 96 Comments

    1137 shares
    Jump to Recipe

    Kheema Pulao is a flavor-packed gluten-free meal with fragrant long grain basmati rice cooked with ground chicken and aromatic-warm whole spices like black pepper, cumin seeds, and cinnamon. A perfect one pot meal for a weeknight supper paired with a cooling raita or yogurt that is ready in just 40 minutes. Feel free to substitute ground chicken, beef, or turkey to suit your family’s taste buds.

    keema pulao served in two white bowls with raita

    Note: Original post published in Aug 2018 has been updated with new photos and a video.

    Jump to:
    • What is Kheema?
    • Difference between Biryani and Pulao
    • Ingredients for Kheema Pulao
    • How to make Kheema Pulao
    • Serving
    • Storing Kheema Pulao
    • More Rice Recipes
    • Recipe

    What is Kheema?

    Kheema / Keema / Queema is an Urdu word for minced meat such as chicken, lamb, beef, etc. As ground meat cooks fairly quickly, different meats can be easily substituted in this Kheema Pulao or in other recipes that call for Kheema.

    Difference between Biryani and Pulao

    Here are 2 basic differences between Biryani and Pulao (Pilaf)

    1. Biryani is made with marinated chicken that is layered with basmati rice. While Pulao does not require any marination and is cooked by mixing rice and veggies/meat together.
    2. Biryani uses whole as well as ground spices and is a lot more spicer than pulao. Pulao is a lighter variation using only a few whole spices.
    keema pulao served in white bowls with cucumber raita

    Ingredients for Kheema Pulao

    • White Rice - Iong-grain Basmati rice works best
    • Whole Spices - cumin seeds, black peppercorns, cinnamon & bay leaves
    • Ground Spices - Kashmiri red chili powder & turmeric
    • Fresh ginger & garlic paste
    • Yellow onion
    • Ripe tomato
    • Mint & Cilantro
    ingredients for kheema pulao

    How to make Kheema Pulao

    • Heat ghee or oil in the Instant Pot and sauté the spices and onions. Add chicken and mix well (photos 1 - 4).
    photos one through four showing sauteeing spices, onions and minced chicken
    • Addmint, turmeric, red chili powder, salt, and tomatoes. Add rice, and water and mix well making sure that all the rice is under the liquids (photos 5 - 8).
    photos five through eight showing how to make kheema pulav in the Instant Pot
    • Close the Instant Pot lid and pressure cook for 5 minutes followed by 5 minutes natural pressure release. Garnish with cilantro and more freshly ground pepper. Note: if the rice looks uncooked on the top, just mix it with the rice under and close the Instant Pot for 5 minutes.
    photos nine and ten showing cooked kheem pulao
    • Gently fluff the rice with a silicone spatula
    kheema pulao in the Instant Pot pressure cooker

    Serving

    Enjoy hot with a squeeze of fresh lime. I also like to serve it with cucumber salad or creamy beet and cucumber raita.

    Kheema Pulao served in two white bowls

    Storing Kheema Pulao

    Any leftovers can be refrigerated for 2 to 3 days or frozen for longer shelf life. To reheat simply microve until heated through. Kheema Pulao is a great make ahead dish.

    More Rice Recipes

    Did you enjoy this one-pot meal? Check out all the Biryani Recipes and some more weeknight favorites:

    • Kimchi Fried Rice
    • Thai Basil Fried Rice
    • Masale Bhath
    • Curd Rice

    Recipe

    Tried this recipe? We love your feedback.Please click on the stars in the recipe card below
    Kheema Pulao
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe Save Saved!
    4.62 from 55 votes

    Kheema Pulao

    A flavor-packed one pot meal with fragrant long grain basmati rice cooked in ground chicken and aromatic-warm whole spices like black pepper, cumin seeds and cinnamon.
    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time30 mins
    Total Time40 mins
    Course: Entree
    Cuisine: Indian
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 429kcal
    Author: Archana Mundhe

    Ingredients

    • 2 tablespoons ghee
    • 1 teaspoon shah jeera or cumin seeds
    • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns
    • 2 inch cinnamon stick
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 1 medium yellow onion thinly sliced
    • 1 teaspoon ginger paste
    • 1 teaspoon garlic paste
    • 1 pound ground chicken
    • 1 tomato diced
    • 1 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder
    • ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
    • handful of mint leaves chopped
    • 2 teaspoon kosher salt
    • 1 cups long grain basmati rice rinsed and drained
    • 1½ cups water

    Garnish

    • 1 lime
    • ½ cup cilantro chopped
    • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper freshly ground

    Instructions

    • Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat ghee. Add cumin seeds, black peppercorn, cinnamon and bay leaves. Saute for 30 seconds.
    • Add onions and sauté for 5 minutes or until the onions start to brown. Cover with a non-locking glass lid to speed up the process.
    • Add ginger, garlic and chicken. Sauté, breaking the chicken and browning it for a minute. Add tomatoes, red chili powder, turmeric, mint leaves and salt. Mix well.
    • Add rice and water. Gently mix making sure all the rice is under the liquids. Close the Instant Pot lid with pressure valve to sealing. Pressure cook (Hi) for 5 minutes with a 5 minute natural pressure release.
    • Open the Instant Pot and gently fluff the top rice (Note, if the rice looks uncooked on the top, just mix it with the rice under and close the Instant Pot for 5 minutes) 
    • Add lime juice, cilantro and black pepper. Turn the Instant Pot off and take the insert out so the rice does not overcook or get mushy. Enjoy hot.

    Video

    Nutrition

    Calories: 429kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 117mg | Sodium: 1252mg | Potassium: 829mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 565IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this recipe?Share your photo and tag @ministry_of_curry or tag #ministryofcurry

    ♥ We LOVE to hear from you! Did you try this recipe? Please share your food photo with hashtag #ministryofcurry on Facebook or Instagram, so we can see it and our followers can enjoy it too! Thank you and Happy Cooking ♥ Subscribe to our Youtube Channel for tasty and easy video recipes. Looking for more Instant Pot recipes? Check out our delicious Instant Pot Recipe board on Pinterest.

    Author: Archana

    Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live in New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
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    1. Louise Samson says

      August 20, 2018 at 8:46 am

      Very simple and tasty.
      Thank you, Archana!5 stars

      Reply
      • Archana says

        August 20, 2018 at 9:55 am

        Thank you Louise for your feedback. I am so glad you enjoyed this.

        Reply
    2. Laila says

      August 20, 2018 at 5:30 pm

      If I used a smaller grain rice (I love fragrant kalijira rice), will the rice to water ratio remain the same? And what about the time?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        August 20, 2018 at 11:09 pm

        Hi Laila, I love kalijira rice too and use it as my everyday rice. Same water ratio works well. You do not have to soak the rice so the recipe is even more quicker.

        Reply
      • Archana says

        May 17, 2022 at 8:50 am

        same cook time and water ratio for Kalijira rice.

        Reply
    3. mele says

      August 25, 2018 at 8:59 am

      Hi, I was wondering what else would you serve with this, thanks

      Reply
      • Archana says

        August 25, 2018 at 9:20 am

        I would serve this with plain yogurt, raita or a simple curry.

        Reply
    4. Ayesha says

      September 09, 2018 at 11:08 pm

      Delicious and so easy to make!5 stars

      Reply
    5. Fatema says

      September 14, 2018 at 10:34 am

      This turned out absolutely delicious! Thank you ❤️

      Reply
      • Archana says

        September 14, 2018 at 8:05 pm

        Thank you Fatima! Do update the ratings on the recipe card.

        Reply
        • fatema says

          September 21, 2018 at 12:11 pm

          Done!5 stars

          Reply
    6. SRIVIDYA CHAVA says

      September 25, 2018 at 12:22 pm

      Hi I always love your recipes.. can you tell me how much water you added for making Kheema pulao5 stars

      Reply
      • Archana says

        September 25, 2018 at 3:29 pm

        Hi! I added 1.5 cups of water.

        Reply
      • Archana says

        September 26, 2018 at 3:56 pm

        1.5 cups for this recipe. Follow this recipe exactly!

        Reply
    7. Lea Sheridan says

      October 09, 2018 at 10:33 pm

      My instapot did not have a saute, so I had to DIY, for over 20 min because the hottest temp was 248. Any other option required the lid closed. Once at the point to close the lid, I put for 10 min, opened after a natural release and still had lots of water. Turned onto the Rice cook option and it did much better. Great flavors, would do again, but saute on the stove then add to the instapot using the rice option.4 stars

      Reply
      • Archana says

        October 10, 2018 at 7:36 am

        Hi Lea, please tell me the model number or name of your pressure cooker so I can help you better. When you say you closed the lid and put for 10 minutes what mode was that on? It is an easy recipe and I really would like to help you with the settings for your appliance.

        Reply
    8. Deborah M Lowe says

      November 14, 2018 at 6:41 pm

      I have made this dish twice now, so flavorful and easy. I followed the recipe to the letter, my only glitch is the rice is not mushy when it is done but still pretty wet. As it sits it eventually seems to absorb the excess moisture and then is fine. Leftovers the next day are perfect! What should I do so it has less moisture when it is finished? Just seems to wet when right after opening the instant pot.
      Thanks!4 stars

      Reply
      • Archana says

        November 14, 2018 at 10:26 pm

        All Instant Pot dishes will look a bit moist when you first open. You can simply take out teh inner pot and keep it on a hot plate. The excess liquids will quickly evaporate and the rice will look more dry.

        Reply
    9. Vicki says

      November 16, 2018 at 9:07 pm

      I made this recipe on the stovetop using one of my le creuset pots and it came out beautiful! My husband loved it and I did too except it was a bit too spicy for me so next time I’ll add less hot chili pepper. The spices are amazing and the ground chicken works really well. I added a few golden raisins to my bowl to lessen and counter the heat. Sooo good! Thanks!5 stars

      Reply
      • Archana says

        November 16, 2018 at 10:24 pm

        Thank you for the feedback Vicki! I agree

        Reply
    10. Lakshmy says

      November 30, 2018 at 4:37 pm

      What if I want to use plan sona masuri rice or regular brown rice? How much water should i add in that case?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        November 30, 2018 at 10:43 pm

        Same water and time for sona masoori. For brown rice increase cook time to 20
        Mins followed by natural pressure release

        Reply
        • Dana says

          December 26, 2018 at 9:16 am

          If you increase the time for brown rice, won’t that overcook the chicken?

          Reply
          • Archana says

            December 28, 2018 at 11:53 am

            Ground Chicken does not get overcooked, so its ok for this recipe.

            Reply
            • Z says

              August 19, 2020 at 7:28 pm

              Any pre-soaking needed for brown basmati rice? or just cooking on HI for 20 mins followed by NPR is enough?

              I had the same concern about ground chicken overcooking especially since I’m planning to use 98% lean.

            • Archana says

              August 19, 2020 at 10:23 pm

              Lean ground chicken works good. You just need to cook brown rice for 20 mins.

    11. Neha Gattani says

      December 04, 2018 at 1:05 pm

      I plan to make it tonight. Can I skip the mint leaves without losing the flavor?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        December 04, 2018 at 4:39 pm

        Yes you can skip mint leaves.

        Reply
    12. Anu says

      December 26, 2018 at 2:12 pm

      Hi Archana, I want to add 5 cups of rice with 1 lb goat keema. Can you please suggest the water quantity and cooking time? Thanks!

      Reply
      • Archana says

        December 27, 2018 at 6:04 pm

        Add 5 cups of water and same cook time. Just sauté Kheema for 4 to 5 mins

        Reply
        • Z says

          August 23, 2020 at 10:34 pm

          how should the quantities of spices be adjusted if we increase the meat to 2lb while keeping rice at 1cup?

          Reply
          • Archana says

            August 26, 2020 at 1:08 pm

            Increase spices by additional half. So If its 1 teaspoon of cumin use 1.5 teaspoon instead

            Reply
    13. Arti says

      February 26, 2019 at 5:21 pm

      When you say a ‘cup’ is that the metric measurement cup, or the cup that comes with the instant pot?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        February 26, 2019 at 9:30 pm

        Regular measuring cup and not the one that comes with the Instant Pot.

        Reply
    14. Angie says

      March 15, 2019 at 3:33 pm

      Do you think you could substitute soy veggie crumbles for the meat? I'm thinking about the store bought frozen kind of crumbles.

      Reply
      • Archana says

        March 15, 2019 at 5:14 pm

        Oh yes!! Those work great in this recipe.

        Reply
    15. diya sakhrani says

      April 30, 2019 at 12:15 pm

      Hi! I want to increase rice to 1.5 or 2 cups. How much water should i add?

      Thanks!

      Reply
      • Archana says

        May 01, 2019 at 4:51 am

        Add the same amount extra

        Reply
    16. Izabela says

      May 03, 2019 at 2:04 pm

      I made it in the Instant Pot, followed the recipe pretty much to a T and it came out beautifully. Delicious meal with geat flavors
      Next time, I will try making it with ground lamb and some raisins. I will also grind (coarsely) the peppercorns as it was a bit unpleasant to bite those whole ones. Thank you for another great recipe!5 stars

      Reply
      • Archana says

        May 09, 2019 at 8:01 pm

        Thank you for the feedback

        Reply
      • Abiha says

        June 07, 2019 at 7:03 pm

        Hello, thank you for sharing this recipe. I had a quick question about the IP instructions. You wrote to cook on Manual Hi pressure for 5 minutes followed by 5 minutes NPR. If the “pin” doesn’t go down after 5 minutes of NPR, am I to Quick Release?

        Reply
        • Archana says

          June 07, 2019 at 7:04 pm

          Yes Abha, quick release after 5 minutes!

          Reply
    17. Priya Patel says

      May 24, 2019 at 11:07 pm

      Hi, how do I modify the receipe to make 2 cups of rice and using beef keema?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        May 26, 2019 at 9:32 pm

        Add 3 cups of water and same process otherwise for beef kheema too.

        Reply
    18. Umme abdullah says

      June 20, 2019 at 6:05 pm

      Would the rice need to be presoaked for this recipe or not?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        June 21, 2019 at 4:02 pm

        No presoak needed

        Reply
    19. Swarna says

      September 22, 2019 at 11:37 am

      Hi Archana! I wanted to double this recipe using 2 pounds of ground chicken and 2 cups of rice. Would I still cook for 5 min on high pressure or increase it?

      Thanks!5 stars

      Reply
      • Archana says

        September 22, 2019 at 11:38 am

        Hi Swarna, same cook time will work. It will just take longer for instant Pot to come to pick

        Reply
    20. Ishita Ghosh says

      October 24, 2019 at 2:41 am

      Hi Archana,

      I wanted to amp up some of the veggies in this recipe. If I add in some frozen peas, the procedure should remain the same right?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        October 24, 2019 at 10:11 pm

        yes!

        Reply
    Newer Comments »

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    Hi, I'm Archana: a former software engineer, now a full-time blogger. I am a mother of two boys who share my love for food and cooking. Words I love to hear are, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” The same words I say to my mom every time we speak. I live in the greater New York City Area with my husband and sons.

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