Pakistani Beef Curry (Instant Pot)
This Instant Pot Beef Curry, sometimes called stew, is an easy Pakistani beef recipe in which boneless beef stew meat is cooked alongside onions, yogurt, and whole spices. The best part? It’s a dump-and-go recipe with only 10 minutes of prep work before it starts cooking!
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“This recipe is nothing short of amazing!!! There are literally indescribable flavors in every bite. Plus, the recipe layout is straightforward and simple to follow.”
Chris
Navigation
- What Is This Beef Curry, Actually?
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How To Make Pakistani Beef Curry In The Instant Pot
- What Cut Of Beef To Use
- How Long Does It Take To Make Pakistani Beef Curry (Or Stew) In The Instant Pot?
- Tips To Make Pakistani Beef Curry In The Instant Pot
- How To Make This Beef Curry On The Stovetop
- How To Double This Recipe – Key Tip
- Easy Instant Pot Beef Curry Recipe
What is this Beef Curry, actually?
For the life of me, I could not figure out what to call this recipe. It’s not anything I grew up with, or had ever heard of, until I had the mind-blowing experience of tasting it. My cousin’s mom-in-law, who introduced us to it, calls it Isto, which I believe is ‘stew’ lost in transliteration.
Still, I found the name ‘stew’ unsettling. The meat is not wading in gravy like it would in a stew. I see no vegetables. Sleepless nights, I tell you.
Beef Korma, Bhunna Gosht (Sautéed meat), Beef Masala…It has elements of all these dishes, but it’s not any of them.
Luckily, my Instagram community came to the rescue and told me, yes, indeed, Ishtu (pronounced “Ishtew”) is a recipe in which beef is cooked in lots of onion and whole spices (or khara masala). It’s more like a curry, but I’ll pay homage to the history of South Asian cuisine and also refer to it as a stew.
Ingredients You’ll Need
While this recipe calls for several whole spices, they’re actually the most commonly used spices in Indian and Pakistani cooking and most are readily available at major grocery stores.
Other than the whole spices, this recipe requires simple ingredients like onions, yogurt, garlic, and ginger. Almonds are a must to enhance the texture and give it a luxurious, Mughal-inspired finish.
How To Make Pakistani Beef Curry In The Instant Pot
This is the easiest of my Instant Pot recipes. Here’s how to make it:
- Marinate the beef in vinegar & water, then prep and add all of the ingredients listed under Instant Pot (order doesn’t matter). Drain the beef and mix it in.
- Secure the lid, seal, and set the timer to 45 minutes – High or select the Meat/Stew setting. Allow to naturally release for 10-15 minutes, then manually release any remaining pressure.
- Meanwhile, prepare the almonds by microwaving them in water, then peeling.
- Sauté until most of the water has evaporated. This part takes a bit of patience but it’s very much worth it. Toward the end, add the crushed ginger and peeled almonds. And you’re done!
In case you’re wondering, here’s the Instant Pot I use. And if you love IP recipes, check out these 15+ Pakistani Instant Pot Recipes.
What Cut of Beef to Use
I use pre-cut beef stew meat, the same as the meat for nihari or haleem. Stew meat is essentially boneless beef that comes from the front shoulder (chuck) or rear muscle (round). If the type of stew meat is specified, I look for shoulder, as I’ve found it to be more tender.
For this recipe, you want the stew pieces to be 1-2 inches. If they’re longer, you may need to cut them in half.
How Long Does It Take to Make Pakistani Beef Curry (or Stew) in the Instant Pot?
My Instant Pot sets a timer of 45 minutes on high pressure when I select the Meat/Stew setting. I like to allow it to naturally release for 10-15 minutes to allow the water to stop boiling and the meat to get even more tender.
The longest part of this recipe is sautéing at the end. Apart from that, there’s very little work to be done. An hour and 30 minutes is around the time it’ll take (mostly hands off) to make this. To speed things up, you can also sauté out the excess water over the stovetop.
Tips to make Pakistani Beef Curry in the Instant Pot:
- If you want the onions to be more prominent, thinly slice them. I finely chop them.
- Feel free to adjust the quantities to your taste. The basic rule is:
- more yogurt + onion = more sauté time but also more masala in the end product
- less yogurt + onion = less sauté time but also less masala in the end product
- Because we’re pressure cooking on high, the yogurt will curdle. That’ll resolve itself as you sauté it down.
How to make this Beef Curry on the Stovetop
Though I haven’t tried it myself, this recipe can easily be made over the stovetop. Just add all the ingredients for Instant Pot along with enough water to cover the meat. Then bring to a boil, cover, and lower the heat to a simmer for 2 1/2 -3 hours or until tender. Sauté out any extra moisture and add the finishing ingredients.
How to Double this recipe – Key Tip
You can easily double this recipe by doubling the ingredients and keeping the same pressure cook time.
However, you’ll notice you have a lot more liquid to reduce once the meat has cooked.
To prevent the meat from overcooking/shredding, take the meat out once you start sauteing/reducing down the curry. Once the masala has reduced and reached your preferred consistency, add the meat back in. This will prevent the meat from starting to shred while you stir. (I like a little shredding, but too much will lead to an overly delicious pulled beef recipe.)
Serving Suggestions
Since this is a relatively dry curry, it goes best with roti or naan, or any bread of choice. That’s the best way to experience it’s nuance and texture. This Beef Curry also pairs well with Masoor Dal. As usual, discard the whole spices as you eat.
Leftover ideas: Remove whole spices, lightly shred the beef, and roll it up in parathas, use as a filling for sandwiches, or add to stir-fries. I’ve used leftovers in tacos and even salads!
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Easy Instant Pot Keema (Ground Beef Curry)
- Instant Pot Pakistani Chicken Curry
- Instant Pot Chicken Pulao (Instant Pot and Stovetop)
- Easy Shaami Kebob (Instant Pot and Stovetop)
- Instant Pot Nihari (See Slow Cooker version here)
Tried this recipe? If you have a minute, please consider leaving a comment telling me how it was! If you have a photo of your dish, please feel free to upload it and share with others. If you’re on Instagram, please tag me so I can see your creations. I truly love hearing from you. Thank you!
Easy Instant Pot Pakistani Beef Curry
Watch the Video
Ingredients
Marinade:
- 1 lb (454 g) beef stew meat, cut into 1 to 2 inch cubes
- 2 tbsp white vinegar
To Pressure Cook:
- 1 large (~220 g) yellow onion, chopped or sliced (1 large = 2 small onions)
- ¼ cup neutral oil
- 6 garlic cloves, (leave whole)
- 8 dried button red chili peppers, if using regular dried chilies, use less
- 2 tsp coriander seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 tsp whole cloves
- 1/4 tsp whole black peppercorns
- 1- inch cinnamon stick
- 2 whole green cardamom pods
- 1-2 whole black cardamom pods
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 – 1 cup (245 g) plain whole milk yogurt*
After Pressure Cooking:
- 1- inch ginger, crushed
- 2 tbsp (~15-16) whole raw almonds
- 1 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped, for garnish
Equipment
Instructions
- To marinate: In a medium bowl, combine the beef and vinegar and add enough water to cover the meat. Set aside and allow the beef to tenderize.
- Meanwhile, add all ingredients listed under ‘To Pressure Cook’ to the Instant Pot. Drain the beef, then rinse and add to the Instant Pot. Stir to mix. (No need to add water to the Instant Pot.)
- Close and seal the lid, then select the Meat/Stew Pressure Cook setting, with a timer set for 45 minutes on High Pressure. When the timer is up, allow pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the almonds: Place the almonds in a small microwave-safe bowl and add enough water to submerge. Microwave the almonds for 1 minute, then drain the water and rinse in cold water. Peel the skin off the almond and discard.
- Remove lid and Select High Sauté setting. Sauté until most of the moisture has dried up and the curry starts to thicken (~15 minutes). Gradually increase stirring as time goes on to prevent it from sticking to the bottom.
- Add the crushed ginger and peeled almonds and sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes or until the oil starts to separate from the curry. Taste and adjust salt. Cancel Sauté setting. Garnish with cilantro and serve with naan, roti, or other bread. Discard whole spices as you eat.
81 Comments on “Pakistani Beef Curry (Instant Pot)”
Amazing!!
Thank you!
Rating it a 5!
Hi Izzah, this is an awesome recipe that comes out really well every time I’ve made it. The only concern I have is the amount of shorba/salan – I have a lot of it and I rather it not be too much since it’s very liquidy then. How can I reduce that? Do you suggest I use less oil, onions, or yogurt? I’ve been doubling up with 2 lbs of meat. Thanks in advance!
Hi Zee, the way to decrease shorba would be to sauté it down longer. Since you’re using 2 lbs, it’ll take longer to sauté it down, causing shredding of the beef. To fix this, I suggest taking out the beef, sautéing down the liquid, then adding the beef back in toward the end so it picks up the masala. Hope that helps and let me know if any other questions!
Can I replace almonds with cashews or will that ruin the dish?
Hi Stef, I don’t think it’d ruin but you can always omit. They add taste and texture to the final dish so if you’d think you’d like it with cashews, I’d say go for it! 🙂
Hi there! This recipe sounds so great and I attempted it today. I believe I followed the instructions but I burned the meat quite quickly. Within 8 minutes of turning the pressure on, I could smell something burning so I quickly turned the pot off and released the steam. The meat was raw but the masala part had been burned black! The only liquid was from the yogurt.. but the recipe says that should have been sufficient. Not sure what I did wrong and I’m hoping you could help me trouble shoot.
Hi Huma, I’m sorry to hear that. A couple things I can think of is if you used very thick yogurt or greek yogurt which didn’t have enough water content. Or it be the type or size of the pressure cooker? (I use a 6 qt.)
Made this for the fam to accompany biryani that not everyone would eat. The recipe is perfect and love that you are doing so much with the instant pot becuse my entire life, even watching my grandma, pressure cookers scared the living out of me.
This recipe, like all of them, does not disappoint.
Thank you so much, Wendeth! I’m so happy that you’re trying and enjoying my recipes. 🙂
Every recipe I’ve tried has been delicious! There are never leftovers in my house. I’ve got this one in the IP now and can’t wait to try.
Thank you so much for your recipes!
Thank you so much, Saman! I’m so happy my recipes have worked out for you. Hope you enjoyed this one as well! 🙂
Hi i would like to add a vegetable like turnip to this! When would i add it?
Hi Charlene. Cubed turnips will need around 12 minutes in the Instant Pot. You can try cooking the beef halfway (around 30 minutes), then manually pressure release, add the turnips, and finish pressure cooking. Hope that helps!
A very tasty and quick recipe
Jazakallah
Thank you, Shakira!
What cut of beef is used here?
Chuck but you could use any stewing beef. Different parts may affect cooking time though!
Thanks- will try this!