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Been to the Coast of Kenya? Then you must know how the locals cherish their most favorite rice dish, ‘pilau’ and they serve it with kachumbari.Good enough, the dish has spread all over the country and everyone loves the popular dish including me.

I mean,

A wedding without pilau isn’t complete!

A graduation without the yummy coastal dish is incomplete!

And a retreat without pilau cannot just happen!

So, when we had our retreat at Paradise Lost, we had the chance of preparing the rice dish for all of us. It couldn’t just miss on the menu! As much as we had a lot of chapattis and peas stew on the menu, pilau was the king!

What’s great about the dish is the aroma! The dish is full of spices thus produces such an aroma that would invite you at the table without any second thoughts.

Forget ‘pilau njeri’ , this is how to make the real ‘ beef pilau’ like a local from the coast. The recipe was courtesy of Grace Bako who is an absolute master in the kitchen and good enough, has spent a significant time of her life living at the Coast.

Ride along…

BEEF PILAU WITH KACHUMBARI

Preparation Time: 2 hours.

Servings: For 14 people.

INGREDIENTS

FOR PILAU

I cup of oil.

5 medium onions, chopped.

5 medium carrots, grated.

10 big, ripe tomatoes, diced.

I bulb of garlic, ground the cloves of garlic to fineness.

3 fruits of green pepper, cubed.

3 tablespoons full of masala.

Freshly ground black pepper.

Freshly ground cardamom.

4 kg of beef, cut into small pieces and cooked before with pawpaw to tenderize it.

3kg (6 cups) Dawaat Basmati rice rinsed and soaked.

12 cups of water (to cook the rice)

A bunch of coriander leaves.

Salt to taste.

FOR KACHUMBARI

5 bulbs of big onions, diced.

20 medium-sized ripe tomatoes, circled.

A bunch of coriander leaves.

Salt to taste.

4 lemons to taste.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE BEEF PILAU

1. Heat the oil in a larger cooking pot.
2. Add the onions and stir until they brown before adding the grounded garlic and ginger.
3. Put the carrots inside the pot, season with salt then stir to cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. After they brown, add the black pepper, cardamom, and ‘pilau’ masala. Cook for a few minutes till they darken up in the pot.
5. Add the tomatoes, green pepper and coriander leaves. Let them cook to softness.
6. Add the beef in the pot making sure to let it absorb the juices of the spices and cook for about 4 minutes.
7. Pour in water to cook the rice inside the pot and let it boil.
8. Add the rinsed rice in the boiling water and let it simmer uncovered until the rice runs almost dry.
9. Cover the pot and reduce the temperature to allow the rice to sit for around 10 minutes till it’s ready.
10. Remove the rice and serve the ‘beef pilau’ immediately with ‘kachumbari’ and drinks.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE KACHUMBARI

• In a large bowl, mix up the onions, tomatoes and coriander leaves.
• Spice it up with salt to taste and squeeze a little lemon juice over the bowl.

HOW TO SERVE

Top the ‘kachumbari ‘over the ‘beef pilau’ on your plate and enjoy!

There you have it! We prepared the recipe at Paradise Lost together with Grace Bako being the chief chef. After which, we ate together as a family over conversations we had and snapshot moments. Good enough, we had a lot of soft drinks, chapattis and peas stew on the menu too as well as fruits and drinking water for a balanced diet.

How awesome!

*Black pepper makes the beef pilau spicy hot so if you don’t appreciate spicy dishes, please omit that. Otherwise, you can always use a small amount of it or a lot depending on your taste.

Well, do you love the beef pilau?

Or would you be willing to prepare it?

Please share your thoughts with me below…

Hugs!

Dalene.