East African beef pilau with homemade pilau masala

For the pilau masala, toast a teaspoon of cloves, two tablespoons of cumin seeds, half a tablespoon of black peppercorns, twelve cardamom pods and a cinnamon stick until aromatic.

Grind the toasted spices smooth in a coffee grinder or any dry grinder; set aside.

Heat oil in the pan and add the sliced onions; cook down 10 to 15 minutes until well browned, reduced and caramelized.

Meanwhile dice the serrano pepper and the tomatoes, chop the cilantro, and peel the potatoes and cut each into six to eight pieces; rinse and drain them.

Add the serrano, grated ginger and minced garlic to the onions and cook about a minute until aromatic.

Add the beef, the masala, salt to taste, bay leaves and cilantro; mix to coat, cover and brown the meat 8 to 10 minutes. Browning the meat is what browns the rice.

Add the diced tomatoes and cook about 45 minutes, until they release all their liquid.

Add the potatoes and water, bring to a rolling boil and cook the potatoes about 10 minutes.

Stir in the washed basmati rice, cover with foil to keep the steam in so the grains cook evenly and separate, and cook 20 to 25 minutes until done.