Meat Pilau

Ingredients
4 Cups Rice or 1 kg (Mwea Pishori is the best so far)
Cup cooking oil (Not enough oil makes the pilau very dry and dull)
2 large Onions chopped
8 to 10 Cloves garlic crushed
Kg Meat(option either beef or goat meat)
2 to three Heaped Tablespoons Tomato Paste ( kale ka tomato paste kadogo works out to
that much)
1 heaped Tablespoon sugar(Dont look at me like thatits the secret they never tell
you!)
4 Teaspoons ground Pilau Masala ( Tropical heat is the best everything is in the right
proportion even ginger)
8 cups Water
Salt
Directions
-

Boil the meat till tender( you can skip this bit too if you do not like your meat too
soft), keep the broth for cooking too.
In a pan pour the oil, heat , pour the onion and Fry to golden brown( Big mistake
never let the onions burn , pilau itakuwa kali!!!)
Put in the meat, salt and fry till brown (if you did not pre boil let the juices dry
up)
Put the garlic , pilau masala, sugar and tomato paste, stir for 2 minutes to prevent
sticking or burning
Let the mixture cook in roughly half a cup of water or the broth for about 5
minutes(by now the neighbours should be able to tell there is some pilau cooking
somewhere!!)
Pour in the water and let it boil(please taste the salt at this point, the soup and a
piece of meat should tell u whether all is well, saltless pilau si poa.!
Pour in the rice (please do not wash the rice too early, we are not making ugali
here!!!) and let it boil
Reduce the heat and cover( If you are using a charcoal jiko or have an oven heat
should not be an issue)
Those using the jiko or oven , let the rice cook until the water is almost over then
put in pre heated oven to dry or transfer the coal on to the lid , this prevents
burning! Cook for ten minutes ,( u can always check if the rice is ooked si
dhambi!)
Now in the unlikely event that the rice dries up and is well not cooked, add a cup
or two of warm water, stir with a fork( Not wooden spoon , we dont want mashed
rice here!) and let it cook

If you are cooking smaller portions remember 1 teaspoon of masala per cup of rice,
reduce sugar as well. For oil put enough to cover your onions, just ensure there is a layer
of oil on top when you add in the water thats before it boils.
Iko swali? Simple enough isnt it?