Beef Bihari Boti Recipe (Dua Restaurant BBQ Style, Karachi)

Beef bihari boti at Dua Restaurant is thin, pasanda-cut beef soaked in a browned-onion marinade with a dozen spices, tikka masala and a little yogurt, then grilled over glowing coals and finished with butter. We filmed the whole process at Dua, one of Karachi’s best-known BBQ restaurants, and wrote down every amount the cook gives or shows on screen.

Watch the Beef Bihari Boti Video

The full video plays inside the recipe card below. To jump straight to one step, open it on YouTube:

• 0:00 Dua Restaurant intro
• 0:30 Onion 500 g
• 0:37 Ginger garlic paste
• 0:53 Pasanda-cut beef (4 kg)
• 1:12 Meetha soda
• 1:15 Crushed coriander
• 1:35 Black pepper
• 1:39 Garam masala
• 1:46 Chicken powder
• 1:51 Nutmeg and mace
• 2:01 White pepper
• 2:14 Cumin
• 2:20 Red chilli flakes
• 2:41 Turmeric and salt
• 2:46 Tikka masala in oil
• 3:19 Yogurt
• 3:33 Resting and skewering
• 4:35 Grilling on coals
• 4:51 Vegetable skewers
• 5:14 Butter finish
• 5:37 Plating

What Makes Dua’s Bihari Boti Different

Browned onion in the marinade. Half a kilo of onion is fried with ginger garlic paste until brown and mixed into the raw beef before any spice goes in. It gives the boti a deeper, slightly sweet base that a raw-onion marinade does not have.

A long, layered spice list. Twelve spices go on one at a time, from crushed coriander and garam masala to chicken powder, nutmeg, mace and white pepper. The 7–8 tbsp of red chilli flakes make it properly hot.

Tikka masala in oil, and very little yogurt. 50 g of ready-made tikka masala is loosened with oil before it goes in, and only 150 g of yogurt is used for 4 kg of meat, so the marinade clings to the beef instead of dripping into the coals.

Butter, not oil. Dua does not use cooking oil on the grill. Butter goes on at the end, and much of the aroma comes from it.

Beef Bihari Boti Ingredients

The beef must be pasanda cut: ask your butcher to slice it into thin layers, the same cut used for pasanda curry. Thin layers are what let the boti cook through in 10–12 minutes. Meetha soda is ordinary baking soda and softens the meat; chicken powder is chicken stock powder.

The Dua batch column is exactly what the cook says or what appears on screen in the video. The home column is that recipe divided by 4 and rounded to kitchen measures. Items marked * are not stated in the video and are our estimate. The on-screen label for meetha soda reads “Metha Soda / Baking Powder”; meetha soda is baking soda, which is what we use.

Step-by-Step: How Dua Makes Bihari Boti

1. Fry the onion with ginger garlic paste

Heat the oil and add the finely sliced onion. Add the ginger garlic paste (finely chopped ginger and garlic is even better, the cook says) and keep cooking until the onion turns brown.

2. Mix the onion into the pasanda-cut beef

Tip the browned onion over the beef and mix it in well with your hands so every layer of meat is coated.

3. Add the spices one by one

Spread each spice over the beef in this order: meetha soda, crushed coriander, black pepper, garam masala, chicken powder, nutmeg and mace, white pepper, cumin, red chilli flakes, turmeric and salt. Adding them in layers makes it easy to see that nothing has been missed.

4. Add tikka masala and yogurt

Mix the tikka masala with a little cooking oil into a paste and add it. Now mix everything very thoroughly; the cook says the better the mixing, the better the BBQ tastes. Then add the yogurt and mix again.

5. Rest, then skewer

Leave the beef for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature. You can keep it in the fridge instead, but do not let it freeze; it should only be lightly chilled. Thread the strips tightly onto skewers.

6. Grill over low to medium coals

Heat the coals until they glow red, then set the skewers over them. Grill on low to medium heat; the cook warns that high heat spoils the taste. Grill a skewer of green chillies, tomato and onion at the same time. The boti usually takes 10 to 12 minutes.

7. Finish with butter

Put butter over the boti as it finishes on the grill. This is Dua’s signature step: no cooking oil, only butter, for flavour and aroma.

The Complete Beef Bihari Boti Recipe

Beef Bihari Boti (Dua Restaurant Style)

Pasanda-cut beef marinated in browned onion, a dozen spices, tikka masala and yogurt, grilled over coals and finished with butter, as made at Dua Restaurant, Karachi.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Marinating 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 32 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Karachi / Pakistani, Restaurant Style

Calories: 450

Ingredients Method Video Notes

Ingredients

  

Beef and onion base

• 1 kg beef pasanda cut (thin layers)
• 125 g onion finely sliced (1 medium)
• 3 tbsp cooking oil to fry the onion*
• ¾ tbsp ginger garlic paste

Spices

• ¼ tsp meetha soda baking soda
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds crushed
• 2 tsp black pepper powder
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp chicken powder heaped
• 1 pinch nutmeg powder
• 1 pinch mace powder
• ¼ tsp white pepper powder
• ¾ tsp cumin powder
• 1¾–2 tbsp red chilli flakes use less for mild
• ¾ tsp turmeric
• ¾ tbsp salt or to taste

Tikka masala and yogurt

• 12 g tikka masala any brand (about 1½ tbsp)
• 1 tbsp cooking oil to loosen the tikka masala*
• 40 g yogurt about 2½ tbsp

To finish and serve

• 1–2 tbsp butter *
• green chillies, tomato and onion for vegetable skewers
• lemon, lettuce and fresh coriander for serving

Method

 

Marinate

1. Heat the oil and fry the sliced onion. Add the ginger garlic paste and cook until the onion turns brown.
2. Add the browned onion to the pasanda-cut beef and mix well.
3. Add the spices one by one: meetha soda, crushed coriander, black pepper, garam masala, chicken powder, nutmeg and mace, white pepper, cumin, red chilli flakes, turmeric and salt.
4. Loosen the tikka masala with a little oil, add it and mix thoroughly. Add the yogurt and mix again.
5. Rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature, or keep lightly chilled in the fridge. Do not freeze.

Grill and serve

1. Thread the beef tightly onto skewers. Make a separate skewer of green chillies, tomato and onion.
2. Heat the coals until they glow red. Grill on low to medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, turning often.
3. Put butter over the boti as it finishes on the grill.
4. Serve on a lettuce-lined plate with lemon, the grilled vegetables and a little fresh coriander.

Video

Notes

The video cooks 4 kg of beef; this card is the same recipe divided by 4 for 1 kg. Items marked * are our estimate because the video does not give an amount. The full 4 kg amounts are in the table in the post.

Bihari Boti Problems and How to Fix Them

• Tough or chewy: the beef was cut too thick or grilled on high heat. Use thin pasanda layers, keep the coals at low to medium and do not go much past 12 minutes.
• Burnt outside, raw inside: the coals were still flaming. Wait until they glow red before the skewers go on.
• Too salty: salt, chicken powder and tikka masala all carry salt. At home, add the salt last and fry one small test piece before seasoning the whole batch (our tip).
• Too hot: the chilli flakes are generous. For a milder boti, use about 1 tbsp per kg instead (our suggestion).
• Marinade not sticking: mix for longer. The oil-loosened tikka masala and small amount of yogurt should form a thick coating.

No Coal Grill? Our Suggestions

The video uses a coal grill only. If you do not have one, these methods work (our suggestions, not shown in the video): cook the skewers on a very hot grill pan, turning often, for about 8–10 minutes; or grill them under the oven’s top element on its highest setting. Finish with butter and, for smoky flavour, give the cooked boti a coal smoke (dhungar) for 2 minutes in a covered pot.

Serving and Storing Bihari Boti

Dua serves the boti on a lettuce-lined platter with lemon slices, the grilled green chillies, tomato and onion, and a sprinkle of fresh coriander. At home it goes well with paratha or naan, onion rings, mint raita and green chutney.

Cook the marinated beef within a day and keep it chilled, not frozen, until then. Cooked boti keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days; reheat it in a pan with a little butter (our guidance).

Beef Bihari Boti FAQs

Is bihari boti the same as bihari kabab?

They are close relatives: both use thin, pasanda-cut beef on skewers, and the names overlap in Karachi. This Dua version builds its marinade on browned onion, tikka masala and a long spice list, and finishes with butter. For another restaurant’s method, see our Beef Bihari Kabab Recipe (Khyber Shinwari Restaurant Style).

Why is meetha soda added?

Meetha soda (baking soda) tenderises the beef so the thin strips stay soft after a quick grill. Use very little: 1 tsp for 4 kg in the video, or ¼ tsp per kg.

Which tikka masala should I use?

Any brand works. The video uses Shan tikka masala, 50 g for 4 kg of beef.

How long should the beef marinate?

The cook rests it for 30 minutes to 1 hour at room temperature. You can use the fridge instead, but do not freeze it; it should only be lightly chilled before skewering.

Where is Dua Restaurant?

Dua Restaurant has several branches in Karachi. The Clifton branch is near Bilawal House Chowrangi; search “Dua Restaurant” on Google Maps to find the nearest one.

More Karachi BBQ Recipes

• Beef Bihari Kabab Recipe (Khyber Shinwari Restaurant Style)
• Chatpata Mutton Chops BBQ: 5 Best Secrets from Dua Restaurant
• Mutton Chops Karahi: 5 Best Secrets from Karachi’s Famous Dua Restaurant
• Chicken Reshmi Kabab Recipe (Soft BBQ Kabab, Khyber Shinwari Method)
• Peshawari Chapli Kabab Recipe — Khyber Shinwari Karachi Style