Keema
Homemade keema recipe the way my grandma used to make it in her kitchen in Singapore.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 large onion (about 250 g (8.8 oz) pre peeled weight)
- 3 cloves garlic (or 1 Tbsp garlic paste)
- 1 inch piece of ginger (or 1 Tbsp ginger paste)
- 1 green chilli (mild or hot, up to you)
- 2 medium tomatoes
- 1 medium potato (waxy variety, see article)
- 2 sprigs curry leaves (optional)
- 1 handful fresh or frozen peas (petit pois are perfect)
- fresh coriander leaves to garnish
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3 Tbsp mild - medium curry powder
- ¼ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (or ghee)
- 500 g minced beef (10% fat is ideal) (lamb will work too)
- 250 ml water
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp tomato purée
- 1 Tbsp tomato ketchup (optional, to finish)
Instructions
- 1
Peel the onion, garlic and ginger and drop into a food chopper, along with the green chilli.Process them to a fairly fine paste.No food processor? Chop them all up finely.
- 2
Chop up the tomatoes into 8 pieces per tomato. Set aside.
- 3
Peel and chop the potato into little cubes, about 1cm wide (less than ½in).
- 4
Finely chop the coriander leaves and set aside.
- 5
Heat oil in a pan over medium-low heat. Add cumin seeds and curry leaves (if using) and let them splutter, cooking for about 30 seconds.
- 6
Add chopped aromatics, increasing the heat to medium and fry for 2 minutes.
- 7
Add the curry powder and turmeric powder and stir for 30 seconds.
- 8
Increase the heat to medium-high. Tip in the minced meat to the pan and cook until it turns brown, breaking up any lumps with the ladle. This should take about 3 minutes.
- 9
Once the meat is browned, add the tomatoes, potatoes, water, tomato purée and salt and mix well.
- 10
Bring to a simmer, cover, and let the meat and potatoes cook on low heat for 25 - 30 minutes. This will depend on the size and type of your potatoes.
- 11
When the keema is cooked, sprinkle the garam masala all over and stir well. Check seasoning and add more salt if necessary.
- 12
Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves all over and serve with rice or any flatbread or baguette.