Keema Matar is one of our favorite one pot, easy and very flavorful meal. It comes together in under a hour and is perfect to add to your midweek meal rotation. It’s delicious with steamed rice, chapati, crisp romaine leaves and also in brioche buns.
Matar, is green peas in Hindi and several languages in the sub continent, it adds a burst of sweetness and subtly flavor to keema, making it a popular combo to Keema(mince).
Tips For Keema Matar
- Tomato: To make the keema a bit saucy to pair with rice or roti/flatbreads, I like to add a couple of tomatoes. Simply chop them finely or blitz them down in a chopper or food processor to release enough juice to cook the keema. Roma tomatoes or similar tomatoes with less juice is ideal, or use up to 1/2 cup water. To pair keema with brioche or top a pizza I skip the tomatoes and simply use lemon juice.
- The Ground Meat: most Keema recipes on the internet will be written for beef, lamb or goat meat. All three are great. But because those meats are not in our regular family diet, the recipe we make is either with turkey or chicken grounds. Other than cooking times any of the meats could be used. I recommend using the best quality grounds, it makes a huge difference. I also suggest not to use vey lean meat, a little fat is needed for flavor, texture and keep the curry moist.
- Spices: As always Indian curries includes the trilogy of onions, garlic, ginger in addition to ground coriander, garam masala, green chillies, chili powder. I don’t use whole spices here other than a bay leaf which can easily be pulled out once the cooking is done.
- Versatility: Keema is a bit like an Indian version of Sloppy Joe, One of our favorite ways to use it is in brioche buns, its also delicious in Romaine/Boston Bibb lettuce for a light low carb meal option. Other ways to use it are as topping for pizza, flatbreads or pita. Fill them in puff pastry for an adapted version of samosas. The uses are limited by your imagination pretty much!
- Storage: Keema Matar can be refrigerated up to 2-3 days in covered container. To freeze cool and transfer to a freezer safe container and freeze for up to 3 months. To use from freezer simply thaw in the fridge overnight, warm with a splash of water.
Keema Matar~ Curried Mince with Peas
Equipment
- saute pan
Ingredients
- 1 lb quality ground Chicken or Turkey*** see notes for other meats I don’t recommend totally lean meat, a little fat is needed for taste and texture
- 2-3 tbsp avocado or olive oil or ghee use as needed
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1-2 small bay leaf
- 1 tsp minced garlic, about 4-5
- 1 tsp heaped ginger
- 1 medium-large onion, chopped
- 1-2 green chillies, chopped or as needed
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ¾ tsp ground turmeric
- ¾ tsp Kashmiri red chili powder or milld paprika
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 large tomato chopped
- 1 heaped cup fresh or frozen green peas
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ⅓ cup freshly chopped cilantro
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ¾ tsp Kosher salt
Instructions
- Warm oil in a saute pan. Add the cumin seeds, baby leaf and onion and sauté until the onions are golden brown, about 8 minutes.
- Add the garlic and ginger and stir for a minute, until the raw flavor of garlic has dissapeared. Add the ground chicken and cook for 5 minutes, stirring and breaking the clumps with the edge of the spatula. Saute until the meat is no longer pink.
- Add the crushed tomato, green chili pepper coriander powder, turmeric, paprika or Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric, and Kosher salt. Sauté for another 2 minutes, until the tomatoes start to reduce and everything starts to comes together. The meat will release some moisture and the curry to come to a gentle bubble. You can splash some water if the curry looks a little dry. (Depending on the pan the moist can evaporate quickly. e:g cast iron vs nonstick)
- Lower the heat to simmer, cover and allow it to cook for 8-10 minutes,(LONGER FOR RED MEATS) stirring occasionally.Splash some more water if needed.
- Stir in the peas, Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the peas are heated through. Sprinkle the black pepper, garam masala, and chopped cilantro and sauté for another minute. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Squeeze in lemon or lime juice. Serve hot as suggested above.
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