Kheema matar or chicken mince is a popular Indian dish. Top it on pizza and it becomes a delicious treat. Spicy chicken mince pizza for the win!
THE INSIDES
“If you get the insides rights, the outsides fall into place.”
The older I get, the more comfortable I feel with myself. Whether it’s my introverted side, which I discovered recently, or just accepting the now, the present, not only of ourselves but of others, I’m learning and improving everyday.
It’s a very simple proposition—loving yourself. Loving oneself comes from self-acceptance, and the ability to unconditionally value all the parts of yourself. Easier said than done, one might say, but in reality, it’s a subconscious effort of taking steps.
Human nature is as such that one will love oneself if they lose weight, get a raise, more money, more vacations, job, a girlfriend/boyfriend or whatever else it might be. That’s conditional love. We must accept ourselves, love ourselves, unconditionally.
I had a huge epiphany a few years ago. An incident that shook us to the core. Life is short. That realization led me to believe that anything can happen, so being kind to myself had become a priority.
Love is an action, not how you feel about yourself, physically, or your status. It’s what you do for yourself. You can only love yourself by doing, not thinking. Execute feats of love, feats of respect, for your own benefit.
Educate yourself. Learn. Equip yourself with skills, languages, abilities and arts, photography classes, a pottery class, anything you want. Developing skills is the most immediate and liberating way to shoot your self-esteem through the roof.
You simply cannot love others until you love yourself.
So, on that note: Cheers to a beautiful August. Love, and be kind to yourself.
This is one of those iconic dishes that’s quite easy to make and really does satisfy the meat craving. I tend to use chicken mince often, but do indulge in goat mince once in a while. It’s quite a versatile dish and is eaten with rotis, naan, a pizza like this or my new favorite, layer it with basmati rice and you have a great kheema biryani.
Make sure not to use too much oil while making this dish since, there is a tiny bit of fat while they make the mince. If you make the mince at home, adding a little bit of fat ensures a good finished dish. You can add potatoes and make it a little bit watery if you prefer.
This dish literally comes together in an hour. The quick no rise pizza dough is one that I have been using for years. You can read the post here Quick 30 minute pizza. You can top it with some paneer, mozzarella and bake it in a high oven until the cheese melts.
Definitely give this a try, it’s one of my go to to entertain meat-pizza lovers when there’s less time and many to feed.
Thanks for reading. Have a great day!!
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Have a fabulous week.
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 red onion or 3 shallots finely chopped
- 3 green chilies thinly sliced horizontally
- 2 tsp fresh ginger-garlic paste
- 1 small tomato finely diced
- 2 tsp pure red chili powder,more or less depending on your spice level
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- ⅓ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp thick yogurt
- 1 cup peas(you can par boil it or if frozen sweet peas, add in the end)
- 1 pounds Ground chicken or ground lamb
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- ½ bunch coriander leaves,finely chopped to garnish
- Cucumber and tomato salad to top on the pizza for some freshness.
- 11/2 cup of water at 110 degrees
- 1 packet of active dry yeast-1 tbsp
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4-5 cups +1/3 cups of Bread flour(works best) PLUS some flour for dusting and making the pizza
- 1 tsp salt
- In a large kadahi or non stick pan, add the oil and let it get hot. Add the cumin, let it pop and add the finely chopped onion and saute for a minute. Then add the ginger garlic paste, green chilies and saute for another minute. Add the tomatoes, red chili powder, garam masala, turmeric powder and saute and cook for another 2 minutes until you see the tomatoes disintegrated a little.
- Add the yogurt, uncooked fresh peas at this point and ground chicken or lamb and make sure to break it up and toss, saute well for 2 minutes. Cover and cook for 15 minutes on medium flame.
- While the meat is cooking, crush the black pepper and the garlic with a mortar and pestle and set aside.
- After about 15 minutes, open the lid and check if it is fully cooked. Uncover and dry the masala for 5 minutes. If you use frozen or par cooked peas, add it at this point. Add the crushed pepper and garlic, cilantro and saute well. Turn off the heat after a minute of adding the crushed garlic and pepper.
- In a large mixing bowl add the warm water with the yeast. Add sugar and let it bubble up for 10 minutes.
- After it has bubbled, add the salt and 1 cup of bread flour, mix with a wooden spatula. Once it's all incorporated, add ½ cup of bread flour and mix again with a wooden spatula. Keep adding ½ cup of bread flour in intervals until the dough is formed into a ball, not too sticky or very dry. When you take it out on a floured surface, it will be slightly sticky, elastic, but not too sticky. Knead for a minute and form a ball and let sit for 5 minutes. Do not make it too dry. My dough used 3½ cup total bread flour. If the dough is too wet, add a tablespoon of flour at a time to bring it together. Rest the dough for 5-10 minutes.
- You can make 2 medium pizzas or 1 large pizza.
- Roll the pizza dough, sprinkle some mozzarella cheese on the edges and bake at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes and take it out and top with anything.
- Top the pizza base with the minced chicken, some fresh cucumber and tomato salad and serve immediately.
You can cook basmati rice, layer it with this mince and top it well with some fried onions, lots of chopped cilantro and mint and keep in the dum or indirect flame for 15 minutes for mince chicken biryani.
Such a wonderful, positive post, Asha! And gorgeous pictures of a lovely twist on the pizza 🙂
Very beautifully written. Very positive thoughts & kind words., we do tend to forget how important is “Loving oneself”. Thank you for the reminder! ?.
Pizza looks yummy too
Certain things come with age and experience. It took a lot of lows (really bad ones) for me to start understanding the importance of loving myself. And then reading the Bhagvat Gita helped me further calm myself and find love at an even deeper level.
A very well written post Asha. And as Bina said, gorgeous post! We sometimes have keema with pav bread. Makes for a nice meal.
Such good words Asha, to be kind to ourselves. So true. And this looks like a beautiful dinner. xo
Such a beautifully written post, Asha. I love the creative twist of pizza and since the combo of mince and peas is my favourite, this is definitely a must try for me.
Lovely recipe Asha and even lovelier message. Only after two kids babe I realized how much for granted we take ourselves. Your post is a fitting reminder. Thanks so much for sharing…really needed it today of all the days!
What good words Asha! We need these wonderful reminders all the time. Thank you for sharing!
Reading your posts makes me realize how bad I miss blogging! Your posts are real inspiration to me girl! Keep up the good work!
I love keema Mattar (I add the mixed veggies) and they are so easy to make and perfectly fits for weekday dinner option. Adding it to pizza even made the things easier around kids. Loved the idea!
Innovation at its best. Beautiful words (As usual) and delicious recipe. I’ll remember this for my cheat days! I am a huge fan!
Innovation at its best. Beautiful words (As usual) and delicious recipe. I’ll remember this for my cheat days!
What a wonderful post Ash! You’re so right; One must first and foremost accept and love oneself with all his/her flaws and strengths!
As for the recipe, this totally reminded us of Lahmajoun, a Middle-eastern treat with ground beef and peppers:) This Indian version is a totally new approach for us and we’re definitely trying this out soon!:)
Sending you our love!
Off we go to read the chickpea rolls!:)