Madras Kheema Curry

Keema or Kheema Curry is a robust, peppery curry dish made with minced chicken or lamb cooked with earthy spices! It’s not the most well known dish, but to the people who’ve eaten this curry in Chennai know it’s worth. Serve this with dosa, idli or appam.  Enjoy a blissful meal.

If you’re like me and yearn to cook something different, hearty, homemade and comforting food with the thought of eating something to warm up your senses in any weather then this is just the excuse to stroke that indulgence.

Kheema is a traditional Indian dish made of spiced ground meat, usually combined with peas or potatoes. Usually made with chicken or lamb, however it’s also great with ground turkey or beef. This dish however is inspired by a recipe that was written in my diary twenty years ago.  It was called Madras Style Chicken Kurma that called for whole chicken.

The day I decided to make this curry from my diary, I had only chicken mince. This kheema curry was born. I love this dish because it is easy to make and tastes great. This is not a traditional dish that you find in restaurants or even in many households.  I haven’t heard many people make this, and when you get to taste the authentic one with the whole chicken especially in simple hole-in-the-wall places in Chennai, you’ll never forget the taste.

I love making this super quick Kheema Curry on Sunday mornings with dosa and it takes only 30 minutes. That’s the beauty of using chicken or lamb mince.

Although peas are traditional in Indian Kheema, you’d probably want to omit them in this one, you don’t want any sweetness. Add chunky potatoes and you’ll love it.  They do add a wonderful burst of color as well as texture and flavor to the dish.

WHAT IS KHEEMA?

Kheema is another word for minced meat. In India, this dish is often made with ground lamb or goat. But you can make your Indian Kheema recipe with chicken or even turkey if you prefer that. While the dish traditionally includes peas you can omit them for a lower carb dish.

Really the only thing I’d suggest that you’re careful about is the quality of garam masala you use. I’d highly recommend making your own Garam Masala recipe, but if you’d rather purchase it.

Kheema Curry

This kheema curry uses fresh spices, that is where the flavor comes from.  Do not rush the toasting process, and use fresh coconut or frozen, never the dry one.

Serve this kheema curry with dosa to enjoy it to the fullest. Rice will do too, but dosa, idli or appam will take it to the next level.

Madras Kheema Curry

 

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Kheema Curry is a robust, peppery curry dish made with minced chicken or lamb cooked with onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and earthy spices! It's not the most well known dish, but to the people who've eaten this curry in Chennai know it's worth. Serve this with nothing other than dosa, idli or appam.

Author: Ash

Recipe type: Lunch, Dinner, Entree

Cuisine: Indian

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• Oil - 3 tbsp
• Curry Leaves -10
• Onion - 1 cup, 1 finely chopped
• Ginger garlic paste – 1 tbsp, fresh
• Chicken mince or Mutton kheema - ½ pound or 500 grams
• Tomato - 2 large, pureed 1 cup
• Turmeric powder - ½ tsp
• Salt - as needed
• 2 potatoes diced to 2 inch pieces

Masala To Roast and grind:

• Pepper - 1 tsp
• Cinnamon – 1’’ stick
• Cloves – 3
• Fennel seeds – 1 tsp
• Coriander seeds – 2 tsp
• Dry red chillies - 6-8 according to your spice level
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Raw rice – 1 tbsp
• Roasted gram dal/ pottukadalai – 1 tsp
• Fresh grated Coconut – 5 tbsp
• Khus Khus or poppy seeds - 1 tbsp

Garnish

• Cilantro

Instructions

Masala

1. Take a flat bottomed pan and keep it over medium heat, dry roast the pepper, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, fennel seeds, dry red chilies, cumin seeds, raw rice, roasted gram, poppy seeds on low heat until it's lightly toasted and you can smell the spices. This will take about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add coconut and grind it in a blender with ½ cup water to a semi smooth paste. Do not grind it to a very smooth consistency. It has to be smooth but not pasty smooth. Set aside.
2. In a heavy bottomed pan, pour the oil and let it get hot. Toss in the curry leaves, onion and saute and brown it for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Carefully add the ginger garlic paste and saute for a minute. Add the chicken mince, salt and turmeric and keep stirring until it is all broken up and browned a little. Next, add in the tomato puree and saute for 2-3 minutes on high heat. Now add the ground masala paste and 1 cup of water. Toss in the diced potatoes. Turn the heat to medium and cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked well. Take off the lid and let it boil for another 3 minutes.
3. Add some chopped cilantro and serve HOT with some dosa or idli

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If you try this kheema curry let me know how much you love it! If you try it, please leave me a comment below with your feedback and star rating.

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