Recipe : Minced Meat and Peas

Keema Mutter is the Indian version of Chili, only it is made with mince and peas, and is very popular. It is made with minced mutton and peas, but can be made equally well with minced lamb or beef. It can be cooked as a thick gravy or also as a dry dish. It is normally served with Indian flat-breads like Nan or Roti or with rice pilaf.

Ingredients

2 cups - Mince meat (lamb or mutton)
3/4 cup - Green peas
1 big - Onion, chopped finely

1'' piece Ginger grated

4-6 cloves of garlic crushed
2 medium - Tomatoes chopped finely
2 small - Cinnamon sticks
2 pods - Cardamom seeds, crushed
3 - Cloves
1 - Bay leaf
1/2 tsp - Coriander powder
1/2 tsp - Turmeric powder
1/2 tsp - Cumin powder
1/2 tsp - Red chili powder

Salt to taste

1 cup whole milk yogurt (optional) for garnish

1 1/2 inch ginger julienned (for the garnish)
Coriander leaves to garnish

Method

1) Mix coriander, turmeric, red chili and cumin powder with little water, salt to taste and set aside.

2) Pound together the Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leave coarsely

2 ) Heat oil in a pan and fry onions until golden brown. Add garlic, ginger, tomatoes, cardamom, Cinnamon, cloves, bay leaf and fry for 3 - 4 minutes. Add the powder paste and continue frying for a minute.

3 ) Add minced meat and fry for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally until meat turns brown. Add 1 and 1/4th cup boiling water to the meat. Add the peas. Cover and cook on low heat until meat and peas are cooked and the gravy is thick. Now you can further cook without the lid, till all the water is used up. Add little oil and fry the meat.

Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the julienned ginger, yogurt, and cilantro or coriander leaves.

Serve it hot, with your favorite Indian bread or with rice pilaf

Note : The yogurt makes it slightly sour, and is not preferred by some people. So many cooks do not add the yogurt and just garnish the dish with julienned ginger and coriander