One of the most popular Indian street food, Kheema pav is spicy curry dish made with minced meat (beef, lamb or chicken) onion, tomato, freshly ground masala and served with buttered and toasted pav (rolls/buns).
It serves the purpose of a complete meal with a side of some salad, onion slices and lemon wedges. Hence it can be had for breakfast with a cup of tea/cofee or lunch or even dinner.
The recipe below might seem a bit lengthy, but trust me it’s worth all the effort. The whole spices can be substituted with respective spice powders but it won’t taste the same as the one with roasted and ground spice paste.
Let’s cook up some Kheema and serve with pav shall we?
INGREDIENTS
Serves – 6-8
A. To Roast and Grind ( Spice paste)
- Black Pepper – 1.5 tsp
- Fennel – 1.5 tsp
- Cumin – 1.5 tsp
- Coriander – 2 tbsp
- Kashmiri Red Chilli – 3
- Guntur Chillies/Any spicy dried chillies – 4
- Cloves – 3
- Cardamom – 2
- Star Anise – 1
- Cinnamon – 2-3 inch piece
- Oil – 2 tsp
- Garlic – 6 cloves
- Ginger – 2 inch piece
- Turmeric powder – ½ tsp
- Fried onions (Optional) – 1.5 tbsp
B. For Kheema
- Lamb Mince/Kheema – 500gms ( washed and drained)
- Bay leaf – 1-2
- Black Cardamom – 1
- Onion – 1 medium, Finely chopped
- Green chilli – 1, slit
- Tomato – 2 medium, finely chopped
- Yoghurt – 1.5 tbsp
- Potato – 1 medium, cubed
- Peas – ½ – ¾ cup
- Spice paste
- Water – ½ cup
- Lime juice – 1tbsp
- Oil – 2tbsp
- Salt – to taste
- Butter – 1tbsp
- Coriander – Finely chopped, to garnish
METHOD
1. Dry roast the ingredients 1-10 listed in A till you get a nice aroma. Keep aside to cool.
2. Heat some oil, and add the garlic and ginger. Fry till the garlic starts browning. Take off the flame and let it cool.
3. Take all the roasted ingredients in a blender. Add the fried onion.
4. Also add ½ tsp turmeric powder.
5. Grind to a smooth paste with some water. Keep aside.
6. Set the Instant pot to sauté mode. Once heated, add the oil. Once the oil is hot enough, add bay leaf and black cardamom. Let the cardamom crackle.
7. Add the finely chopped onion and slit green chilli. Sauté till the onion softens and starts browning.
8. Add the tomato and sauté till the tomato turns mushy.
9. Add the spice paste and mix well. Cook for a minute and add the yoghurt. Mix well and cook.
10. When the whole mixture leaves oil, add the kheema and mix well. Break any lumps if present.
11. Add the cubed potatoes and peas. Mix well and add some salt.
12. Add the water. Mix well and add the butter on top.
13. Close the instant pot lid and set it on pressure cook mode (high) for 5 minutes. Let the pressure drop naturally. Open the lid and stir in the lime juice and mix well.
14. Garnish with finely chopped coriander and serve hot with buttered pav/rolls/buns.
NOTES
- If cooking in a pressure cooker, follow steps 6-12. Close the lid and pressure cook for 1 whistle. Let the pressure drop naturally.
- Make it vegan by using soy meat/soy chunks.
- You can use chilli powder, coriander powder instead on using the whole spice, but you wont get the burst of flavour from the spices.
- Adding potato helps thicken the gravy. It’s optional though.
- Adding the fried onions to make the spice paste is completely optional.
The Greedy Tummy 