Kheema Mattar
By: Feral Cooks
Published: Saturday, July 8, 2017 - 10:38am

Ingredients




2T vegetable oil, or ghee, if you have it
2t cumin seeds
1 large onion, ¼-inch chop
1T garlic and ginger paste (if you don’t have any, throw some chopped garlic and peeled ginger in a food processor)
2 bay leaves
1t curry powder, hot, mild or sweet
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1t ground coriander
0.5t chili powder
0.25t ground turmeric
pinch of sugar
pinch or two of salt
½t ground pepper
about 1 lb lean ground beef or lamb
2.25 cups of still-frozen peas

Preparation

1 Heat the oil or ghee in a large fry pan on medium heat. When the oil’s hot, add the cumin seeds and cook for about 30 seconds, until they start crackling. 2 Add the onion, garlic and ginger paste, bay leaves and curry powder and fry until the onion starts to soften. 3 Add the chopped tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes, then add the coriander, chili powder, turmeric, sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for about 30 seconds. 4 Add the ground beef and cook for about 5 minutes, until the meat is no longer pink. Then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. 5 Add the frozen peas and simmer for 10-15 more minutes, until the peas are hot. If there is liquid in the pan, just keep the pan on the heat and let the extra liquid cook off. 6 Serve with naan, basmati rice or another of your favorite Indian side dishes.

About

Many Indian foods can take a long time to cook, are somewhat complicated, and require a vast array of ingredients that many folks don’t keep on hand. Kheema Mattar does not fit that mold. It’s a quick dinner that’s easy and cheap to make.