Dam ka keema is one of my favourites in Pakistani home cooking. It is an ideal dish for all sort of parties, lunch or dinner & sehri/ suhoor in Ramadan. It is best served with plain paratha & rumaali roti but goes good with daal chaawal as well.

Try it & let me know how you go….

Ingredients

• 1 kg mincemeat (mutton/ beef)
• 6 medium sized onions, sliced
• 1 cup oil
• 2 tbspns ginger garlic & green chilli paste
• 1.5 cup yogurt (a bit sour)
• Coal, for tempering
• 4 desi moti green chillies/ 2 Bengali green chillies
• 4 tbspns coriander leaves
• ½ cup mint leaves
• 7 – 8 almonds
• ¼ cup roasted chickpeas
• 2 tbspns ginger juliennes
• 1 lemon

SPICES

• ½ tspn poppy seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbspns red chilli flakes & powder (heapful)
• 1 tspn turmeric (heapful)
• 1 tbspn meat tenderizer (raw papaya paste)
• 1 tbspn coriander powder
• 1 tbspn roasted and crushed cumin
• 1 tspn black pepper
• 1 tspn kasuri methi, ½ tspn nigella seeds & 2 tbspns pomegranate seeds (make powder together)
• 1 tbspn Shan Bihari masala
• Garam masala

FOR GARNISH

• Ginger juliennes
• Green chillies
• Mint & coriander leaves (chopped)

METHOD

• Heat oil and fry onions until they are golden & crispy but not dark. Take it out in a plate and leave the oil in the pan. Turn off the flame as we will be using the same oil to make the curry.
• Combine fried onions, coriander, mint leaves, 1 green chilli, roasted chickpeas, poppy seed, almonds, yogurt and all the spices (except kasuri methi, nigella seeds, pomegranate seeds, garam masala & bay leaf) in blender and make a smooth paste.
• Mix this smooth paste in mincemeat and keep it aside until needed.
• Heat the same oil in the same pan (as it has the onion flavour) and fry bay leaf, ginger, garlic & green chilli paste until fragrant and a bit golden. Add the mincemeat mixture and start breaking it with the help of spatula.
• Cook until it changes the colour.
• Cover the pot and cook on low medium heat for 15 minutes.
• Now mix in the other spice mix which is kasuri methi, nigella seeds, pomegranate seeds and garam masala. Add ginger juliennes & squeeze a lemon as well and cook further until the oil comes out and the water evaporates.
• Heat the coal on flame until it is fully lit, place an onion peel or a piece of aluminium foil on keema and place the burning coal on it. Drizzle some oil and cover it with the lid for 10 minutes.
• Garnish with green chillies, mint, ginger & coriander and serve hot with Rumali roti/ paratha or chapatti.