Aloo Kheema

I rarely cook these days but I recently happened to come across this recipe. The photograph looked so amazing (and the recipe, too, made sense) that I decided to give up my sabbatical for a day and venture into the kitchen. I have added a few ingredients as I prefer kheema to be a tad robust but other than that this recipe belongs to my dear friend, Farida. 

Ingredients:

1 kilo mutton mince (kheema), washed in a sieve

6 large onions, finely chopped
4 green chillies, finely chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
200 ml tomato puree (1 small tetra pack)
3 tomatoes, liquefied in a mixer (or grated – skin discarded)
2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste
3 teaspoons red chilli powder (I used MDH Deghi Mirch powder)
2 teaspoons red chilli/cumin/garlic paste (I used Aatash brand)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons coriander-cumin powder
1 teaspoon Parsi Sambhar masala (optional)
6 medium sized potatoes cubed
2 cardamoms
1 inch piece cinnamon
8 black peppercorn
Salt to taste
Oil, use sparingly or liberally (I, of course, used it liberally)
A handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped

Method:

1. Heat oil in a cooker. Splutter the cumin seeds. 
2. Add onions, cinnamon, cardamoms and peppercorns; fry till onions are golden brown. 
3. Add ginger-garlic paste and red chilli/cumin/garlic paste. Sauté for a few seconds.
   
   
4. Add powdered spices and sauté. Do not allow the spices to burn.
   
   
5. Add the grated/ground tomatoes and the tomato puree and cook till the raw smell of tomatoes is no longer evident and oil separates.
   
   
6. Add the mutton mince and cook until it uniformly comes together with the masala and the colour of the kheema/mince gets a tad darker.
   
   
7. Add the cubed potatoes and cook for a minute. 
8. Add salt and a glass of water. Close the lid of the cooker. 
9. Cook for three whistles, lower flame and continue cooking for 2 minutes. 
10. Allow the cooker to cool down. When cool, open the cooker check the water content and, if need be, simmer if you wish to reduce the water content.
    
    
11. Check for seasoning and sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves. (I added coriander leaves while simmer the kheema to adjust the water content as mum doesn’t like raw coriander sprinkled on her food. Sigh!!) 
12. Serve with ladi pau, brun pau or chapattis.
    
    

Chef’s Notes:

1. The ingredients added by me that aren’t in the original recipe are, cumin seeds, green chillies, Coriander-cumin powder, Parsi Sambhar masala, peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom and coriander leaves. 
2. I have also increased the quantity of oil and chilli powder to suit my taste buds. I refuse to cook dishes like kheema in minimal oil. To me that is sacrilege. *evil grin* 
3. Please do not let the dry spices burn when sautéing them. If need me add a wee bit of liquefied or grated tomato to help it along. 
4. The water content added to the kheema may be adjusted depending on whether you wish to have the Aloo Kheema with rice or pau/chapattis. 
5. In the original recipe the potatoes are cubed and fried. While I did use ample oil to cook the kheema, I decided to cook the potatoes with the kheema and refrained from frying them. Feel free to fry them and add them to the kheema while serving if you so wish. 
6. Please do not tell me it Qeema or Keema. We Bawas (Parsi’s) say Kheema so Kheema it is. Deal with it! :P 
7. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes and my photographs on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent, or attempt to pass off any recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism. For this recipe, the credit for the base recipe goes to Farida Ankleshwaria.