Kheema Fry – First Among Equals – The Kheema Chronicles - 1

At the very onset let me say, we Parsi’s don’t say Qeema or Keema, we call it Kheema or Kheemo. Now that I’ve cleared this (evil grin) let’s move on. I cooked Kheema three ways; Kheema Fry and two other recipes.

I will post individual recipes for each variation of kheema. That will lessen the confusion when it comes to searching for the recipes. The process photographs, at my blog, for all three recipes (base recipe), will be similar. There will be many extra process photographs and videos, though, for the other two.

This is the main, base recipe from which emerged the other two. Let’s get cookin’, eh! 😊

Ingredients:

1 kilo lamb kheema (goat or beef will also work)

6 onions, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped fine (optional)

1-inch ginger, chopped fine (optional)

3 green chilies, finely chopped

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

2 inches cinnamon

10 black peppercorns

3 cloves

3 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste

4-5 heaped teaspoons red chili powder (I use MDH Deghi Mirch powder)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon coriander-cumin powder

1 teaspoon garam masala powder

1 teaspoon black pepper powder

2 teaspoons Parsi sambhar masala (optional)

Salt to taste

7 - 8 large tomatoes, halve, grate the pulpy side, discard skin

1 + 1 handful coriander leaves, chopped

10 - 15 mint leaves, chopped

8 – 10 tablespoons oil or as desired (But it’s Kheema FRY, remember?) *evil grin*

Method:

1.    Wash the kheema in a colander or a sieve. Leave aside.

2.    Heat oil in a large wok/kadhai. Add cumin seeds, cinnamon, black peppercorns, cloves and allow to splutter.

3.    Add green chilies, chopped ginger, chopped garlic and sauté for a few seconds.

4.    Add onions and continue frying until the onions turn golden brown.

5.    Add ginger-garlic paste, red chili powder, turmeric powder, coriander-cumin powder, garam masala powder, pepper powder, Parsi sambhar masala, a teaspoon salt and sauté for a few seconds to roast the masala well (do not allow the spices to burn).

6.    Add the grated tomatoes and mix them well with the spice mixture.

7.    Allow the tomatoes to cook until it is rid of the raw tomato smell and oil separates.

8.    Add the first handful of chopped coriander leaves and the mint leaves. Sauté for few seconds.

9.    Add the washed kheema and mix well into the spicy tomato mix.

10. Keep sautéing the kheema until all of it is nicely blended with the masala and the raw kheema loses it lumpy texture.

11. Add 1 – 1½ cups water, lower the flame, cover the wok-kadhai and continue cooking.

12. Check to see if the kheema is cooked, and if done, continue cooking (uncovered) to dry up the left-over water content in the kheema.

13. Check seasoning (salt).

14. After the water content dries up, continue cooking the kheema for a few minutes more as this is when the kheema begins to fry in the residual oil.

15. Once the desired fried texture-consistency is achieved, add in the second handful of chopped coriander leaves, give the kheema a mix and take the wok off the stove.

16. Serve Irani restaurant style with fries, boiled or fried egg, thinly sliced onions, lime wedges and crisp butter-fried pau (small soft bread). Sigh… bliss!

Chef Notes:

1.    If 1 kilo Kheema seems a bit much for your family, please feel free to halve the quantity of each ingredient and continue with the method as mentioned.

2.    The finely chopped ginger and garlic is optional because I had this quantity peeled and ready from another dish that I’d been cooking, and I did not want it going waste. Feel free to omit it if you so wish.

3.    In case you omit the chopped ginger and garlic and if you doubt whether the ginger-garlic paste will suffice, feel free to add a teaspoon more. The flavour will not differ. I promise!

4.    In case you don’t have Parsi sambhar masala in your pantry, you may increase the chili powder a wee bit. Parsi sambhar masala is available online (Mangal Masalas) and this masala and many others are also couriered, pan India, by Katy Messman. The homemade ones by Katy are, of course, way better. I have them couriered to Pune all the way from Surat. Been doing so for years.

5.    Please do use a good quantity of oil as it is in this oil that the kheema will fry at the end of the cook. I’m not saying go completely overboard, but I’d request you not to be stingy.

6.    If you do not wish to grate the tomatoes, chopping them will work too. The same technique applies, though, cook until the tomatoes are mushy and don’t give off the raw smell and until oil separates. I would NOT RECOMMEND pureeing them in a mixer.

7.    The fried texture of the kheema is entirely up to you. I like this kheema well sautéed/fried, but, if you prefer a lighter version, feel free to fry it to the texture that feels right to you.

8.    You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blog-site or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs:

 

 

Tangy Spring Onion Dal

I was extremely bored with the dals I'd been making. They are all yummy, no doubt, but I wanted to whip up something slightly different. I checked out videos on You Tube and this recipe is an amalgamation of the many that I saw. Many of you would have paired spring onions with dal, but for me this was a first and I loved the final flavour that emerged. Go on, give this a try. I’m very sure you’re going to love it too. 😊

Ingredients:

150 grams tur dal, soak in water for an hour

3/4^th to 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon salt

6-8 tablespoons oil

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

½ teaspoon cumin seeds

10-12 curry leaves

3 green chiles, break into large 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste

1 large onion, thickly sliced

2 teaspoons red chili powder (I use MDH Deghi Mirch powder)

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon coriander powder

2 cups chopped spring onions

2 teaspoons amchur powder

A handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped

2-3 tablespoons clarified butter

¾ teaspoon asafoetida

6-8 curry leaves

2 red dry Kashmiri chilies

Method:

1.    Wash the soaked tur dal, twice or thrice or until the water runs clear.

2.    Add the dal into a pressure cooker. Add turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon salt and about 450 mils water.

3.    Pressure cook the dal for 2 whistles, lower heat, and simmer for 2-3 minutes more.

4.    Take the cooker off the stove and allow the pressure to release by itself.

5.    When the pressure is released, open the cooker, and give the dal a mix with a spoon. Do not smoothen it too much. Keep aside.

6.    Heat oil in large vessel or a saucepan. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and green chilies and sauté until the cumin and mustard seeds begin to splutter.

7.    Add ginger-garlic paste and sauté on MEDIUM flame.

8.    Add the thickly sliced onion. Sauté until the onions go pink and translucent.

9.    Add red chili powder, garam masala powder and coriander powder. Sauté the masalas giving them a good mix.

10. Add 2 cups chopped spring onions. Sauté for 1- 2 minutes.

11. Add the cooked dal, add water if you wish to adjust the consistency of the dal.

12. Cover the dal, lower heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

13. Add amchur powder, stir well and simmer uncovered for 2-3 more minutes. NOTE: At this stage, if the dal is too thick, add some water and if it’s too thin, simmer until you get the desired consistency. The consistency depends entirely on you.

14. Add chopped coriander leaves, simmer for a few seconds more and take the vessel off the stove. (Adding a small video to show the final consistency of the dal)

15. In a small vessel, or a tadka pan, heat ghee. When the ghee is hot, add curry leaves, dry red chilies and asafoetida. Sauté until the ingredients are sizzling but, do not allow the tadka to burn.

16.Take the vessel off the stove and add the tadka into the dal. Serve with soft Indrayani rice and pickle.

Chef Notes:

1.    Chop the large onion thickly as you want to feel it on your palate when you eat the dal. Tastes absolutely wonderful. If you slice it thinly there is a chance it will disintegrate. You don’t want that to happen.

2.    I used dry red Kashmiri chilies but feel free to use Byadgi or Gundu if Kashmiri chilies are not available in your pantry… mostly any dry red chili will do, just don’t opt for Bhoot Jolakia for if you do, I’m not responsible for what happens to you the next morning.…… mwhahaha. *very evil laugh*

3.    I have mentioned the oil and ghee amount as used by me. Please use as much, or as little, as suits your diet; just don’t give me grief about the amount I used. 😉

4.    Amchur is the ingredient that lends this dal its tanginess. While 2 teaspoons were perfect for me, I would, ideally, suggest you add 1 teaspoon at a time and adjust the quantity to suit your palate. Some of you may even prefer to add more than 2 teaspoons which is absolutely okay to do.

5.    For the tadka, I halved the Kashmiri chilies as I wanted to deseed them. Feel free to use them whole in case you choose not to deseed. I usually deseed chilies as mum and dad are unable to eat very spicy food.

6.    You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

Some more photographs:

Methamba - Raw Mango Jaggery Relish

Remember I mentioned in the Andhra Raw Mango Dal recipe that I’d used the second raw mango for another dish. Well, secret’s out! I made Methamba from Saee Koranne Khandekar’s book, Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens. I bought this book on Kindle. This is the first recipe tried by me from the book and I have highlighted so many that I want to try. A major clarification: The recipe belongs to Saee and I have no copy right over it. I merely recreated this fabulous recipe in my kitchen.

As mentioned by Saee in the book, Methamba definitely falls under the relish category rather than the pickle  category. I had it with two things, namely, dal rice (Indrayani rice) and Prawn Khichdee. As Saee recommends in the book, I also gave it a try with some plain hot rice and ghee (clarified butter). That was heaven, sheer heaven! If raw mangoes are still available in your vicinity, give this recipe a try immediately.

Ingredients:

2 cups raw mango, peeled and roughly chopped
¾ cup jaggery, grated

3 tablespoons oil

3 dried red Byadgi chilies, broken into small pieces

1 teaspoon black or brown mustard seeds (I used black mustard seeds)

1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds

¼ teaspoon asafoetida powder

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

½ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder

1¼ teaspoon salt

Method:

1.    Heat oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, broken red chilies, asafoetida and turmeric powder. Sauté until fragrant.

2.    Add the chopped mango and toss well to mix with the spice-mix.

3.    Add the salt and red chili powder and mix well.

4.    COVER the saucepan and cook for 5 to 6 minutes or until the mango pieces turn translucent.

5.    Add the jaggery and cook UNCOVERED (ON LOW HEAT) until the jaggery melts and the relish comes together in a nice even sticky form.

6.    Remove from fire and allow the relish to cool and then transfer into sterilized glass or ceramic jars.

7.    Can be stored in the fridge for 4-6 weeks.

Chef Notes & The Tiny Changes I Made:

1.    Instead of roughly chopping the mangoes, I preferred to dice then evenly – blame it on my frikkin’ OCD. *sheepish look*

2.    I used nearly 1 cup jaggery as the mango was extremely sour. Please taste as you cook and adjust the jaggery as suits your palate.

3.    While broke one chili into small pieces, I chose to break the remaining two into halves as mum cannot handle very spicy food and breaking the chilies into small pieces would mean she would encounter chilies in each bite. Also, I deseeded the dry red chilies to lessen their spice quotient. Please feel free to do that if you need to. Rest assured; the recipe works just as beautifully when you do so.

4.    The relish lasts for 4 to 6 weeks in the fridge, says the recipe. You can forget about it lasting that long coz if you are anything like me, you will polish this off within a week, max! *greedy-evil grin*

5.    As Saee rightly recommends, please, please do, give the Methamba a try with soft steamed rice and a dollop of clarified butter (ghee). In her exact words, I quote, “But once you try mixing it into some hot rice with a spoonful of ghee, we’ll talk.” As I said earlier... sheer heaven!

6.    As most food groups at Facebook have a ‘no link’ policy, I haven’t posted a link to Saee book, Pangat, at the FB groups. If you wish to access the link, please do so directly from my blog, Kenzy’s Kitchen Korner. It’s a book you will not regret picking up.

7.    As mentioned at the onset, the original recipe belongs solely to Saee Koranne Khandekar and her book, Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens. This version of the recipe and the photographs, though, belong to my blog, Kenzy’s Kitchen Korner. You may share the direct blog-link of the recipe/s but do NOT publish my recipes, and/or my photographs, on any blogsite or website without my explicit consent or attempt to pass off my recipe/s as your own. You will be held accountable for plagiarism.

(Book photograph courtesy Amazon India)

Link for Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens
Click HERE for the PAPERBACK EDITION

Link for Pangat, a Feast: Food and Lore from Marathi Kitchens
Click HERE for the KINDLE EDITION

Some more photographs: