Irani Hotel Style Keema Matar

I have been a non-red meat eater for a major part of my life. As a child I don’t remember eating red meat, my mother tells me I would eat it when I had little say in what I will eat or won’t. I would have kababs once in a way, again this was a rare things, as kababs were never made in my own place, so when kind neighbours sent it over or when somehow a parcel came home, I would sample it sometimes. My younger sister was and is a big fan of red meat. Coming to Keema, one of my friends, Pallavi would make it quite often and I remember going to her house once when she had it on the menu; that was when I decided to give it a shot and liked it. I then took her recipe and that is what I tried after marriage and hubby really liked it, even though it was different from the recipe used in his side. Anyways that recipe is what I have been following since then, will post that recipe some other time. However today I am going to post of a recipe I learned for my little sis which is very close to that served in Mumbai Irani hotels – down to the colour and the flavour of dill.

Ingredients

250 grams mutton mince,

¾ cup of fresh green peas,

2 medium sized onions,

Green chillies to taste,

1 inch of ginger,

7-8 garlic cloves,

½ a cup of coriander leaves,

¾ cup of chopped dill leaves,

½ tsp of turmeric powder,

1 tsp of coriander powder,

½ tsp of pepper powder,

½ tsp of garam masala powder,

2 -3 tbsps oil,

Salt to taste

Method

Wash the mutton mince well in water and leave to drain.

Make a paste of 1 onion, green chillies, ginger, garlic and coriander leaves (I didn’t have coriander leaves at home, but just the stalks and they were fine too).

Chop the remaining onion finely.

Heat oil in a pressure cooker (you can opt to cook this in an open vessel too, just adjust the cooking time accordingly). Once hot add the chopped onion and fry till it turns pink and then add the prepared paste and fry till oil separates. I always prefer to do this on a low flame though it takes a bit longer.

Now add the mince and saute for sometime till it starts turning dry, then add the dry spices, dill, peas and salt. Mix well and stir for about a minute. Add about ¾ cup of water and close the cooker. Let it cook till done (every cooker is different and you can adjust the cooking time accordingly).

Once the steam is released, open the cooker, if there is any liquid left just heat it well till it is evaporated. Serve this with pau, onion slices and lemon.

Note: It is important to not add powdered red chilli to this recipe, as that will alter the final colour of the dish. The heat will come from the green chillies and black pepper.