Mince and tatties is a Scottish staple and in India they seem to have their equivalent in keema. Keema is minced lamb cooked in spices and almost looks like what you would expect at your grand mother’s table. You can use turkey mince too, but lamb mince makes it more hardy and gives the needed fatness.
Two points of note here are constituency and use of tomato. The consistency should be smooth and not lumpy. The trick here is to add some water to the mince before cooking preventing it clumping together in the pan. In regards to tomatoes opinions vary, so the addition of tomato purée is completely up to you.
Time: 60 minutes plus
Serves: 3-4
1 and half red onions
3 garlic cloves
3cm ginger piece
1 green chilli (2 if you like the heat)
500g of turkey mince or lamb mince
2 tablespoons of garam masala
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1 tablespoon of tomato purée (optional)
Rice wine vinegar
200g of frozen peas
1. Finely dice one onion, the ginger, garlic and chilli. Alternatively, briefly blitz in a food processor. Fry in a little oil until the onions are softened.
2. Add the garam masala and turmeric and continue frying for a minute.
3. In a large bowl add 3 tablespoons of water to the mince to form a wet mixture. This is the step that is essential to make the keema smooth and not lumpy.
4. Now add the mince to the pan and cook on a low heat and put the lid on. Stir every 10 minutes breaking up any large pieces of mince. Leave the mince to slowly cook for at least 40 minutes but preferably an hour.
5. Now thinly slice the remaining red onion and toss with 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar. Also, at this point finely chop the coriander.
6. Five minutes before serving add the peas ensuring they are warm for serving.
7. Garnish with the sliced red onion.
Recipes from my kitchen, Edinburgh, Scotland 