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| Minced meat and liver cooked Indian Style |
I have been flooded under work recently, but well, it was what I wanted. C left today, and as I type, she is sitting in Frankfurt Airport, waiting for a connecting flight. I feel slightly bummed, but well, V will take me out tonight to see Interstellar probably, and then we will wander around the tree-laden streets in the night, and life will again move on.
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| Minced Meat Recipe |
I made this dish the other day after I spotted some good mutton chunks lying in the butcher’s plate, and picked one up and silently handed over to him, mouthing the word “Keema”, while my attention was diverted to the small-ish chunk of liver lying on the same plate. In the end, I took it too, came home, and cut it in small portions. I had originally planned to make a Liver Fry and some Keema Matar , but then I decided to combine the two, and make a batch of Keema Kaleji.
I generally make a paste of 20-25 dry red chillies, after soaking them in warmed vinegar (4-5 tablespoon) plus a tiny bit of water for an hour. This paste can be stored in the fridge and used in place of red chilli powder. This is used quite often in my house. In case you do not want to go through that trouble, I would suggest mixing red chilli powder or kashmiri mirch powder with vinegar to make a paste. But well, the taste is just not the same.
Roast 1 teaspoon whole cumin, 1 teaspoon whole coriander, 5-6 whole green cardamom, 1 stick cinnamon, 10 cloves, 1 teaspoon caraway seeds, 10 peppercorn, 1 large blade of mace and 1/4th of a nutmeg over mild heat till the whole spices are fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Remove and grind it in a spice grinder. I prefer a coarse grind, but you can go for a more finer powder. I generally call this my Garam Masala powder.
Also, make a paste of equal amounts of ginger, garlic and green chillies. I generally, again, paste them with vinegar instead of oil, and use them quite often in my recipes.
Marinate 100 gm. chopped liver in 1 tablespoon yogurt and a big pinch of salt. Marinate 250 gm. minced meat with salt.
Heat 1-2 tablespoon vegetable oil or mustard oil in a pressure cooker. Although I am using the pressure cooker to quickly cook everything, you can definitely use a heavy bottomed pan and cook this for a longer period of time. Once the oil is heated, add 2 whole dry red chillies, a bay leaf and 1/4th teaspoon whole cumin.
Once the spices splutter, add 1 medium onion, chopped. Cook till the onion is golden, and then add 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic-green chilli paste. Let the paste fry slightly, then add 1 large tomato puree (around 60 ml. or 4 tablespoons). Cook till the tomato puree is thoroughly cooked, and the oil starts to separate from the frying mixture.
Add to this the minced meat. I used goat meat, but you can use lamb easily. Stir fry over high heat to seal the juices of the meat, and then stir briskly. I like my mince quite coarse, but you can get yours finely chopped. Once the mince is well-seared, drop the heat, and cover the pressure cooker loosely with the lid. Let cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the marinated liver.
Cook, stirring briskly, for a minute or so, and then, add 1 tablespoon of the red chilli paste and the prepared spice mix. Stir, add 1/2 cup water, and then quickly put the pressure cooker lid on. Let the pressure cooker build up to full pressure, then turn off the heat right after the first whistle. Let the pressure cooker cool down on till you can open it easily, and then adjust salt and if you want, add a bit of sugar. I don’t, though. I add a bit of cilantro leaves on top, and then crack open a packet of pao.
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| Keema Kaleji |
