Keema Matar ~ A Classic dish perfect for winter season

 Keema Matar, is said to have originated in Persia but hugely popular in the Indian subcontinent too. Keema, which means minced meat(beef or lamb), is cooked in onion-ginger-garlic-tomato based gravy with flavourful Indian spices, with an addition of green peas makes this dish just irresistable. Other minced meats such as mutton(goat meat), chicken can also be used in this dish. The key to this recipe is slow cooking the meat on stove-top to enhance the taste. Pressure cooker can also be used to speed up the process. Few days back when I cooked this dish, I added few chopped green onions too this time, as winter is here and I found fresh green onions in the market. It gave an extra flavour to the already flavourful dish. If you have leftover, use this to make sandwiches. You can serve this with any Indian flabread or any rice/pulao variety.

You Need :
Keema( I used chicken keema) : 250 gm.
Green peas : 100 gm.
Green Onions : 1/2 cup, chopped
Onion : 2, sliced
Ginger : 1"
Garlic cloves : 4, big
Tomato : 2, big, finely chopped
Green chillies : 2, chopped
Bay leaf : 1
Cardamom(green) : 3
Cinnamon : 1(1" stick)
Cloves : 3-4
Turmeric powder ; 2 tsp.
Red chilli powder : 2 tsp.
Coriander powder : 2 tsp.
Cumin powder : 1 tsp.
Garam Masala powder : 1 tsp.
Salt to taste
Oil : 2 tblsp.
Fresh corinader leaves for garnishing

How To :

• Wash keema very well. Add little salt and set aside. Make a smooth paste of ginger and garlic.
• Heat oil in a pan, add bayleaf, cinnamon, cardamoms, cloves together. When they start to crackle a bit, add sliced onions and saute till onions are translucent. Add chopped green chillies and ginger-galic paste. Saute for a minute, lower the heat and add all the powdered spices except garam masala. Add 2 tblsp. water and cook till masala cooks well. 
• Now add chopped tomatoes in there and saute till tomatoes are soft and mixed nicely with the spices. Add chicken keema in there and carefully fold the meat with the spices. Season with salt. Add garam masala powder now and mix well with the meat. Add green peas and green onions now. Saute for another 2-3 minutes.
• Add 1 cup of warm water into the pan and in medium heat let it cook. Let the meat soak all the spices in medium heat. When meat looks cooked and oil seperates, remember the key of this dish is slow cooking. Chicken keema doesn't take much time to cook.
• Remove from heat and garnish with fresh coriander leaves.
• Serve with naan, paratha or pulao. Goes well with anything and everything.