Folks, I have gone into hiding again, or so it seems. Well, vacations are on here and my kids are at home, demanding much of my time and plus I have enrolled them in a summer camp at the church which they totally love. Drop offs, pick ups (in the Dubai summer heat) is ensuring that I remain on my toes (and tired and drained as hell). When I am home I plan recipes and shoot videos besides doing all the other chores. I know that a lot of my videos are pending to be posted but you see, being a one-woman army is a time consuming job. I won’t whine again, but instead will tell you how much I am enjoying running around for activities with my kids. My cousins’ kids also join us and it is really nice to spend time with family.
Besides this I try and watch as many entertaining videos and movies as I can possibly cram up in my limited free time. More than movies it is YouTube I am hooked on to these days, so much so that I am totally addicted to it. There are either audio books or random stand up comedy shows or lifestyle/cleaning/organising videos that I keep playing in the background when I do mundane chores like washing dishes or folding laundry. Not sure if I’ve mentioned this before in one of my posts but since January I have listened to a lot of audio books and I totally love this concept. I kill two birds with one stone and this otherwise boring time is spent productively. To be honest, I have become pretty lazy to come and open the laptop to type out a recipe. But fret not, I have piles of recipes lined up that I have been trying and waiting to post and hopefully once school starts I will be more regular. Till such time, please bear with me!
Coming to recipes, this one has been tried out at least thrice before I decided that it was fit for the blog. I found the recipe here when I was looking to pair it with pav/pao (dinner rolls) that I had made and posted sometime ago. The dish is more Pakistani than Indian and is called ‘bhuna’ which means ‘slow roasted’ or ‘fried’ not without a reason. Bhuna Keema uses some extra oil that we are normally accustomed to using so do make this your occasional indulgence. However, if you reduce the oil then make sure to fry the onions in a wide based pan. Crowding them in a small pan without adequate oil will change the cooking technique. They will steam cook instead of getting fried.
Whenever I make it to be eaten with pao, I add a little water to make a thick gravy so that it can be mopped up with the cottony soft pao. I had made this dish when I first made the pao but didn’t shoot pictures. When I got around to making the perfect pao, I forgot to shoot separate pictures of the keema so I had to cook it again. I really hope you like making this dish. We totally love it with buttered, pan fried pao – just so delicious I tell you!
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Bhuna Keema
Ingredients
- 500 grams beef or mutton mince (ground meat)
- 2 big onions (approx 250 grams) finely chopped
- 2 medium-sized tomatoes (approx 250 grams) finely chopped
- 1-1/2 tablespoons ginger & garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
- 1-1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 6-7 peppercorns
- 1 black cardamom
- 4 cloves
- 1- inch stick of cinnamon
- 1-2 green chillies slit (optional but recommended)
- 2 tablespoons tomato puree if required
- 2-4 teaspoons Kashmiri red chilli powder (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup oil
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1/2 cup chopped coriander leaves
- 1 inch piece ginger cut julienne
- 1 green chilli, to garnish (optional)
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Lightly rinse the minced meat and place on a fine slotted colander to drain.
- On a skillet, dry roast the cumin and coriander seeds separately. Remove and let them cool for a few minutes before grinding them to a fine powder. Keep aside.
- Heat 1/2 cup oil in a wide, heavy based wok/kadai and fry the onions till they turn translucent. Then add the dry roasted cumin-coriander powder, cinnamon, cloves, black cardamom, pepper corns and green chillies (if using) and fry everything on a low heat for a couple of minutes.
- Add the ginger and garlic pastes and fry for half a minute or till the raw smell vanishes. Then add the chopped tomatoes and fry very well on a low heat till the oil begins to separate. This step is very important.
- Next, add the minced meat and fry it well. Do not add any salt at this stage as it will make the meat ooze out water, so fry on a low heat for at least 8-10 minutes.
- Add the red chilli powder and continue to fry
- When the meat is almost done and it looks dryish, add salt to taste and the tomato puree if required. Drizzle a few drops of lime juice and add more only if required. Continue to cook for a minute or two before adding the chopped coriander.
- Garnish with ginger julienne and serve hot with pav or chapathi or rice
Notes
Disclaimer
The nutritional values are only indicative.
Hi Ruchi,
Just checked your blog and loved it! The photo speaks for the taste and soft pav would taste amazing with this Bhunna Qeema.
Thanks a lot Mariam!! Your recipe was fantastic 🙂 My name is Shireen by the way. Ruchik means ‘delicious’ in Konkani, my mothertongue
Hi Shireen,
This recipe looks yummy!!! I had keema pav for breakfast at an Iranian restaurant in Pune ages ago and have never forgotten how heavenly it tastes!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!!
Hi Sandy!
Thanks so much for your comment! I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it too 🙂
Hi Ms. Shireen,
This recipe looks delicious, i have a question though can this be made the same way for chicken mince as well ?
Thanks in advance.
Best Regards,
Shruthi
Hi Shruthi,
Yes, you can make the recipe with chicken mince as well but you may not need to fry it for so long as it may turn the mince chewy as chicken cooks faster. So reduce the cooking time and it should be good!
I always cook kheema in same way can you give some other recipes for cooking kheema, or making different items from kheema
Hi Milind,
Please check my mince meat recipe section in my recipe index. I have a few recipes that you may like
https://www.ruchikrandhap.com/category/mince/
Hi Shireen,
I prepared your yummy and extremely delicious Bhuna Kheema the second time and it tasted amazing as ever. I love relishing this kheema with soft pao, dinner rolls or chapatis.
This kheema recipe is the most tastiest I’ve ever had.
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe.
Hope you post more such recipes.
Please post a nice spicy rich thick gravy mutton masala recipe in restaurant style. Also rogan josh mutton recipes made with whole red kashmiri chillies and lots of spices and oil.
Thanks again.
Hi Savio,
Thank you so much for the feedback!! And I will certainly post more of such recipes!!
I have noted down your request for the thick mutton masala recipe and rogan josh recipe too! I hope to try out some recipes soon and will definitely share them here just for you!
Thanks & have a nice day!
Regards,
Shireen
Hi Shireen,
Tried out this Recipie is and it turned out Aw3some. I always wanted to know how to get the colour for the mince without adding any colour or not being watery. This is a good recipe for mince get tips from. For instance frying in Corriander and Cumin powders and adding the chilli powder last… a good texture to the kheema. Im going to make mince hot dogs tomorrow for friends coming over and will make it again. Im sure its going to be a hit. Thanks so much❤
Hi Patricia,
I am so glad that you liked this recipe! Thanks for your feedback! This is a family favourite too! I hope it turns out well in the hot dogs as well. Good luck!
Amazing recipe. Really healthy and tasty. A must-try for everyone.
Thanks a lot!
Keema is my favorite dish thanks for sharing a recipe.
My pleasure!
Hi Shireen
We love Keema curries. Keema is the curry we always go for in restaurants in the UK.
Tonight I have made this for my family and they loved it! Amazing flavours with lovely clean heat.
However, mine didn’t come out as brown as your pictures show. What is it I have done wrong?
Thank You
Hi Andy,
Thanks a lot for the feedback! So glad to note that you and your family enjoyed it so much! Well, you need to fry the meat for a considerable amount of time and if you are using beef, the colour will deepen as you fry it. Hope it helps!
Made this tonight and everybody loved it so will be making it again soon. Thankyou.
So happy to hear that! Thanks for the feedback Ollie!
Thanks for sharing such beautiful information with us. I hope you will share some more information about bhuna keema.Please keep sharing.
Thank you very much Ankita!
Hi the consistency of the Keema has turned out just right but it is tasting a bit bland 🙁 Any suggestions to make it more spicy and seasoned ? I live in London and was wondering where I can buy the Pau from to have with the Keema?
Thanks,
Saamir
Hi,
Well you could add more red chilli powder and give the mixture a boil. You could check for pau at your nearest Indian/Pakistani store. Or check any good bakery that sells dinner rolls. All the best!
Bland it’s worse than bland
Looks like you have failed to read the recipe properly. Next to red chilli powder I have clearly mentioned “ADJUST TO TASTE” (writing it in caps just incase you miss it again). ‘Adjust’ means ‘to alter’ – in this case, adjust it to desired level of spiciness. That’s all you had to do instead of getting mad at my recipe which everyone else has liked & appreciated
One of the worst keema iv ever tasted , absolutely terrible , I think I need to teach you how to cook
I have posted a recipe that has been liked and appreciated by many. Perhaps you did not read the recipe properly or follow it. While I am sad that the recipe did not work out for you I definitely don’t need you trolling me. Instead of teaching me to cook, teach yourself some manners on how to speak and behave on a public forum. Good luck to you.
Have made this 3-4 times now. Such a yummy dish. It’s simmering on the stove right now and I’m already drooling. Thank you so much for this recipe
Thank you so much for your great review! It is one of my favourites too!
Tired this today..turned out so well…thank u so much….your recepies are always a hit
Thanks a lot for the great feedback Nisha! Happy to hear that you like all my recipes!
Hi!
This recipe of course looks yummy. I love it.
Thanks for sharing this…
Hi Iqra,
Thanks a lot for the feedback!
This is such a good recipe. The mince becomes so tasty. When I make the mince the usual style, it always seems to lack something. But this recipe hits the right spot. Looks good too. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback!! So glad to note that you liked it!
Hi Shireen, I followed your recipe and the mutton kheema was super delicious!! Thank you for sharing your recipe. I wanted to give it a try with soya granules for a vegetarian version. Do you have any tips to share? Best wishes!!
Hi Danya,
Thanks a lot for your great feedback!! I am sure you can try it with soya granules too! I would suggest you to soak the granules in some warm milk to which a little salt has been added, then squeeze it all out and use in the recipe. The milk gives a richer texture to the otherwise tasteless soya granules. Hope you enjoy it!
Send me the receipe please thanks in advance
The recipe is in the post, are you unable to access it?
Very nice recipe. I make it very similar to this but also adding yoghurt to roast.
Thank you so much for the appreciation Shahnaz! Thanks for the tip!
I made this a while ago, adding the chilli powder later on did not work for me. The taste of raw chilli powder remained. Is there an alternative? Can I add it early on when cooking the spices?
Yes, you can add it early on too. The idea is to let the chilli powder cook a bit so that it doesn’t taste raw
I have whole kahmiri chillis. how would I sub for the powder?
Hi Debra,
You may have to powder them. Not sure how the final result will turn out though..