Beyond Meat Keema Curry - Minced Meat Curry

 

Beyond Meat Keema Curry

Beyond Meat is a plant-based substitute for meat, made from a combination of peas and brown rice. It tastes just like the real thing with a meaty texture. I treated it just like minced meat to make a keema curry. DH claims it tasted better than chicken or beef, but I was more impressed that it took far less time to cook. This keema curry goes well with steamed rice or chapatis.

Alu Mattar Keema - Potatoes Peas and Minced Meat Curry

 

Alu Mattar Keema

The best keema curry I've had was from the dhaba or truckers' diner in Defense Colony of New Delhi, India. Most often made with minced lamb, this dish can be prepared with any minced meat, i.e. chicken, beef or lamb. It goes well with steamed rice, chapatis or naans.

Rene's Momos

Rene's Momos

Be prepared to snack as you make these juicy dumplings. They're a famous and popular appetizer in Darjeeling, India. The Tibetans make them accompanied by thukpa, a wholesome and hearty noodle soup. 

My eldest sister whom I miss dearly, gave me this recipe with two instructions. First of all, a whole lot of minced onions should be mixed into the minced meat to make these dumplings moist and delicious. Secondly, a bottle of pani puri masala takes care of seasoning the meat. This looks almost identical to the bottles of mint or coriander and mint chutneys, available in Indian markets. The soy sauce and ajinomoto are my additions. 

Keema Alu Matar - Ground Meat, Potaoes and Peas

Keema Alu Matar

This dish is commonly served at roadside eateries that are frequented mostly by truck drivers along the highways in India. These roadside eateries are called 'dhabas'. I fell in love with it while living in Defense Colony in New Delhi where I was introduced to a 'dhaba' at the corner of our street. To give her a day off, our help would get food from the 'dhaba' once a week. Our favourite items were Keema Alu Matar, Baingan Bhartha and Dal Makhani, accompanied by Naan/Romali Roti. This keema dish was also a favourite during our adolescence spent in Darjeeling.

Any kind of keema/ground meat can be used, such as chicken, lamb or beef. I tried Everest meat masala powder for the first time today and was pleased with the robust flavour it imparted to the minced meat. Another unusual ingredient used today is mace.

Mace is a spice consisting of the dried and lacy covering of the nutmeg fruit of a  tropical evergreen tree. It has a slightly warm taste and a fragrance similar to that of nutmeg.

The most laborious part in the preparation of this dish was browning the ground meat. The rest was easy because it was made in the pressure cooker, using just one pot.

Chicken Porcupines

Chicken Porcupines

The next time homemade meatballs are on the menu, reserve 10-12 meatballs for this appetizer, especially if you have young children around. These 'porcupines' are kid-friendly because they're bite-sized and small enough to hold in their little hands. The porcupine quills are formed by rolling the meatballs in long-grain rice and steaming them.

These were steamed in a rice cooker at the base of which egg-drop soup bubbled happily. They're ready when the grains of rice begin to stick out of the meatballs, resembling porcupine quills. This could take a while so be patient.

Serve with a drop of Sriracha sauce or ketchup, as shown above, or make a dip as described below. These are great for starters and could also be served at a potluck or picnic because they're convenient to transport and eat.

Keema Alu Mattar - Ground Lamb with Potatoes & Peas

Keema Alu Mattar

Our local supermarket now carries Australian lamb and it was a pleasant surprise to find no unpleasant aromas while cooking their ground lamb. There is some fat in the meat, so I'll be sure to use less oil the next time.

There was no cilantro (coriander leaves) in the house, so curry leaves were added to the usual recipe.
  

Kid-Friendly Moo Shu Chicken

Moo Shu Chicken

Another successful kid-friendly dinner made its way to the dinner table the other day, when GrandBoy #1 spent the evening with us. 

The Chicken

I used a chicken filling similar to the one I use in Lettuce Wraps.

The Ingredients

The wraps are usually made with minced chicken stir-fried with hoisin and oyster sauce, but since I was catering to a child, the seasonings were toned down somewhat. In place of hoisin sauce (which I didn't have) I used duck sauce and replaced the oyster sauce with plain soya sauce. Not sure if the GrandBoy liked mushrooms so I decided to use frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, corn and beans) instead.

Needless to say, these moo shu rolls were a big hit with big and small alike!

Mutton Keema Mattar with Green Beans

Ground Lamb with Peas,
Potatoes and Green Beans

Our local grocery store sometimes stocks New Zealand lamb, and I was pleased to find ground lamb in that section. Keema Alu Mattar tastes really good with lamb and adding green beans to the mix was a big improvement.

Two pounds of this ground lamb preparation, as one of the items for dinner, fed a crowd of 6 people comfortably. I usually cook without cumin and coriander powder because of Hubby's acid reflux condition, but they can be added if you wish.