Mutton Keema With Chicken And Peas

Ground mince and succulent chicken chunks with bursts of sweet peas

So you know how you have to cater for different palates in your home, this recipe certainly caters for both the meat eater and those that favour chicken. This is my Mutton keema with chicken chunks and peas.

I love mutton for its mature flavour and taste. I’m not keen on lamb…so for me this is right up my street! It can take long slow cooking and only develops more intensity!

There is not a huge amount to really write about this other than the fact that I’ve added a chicken breast that I had in the freezer. This always goes down well with my youngest who doesn’t like red meat. I’ve used chicken on the bone before…yonks of flavour. I’ve used mutton on the bone…even more flavour!

Surprisingly, considering my kids don’t particularly like red meat, Mutton Keema seems to fair rather well. Leftover mince is always used very cleverly by my kids in either wraps, burritos, tacos, pasta, stuffed peppers, lasagna, shepherd’s pie, toasty’s and mini pies. So you can understand why I would want to make extra as there are always lots of options with cooked Keema.

I kept the general recipe very simple, the only variation is the addition of the small bite-size boneless chicken. I have also made this recipe using bite-size mutton chunks but they tend to go in earlier with the mince in order for a longer cooking time. I tend to let it slow cook at its leisure until the mutton chunks are soft, juicy and delicious.

So let’s start with ingredients and then we can move on to how you cook this dish.

INGREDIENTS;

1 tej patta/bay leaf torn into four
2 inch piece of cinnamon stick
3 cardamom pods split
5 cloves
5 peppercorns
1 blade of mace
quarter cup of oil
2 med onions minced or finely chopped
6 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 inch piece of fresh ginger, minced
500 g of mutton mince or any red mince of your choice
1 chicken breast chopped into 1 inch pieces or
200 g of boneless mutton meat cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup of frozen peas
2 tablespoon of dried kasthuri methi leaves
half a cup of pasata
5 tbsp tomato puree
2 tablespoons of curry powder
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 tablespoon of Kashmiri Chilli powder
2 teaspoons of Cumin powder
1 teaspoon of Coriander powder
1 tsp of Turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of Mustard cream
2 teaspoons of salt or as per taste

Handful of fresh chopped coriander and 1 chopped fresh chilli for garnish and a teaspoon of cumin powder to sprinkle.

METHOD;

Gently rinse the mutton mince and drain on a colander.
Do the same with your chosen meat or chicken pieces.

Heat your oil in your preferred pan and add the whole spices and let these cook until it becomes aromatic and darkens slightly in colour.

Next add in your mince onions, salt and stir for a few minutes until slightly translucent and warm in colour.

Then add in your minced garlic and ginger. Continue to cook this until it becomes slightly golden, any juices have dried out and the oil has separated.

Now add the pasata, mixing well and let this cook again till the oil has separated. These little steps are really important in order to achieve a good depth of flavour by cooking out the liquid contents of the ingredients so allowing the actual ingredient flavours to cook, develop and intensify.

When the oil has separated from the pasata we add the tomato purée and once again for a few minutes to allow the ingredients to meld together and develop their characteristics.

Once you see the oil is separating and you will notice that the mixture is coming away from the sides of the pan. Rinse out your pasata carton with a little water and add this to your onions. Cook this covered in a medium low heat until the water has evaporated and your oil is splitting again.

Now add all the powdered spices except for the cumin for garnish and cook this on a medium heat for approximately five minutes to ‘bhuna’ the spices. Add a few splashes of water only if you feel the need as it should be dry frying but not sticking

Next we will add half a cup of water give it all a good stir, cover and let this cook away on a medium low heat until all the water has evaporated and you will find that you have oil on the surface.

At this stage you want to make a well in the middle of the masala and if the oil collects and separates into the middle you know your masala is thoroughly cooked out. The longer it cooks more oil it will release.

Next add your mutton mince and cook the mince for as long as needed. Check frequently so nothing sticks and let it simmer away covered until the mince is cooked, could be for approximately 10 minutes on a medium low heat. If you are using chicken chunks add these into the cooked mince and cook until the chicken chunks are almost done.
( If you’re using red meat add the chunks with the mince, stir and
check frequently so nothing sticks and let it simmer away until the mutton chunks are cooked through.)

Now add frozen peas and kasuri methi. Next add another quarter cup of water, stir and cook for a few minutes until the oil rises to the top and there is very little liquid left.