I make many variations of this dish and very often. It's an excellent lunch option and my husband's favorite. This is a weeknight quick fix. It takes less than 1/2 hour to cook and you can cook a large pot, and then portion it out in small lunch boxes. In this dish you have the healthy benefit of the greens, the robustness of the chickpeas which give you something to bite into, and then of course the protein and flavor from the Keema.
Keema stands for minced meat. Any kind will do. For this I used Prime ground beef. This dish will do great with ground lamb. With lamb, the fat content is a bit higher but it tastes even better. You could use turkey, chicken, or pork, but it may not work that well with this recipe. These meats are a bit 'dry', you may need a little variation in spices to make up for the flavor of fat. I will address these other ground meat in other posts.
I used Tandoori paste for this recipe as the spice. This is because I had a small bit left over in the fridge and I just wanted to finish it. You can use any ready-made spice mix you have. The intent here is to just add a touch of flavor through the spices. The essentials are onion, ginger, and garlic. Just cooking your meat with those three will be very tasty in itself.
This dish gets better as it stores in the fridge. The flavors intensify as time goes by and therefore is one of the best re-heat and eat lunch options.
Keema with Chickpeas and Mixed Greens
2 lbs Keema
1 large Onion
1.5 inch Ginger
1 whole Garlic
2 Serrano Chilies
1/2 bunch Parsley
1 bunch Cilantro / Coriander Leaves
1 bunch fresh Spinach
1 can Chickpeas/ Garbanzo Beans - drained and washed
4 Tablespoon Tandoori paste
Salt
Sugar
Lemon Juice - 1/2 lemon
1. Grind the onion, garlic, ginger, and Serrano chilies into a fine paste.
2. Wash the greens. Grind the cilantro, parsley, and spinach into a fine mince.
3. Heat oil in a large pan. Add the onion paste and let fry for few minutes.
4. Add the minced meat and salt, and fry till it turns brown. If you ever tried browning meat without the onion paste but with chopped onions, you will notice that it clumps. Frying with onion paste actually helps dissociate the minced meat into a even mixture. Even when you are doing pasta sauce, try using ground onion instead of chopped onions. It will make a world of difference in the taste and appearance.
5. Add the spice, sugar, mix well, and let simmer. If it's getting too dry, add water. What I usually do is pour water in the grinder that was just used for the onions and green paste and use the rinse water for this. why not take all the flavor you can get?!
6. Add the green mince. Stir for a minute or two.
7. Add the chickpeas. I use the canned chickpeas and wash them well. You could, of course, take the dried peas, soak, and boil them and then use them. That's probably the right way, but this is a weeknight quick fix, so we will use the time saver - the pre-boiled and preserved chickpeas in a can!
8. Stir for some time. I usually cover and let it sit on low flame for 10-15 minutes. This lets the flavors develop and penetrate.
9. Last but very important, add lemon juice after it's done.
10.To spruce this up, you can put a dollop of heavy cream or sour cream when you serve. I keep the calorie count low and so do not use it. If you are looking for other options for serving this: try it as a pizza topping or even as a filler in a sandwich. Let you imagination work! Enjoy!
Keema stands for minced meat. Any kind will do. For this I used Prime ground beef. This dish will do great with ground lamb. With lamb, the fat content is a bit higher but it tastes even better. You could use turkey, chicken, or pork, but it may not work that well with this recipe. These meats are a bit 'dry', you may need a little variation in spices to make up for the flavor of fat. I will address these other ground meat in other posts.
I used Tandoori paste for this recipe as the spice. This is because I had a small bit left over in the fridge and I just wanted to finish it. You can use any ready-made spice mix you have. The intent here is to just add a touch of flavor through the spices. The essentials are onion, ginger, and garlic. Just cooking your meat with those three will be very tasty in itself.
This dish gets better as it stores in the fridge. The flavors intensify as time goes by and therefore is one of the best re-heat and eat lunch options.
Keema with Chickpeas and Mixed Greens
2 lbs Keema
1 large Onion
1.5 inch Ginger
1 whole Garlic
2 Serrano Chilies
1/2 bunch Parsley
1 bunch Cilantro / Coriander Leaves
1 bunch fresh Spinach
1 can Chickpeas/ Garbanzo Beans - drained and washed
4 Tablespoon Tandoori paste
Salt
Sugar
Lemon Juice - 1/2 lemon
1. Grind the onion, garlic, ginger, and Serrano chilies into a fine paste.
2. Wash the greens. Grind the cilantro, parsley, and spinach into a fine mince.
3. Heat oil in a large pan. Add the onion paste and let fry for few minutes.
4. Add the minced meat and salt, and fry till it turns brown. If you ever tried browning meat without the onion paste but with chopped onions, you will notice that it clumps. Frying with onion paste actually helps dissociate the minced meat into a even mixture. Even when you are doing pasta sauce, try using ground onion instead of chopped onions. It will make a world of difference in the taste and appearance.
5. Add the spice, sugar, mix well, and let simmer. If it's getting too dry, add water. What I usually do is pour water in the grinder that was just used for the onions and green paste and use the rinse water for this. why not take all the flavor you can get?!
6. Add the green mince. Stir for a minute or two.
7. Add the chickpeas. I use the canned chickpeas and wash them well. You could, of course, take the dried peas, soak, and boil them and then use them. That's probably the right way, but this is a weeknight quick fix, so we will use the time saver - the pre-boiled and preserved chickpeas in a can!
8. Stir for some time. I usually cover and let it sit on low flame for 10-15 minutes. This lets the flavors develop and penetrate.
9. Last but very important, add lemon juice after it's done.
10.To spruce this up, you can put a dollop of heavy cream or sour cream when you serve. I keep the calorie count low and so do not use it. If you are looking for other options for serving this: try it as a pizza topping or even as a filler in a sandwich. Let you imagination work! Enjoy!
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| Keema with Chickpeas and Mixed Greens |
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