So I’ve been thinking a lot about Curry lately. Maybe Andy has too. But not Indian curry; rather Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors 🙂 We’re wishing Curry and the Warriors lots of play-off luck.
But while on the subject of Curry, I decided to fix something curry-ish for dinner and settled on Lamb Kheema (or keema); kheema is basically ground or minced meat. We’re huge devotees of Indian food and are lucky enough to have Yeti, a great little Indian/Himalayan restaurant about a mile from our teeny Glen Ellen community.
This kheema may have lots of spices, but it can be whipped up pretty quickly (even with making notes about the recipe, I did mine in 30 minutes – but that didn’t count Andy’s cleaning-up-my-mess time or the 15 minutes to simmer it). The curry could also be made with ground chicken or ground turkey. You can switch peas for spinach. Leave out the potatoes. Add or subtract from the spices. Serve it with rice or in a wrap of some kind. Be flexible (easier said than done????).
Lamb Kheema in a Hurry Curry
Ingredients
- 3 T peanut or vegetable oil (divided)
- 3 small red potatoes, unpeeled and cut into about 1/2″ pieces
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 T garlic, minced
- 1 T ginger, finely grated
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1 # ground lamb
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 c canned tomatoes – crushed or pureed – plus 3/4 cup water (or 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes works too)
- 2 chopped fresh tomatoes – if tomatoes are in season; omit if they’re not
- 1/4 c yogurt
- 1 c frozen peas
- juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
- chopped cilantro
Heat 1 T oil in a deep pan until it’s medium hot. Add the chopped potatoes, turn down the heat a bit, and cook and stir until soft – won’t take more than 5 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the pan. Add the rest of the oil; heat until medium hot, then add the cumin seeds followed almost immediately by the onions (so the seeds don’t burn but still have a moment on their own in the hot oil); saute until the onions are soft; add the the garlic, ginger, coriander, ground cumin, turmeric, and garam masala, stir in well, and saute for about 1 more minute. Add the ground lamb and salt and saute until the lamb is no longer pink – or until it’s cooked. Add the canned tomatoes and water, the chopped tomatoes, if you’re using them, and bring all to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or so, uncovered. If it appears to get dry-ish, just add a little water. After it’s simmered, add the yogurt and frozen peas and previously cooked potatoes and return just to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in the lemon juice. Serve the hurried-curry with the cilantro on top – either by itself or on rice.
Big Little Meals 