Stranger Foods

IndianChicken keema street-style

Serves 4 | Prep 20 mins | Cook 45 mins

Photograph of Chicken keema street-style.

Peppery and spicy minced/ground chicken loaded with ginger, green chillies and butter, with some street-food love thrown in for good measure. Keema, believed to have Persian origins, was introduced by the Mughals in the 16th century. The word keema comes from the Turkish word kiyma, meaning “ground meat”. It has now evolved into local favourites like Mumbai's keema pav and Delhi's keema hari mirch. One popular preparation is street-style keema bhuna, where the minced/ground meat is fried with spices to enhance its flavours, mostly on a big flat pan (tawa), resulting in a thick aromatic dish best enjoyed with naan or rumali rotis. Whether one is in the Jama Masjid area in Old Delhi or Lajpat Nagar in South Delhi, keema sends its regards!

Source: No Worries, Just Chicken Curries

Ingredients

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4-5 tbsp neutral oil
1 tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
2½ cm cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2-3 cloves
1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed coarsely
3 green cardamom pods
1 brown cardamom pod
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 white onions, finely chopped
1 tbsp ginger and garlic paste
1 tsp deggi mirch, or any red chilli powder (optional)
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
2 green chillies, chopped (optional)
200 g canned chopped tomatoes, puréed
1 tsp tomato purée
Salt, to taste
1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder (optional)
500 g minced chicken
150 ml warm water
2 small potatoes, peeled, cut into cubes and boiled
½ tsp chaat masala
1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaves

For the garnish

Juice of ½ lemon
½ tsp garam masala
few fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
8-10 root ginger juliennes
1-2 green chillies, sliced
A few lemon wedges

Instructions

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Heat the oil and butter in a non-stick pan on a medium heat and, once hot, add the whole spices - the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves, crushed peppercorns, green cardamom, brown cardamom and cumin seeds. Fry for a minute, or until fragrant, then add the chopped onions. Fry the onions until browned, which can take up to . Don’t burn them!
Add the ginger and garlic paste and cook for about a minute. Turn the heat down to low. Add the ground spices - the deggi mirch (if using), turmeric, coriander and cumin and fry for . Add a teaspoon of water to prevent the spices from burning. Stir in the green chillies (if using).
Turn the heat up to medium. Add the puréed tomatoes, tomato purée and a pinch of salt and cook for . Salt helps the tomatoes to cook faster. The mixture will become paste-like and there will be oil on the sides of the pan. Now, add the Kashmiri red chilli powder (if using) and the sauce will change to a lovely deeper and richer reddish-brown colour.
Turn the heat up to high. Add the minced chicken and cook for . The colour should change from pink to white and the meat should start to release water. Turn the heat down to medium, add salt, mix well and cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently.
Add ⅔ of the warm water. Please note that because the meat will release water too, don’t add too much water. Cover and cook for on a medium-low heat. Stir occasionally. Add the remaining ⅓ of the water if you would like a thinner consistency.
Uncover the pan, add the boiled potato cubes and mix well. Add the chaat masala and dried fenugreek leaves, crushed lightly within the palms of your hands, and mix well. Turn off the heat.
Garnish with the lemon juice, garam masala, chopped coriander, ginger juliennes, chillies and a few lemon wedges.

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