Keema, one of my beloved ground meat dishes from India and Pakistan. This is one of the curry fixes I need in my life every now and then. It’s one of the quickest curried meats I can whip up when planning an Indian night at my place. It can range from mild to medium to hot and spicy… just the way you like it.
Every culture has a dish made out of ground meat. Be it some meatballs or lasagna or different versions of Picadillo like Puerto Rican Picadillo or Filipino Giniling, which is Asian picadillo and Australian Savoury Mince. Ground meat recipes are quick and easy and can be full of different varied flavors.
Check out our collection of favorite Ground Beef Recipes!
If you’re looking for some ground meat recipes, try my fabulous lists of Ground Chicken recipes and Ground Pork recipes. I even have healthier and lighter options like Ground Turkey recipes.
What is Keema?
Keema, or kheema, literally translates to ground meat. This popular Indian spiced ground meat is flavored with all the Indian staple spices and aromatics. In India, it’s commonly made with ground goat meat or lamb, while in Pakistan people more often tend towards ground beef. I can see it would be great with chicken or pork, also.
It’s usually a semi dry dish, where ground meat is engulfed with that classic Indian masala made by sauteing onion and tomatoes along with ginger garlic paste and a few spices.
Very commonly, some kind of veggies get added along with the minced meat, mostly either peas, potatoes or both. The end result is a delicious mix of flavors in every single bite.
Ingredients Needed
- Ground beef
- Onions
- Tomatoes
- Aromatics – Ginger, garlic, cilantro, jalapeno
- Spices – Turmeric, red chili powder (like Kashmiri red chili powder, which is mild), coriander powder, garam masala powder.
- Peas – I am using frozen peas, but you can use fresh peas.
- Oil or Ghee
Beef Keema Recipe
Like most of the Indian dishes, the starting point here is to create a masala out of onion and tomato with aromatics and spices. You can make keema in all ghee, half & half ghee and oil, or simply oil.
I start by sautéing finely chopped onions over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until they get a deep golden brown color. This takes time, about 10-15 minutes, but it’s such an important step for a good-tasting Indian curry.
Then, I add ginger and garlic paste, which I normally make fresh in my mortar and pestle. I sauté for a couple of minutes.
Next, I add chopped tomatoes along with salt, crushed or chopped jalapeno, turmeric powder, red chili powder, and coriander powder. I mix everything well and sauté until it becomes a nice, homogenous masala mixture. This could take another 10 minutes.
I add in the ground beef and mix it well with the masala, letting it cook until the beef is fully cooked. Then, I sprinkle in garam masala powder and cook for 3-4 minutes.
Some people like their kheema pretty dry, so you need not add any water. If you want slightly runny or more runny, you can add half a cup to one cup of water.
I add in peas during the last 10 minutes of cook time. If I’m using fresh peas, I add them a little sooner, as they take more time to cook. Once everything is fully cooked, I adjust for salt and garnish with cilantro and julienne sliced ginger.
Serving Suggestions
- I like to serve it with fresh rotis, butter naan or paratha.
- It’s often eaten with pav, which is the Indian version of dinner rolls.
- I also love it over a plateful of rice.
- For a low carb option, you can try it with cauliflower rice.
- For a nice side option, I like to serve my chilled Tomato Cucumber Raita.
Try my version of keema the next time you have no clue what to cook with ground beef and are looking for new flavors. It’s easy, fairly quick and delicious. Impress your friends and family with these Indian flavors and see it polished off fast from the table!
Pin or bookmark this great recipe so you always know where to find it. And please leave a comment and review when you try it, I love hearing from you!
Check out our collection of favorite Curry Recipes!
Beef Keema, on my Gypsy Plate… enjoy!
Try these other great Indian dishes!
Chicken Masala
Pork Vindaloo
Paneer Jalfrezi
Gobi Matar
Chapli Kebabs
Chicken Tikkas
Aloo Palak
Dal Tadka
Beef Keema (Indian Ground Beef with Peas)
Kheema… One of the beloved ground meat dishes from India and Pakistan. It’s one of the quickest curry dishes you can whip up!
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 large onions, finely chopped
- 4 large tomatoes, chopped
- 6-7 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 Tbsp ginger, crushed
- 1 jalapeno, crushed or chopped
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 3 tsp Kashmiri red chili powder (see note 1)
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp garam masala powder
- 8oz frozen peas
- ½ cup cilantro, chopped
- 1 Tbsp julienne cut ginger, garnish
- 3-4 tsp oil or ghee
Instructions
- Heat oil or ghee in a pan over medium high heat and sauté onions till golden brown. It would take 10-15 minutes to get the nice color on the onions. Add in ginger garlic paste and sauté for a couple of minutes.
- Add in chopped tomatoes along with salt. Give it a stir. Add in chopped jalapeno along with Kashmiri red chili powder, turmeric, coriander powder and cumin powder. Mix well.
- Keep on sautéing this mixture till it becomes a homogeneous masala mixture and a little oil starts separating from the masala. This would take 10-15 minutes of sautéing and stirring.
- Add in ground beef and mix well. Let it cook in it's own juices.
- When the beef is cooked, add in frozen peas along with garam masala powder and cook for another 10 minutes. Taste and season for salt or heat. You can amp up the heat by adding more jalapeno. Cook for another 5-10 minutes.
- Stir in chopped cilantro and garnish it with julienne cut ginger.
Notes
- In absence of Kashmiri red chili powder, you can substitute with paprika.
- Leftovers: Like any Indian dish, the flavors develop if you leave it for a few days. It refrigerates great for 3-4 days in an airtight container. You can make a giant batch and freeze it in an airtight container for up to 2-3 months. Just thaw it and reheat it, adding a dash of water.
Nutrition Information
Yield 6 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 599Total Fat 38gSaturated Fat 12gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 22gCholesterol 140mgSodium 311mgCarbohydrates 18gFiber 5gSugar 7gProtein 45g
Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.
Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.
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