It’s not common on restaurant menus. Which is a shame. I’ve seen it once or twice. Discovered it in a restaurant in fact. But it’s rare. Outside the usual formula menus safe zone. Which is too bad. That’s the problem with Indian restaurants these days. Everyone has all the same dishes. Some do it better than others. But it’s always madras and jalfrezi and butter chicken. Why? India has one of the most diverse cuisines on the planet. There are literally thousands of dishes. And yet you see the same 20 curries on every single menu. So boring…
Dare to be different – make keema matar
You don’t have to be like them. You have the ability to stand out. Make something new. Make keema matar. This isn’t hamburger helper. It’s a real curry. Done restaurant style. It has tons of flavour. And peas work so well in curry. Little green bursts of flavour. Up against a rich meaty curry. Balance. I know it’s a leap of faith. I get that you’ve never even heard of it. But it’s not so far out there. It’s a meat curry. A little drier than some maybe. And it has some peas. Like aloo matar. Not scared of aloo matar, are you? I’m being too harsh. I know. It just makes me crazy that restaurants can’t mix it up a bit. So I tend to rant about it. Sorry. It’s outside the formula. Where only those who dare take control. Try keema matar. Try something new. You won’t be sorry.
This is restaurant style cooking
This is a restaurant style curry. Done using all the restaurant techniques. Just exactly like what’s going on in the kitchen when you go out to dinner. Restaurant style cooking goes fast. Really fast. So be ready. Have everything at hand. Do your prep. That’s important. Make your curry base and have some heated and ready to go. Pre-cook your keema. Measure out your ingredients. Have everything ready. Put on an apron or some old clothes. This is going to get messy. A bit of splatter is part of the fun. You are playing Indian chef here. If you have not read the guide to Indian restaurant technique yet, do it now. This isn’t the same as traditional Indian cooking. So if you haven’t done it before it’s a good idea to read up a bit before you put oil to pan.
Lamb or beef?
You can do this with just about any ground meat. It’s most common with lamb or beef. It’s probably least common with turkey. Even I don’t think I’d like it with turkey. Don’t try that… Both lamb and beef are good. They are very different though. Lamb tends to be a bit richer. To my palate anyway. Beef is more assertive. In your face. It’s really up to you. What you like. I like lamb better. My wife likes beef. So we mix it up. More beef than lamb though. Because keema matar is one of her favourite curries of all. For real. See – I’m not making this up. Keema matar. For when you don’t want to toe the line. For when you dare to be different. Try it. You’ll see.
