B](http://www.paklinks.com/gs/household-affairs-and-cuisine-corner/403506-keema-recipe-for-niksik.html)ut today I felt like using a new recipe…I fried onions/garlic/tomato, bhooned the keema, and left it on low heat for a while to boil it, then bhooned it and added potatoes…it came out tasting pretty good except for the color. Usually when I cook keema, its dark brown in color…and that’s how I’ve seen my moms/MIL’s keema come out as well..
Today it was more yellowish in color…it looked more like the kind of keema I see in restaurants/takeout places…
Anybody know why this happened? The keema itself didn’t smell weird when it was raw, the only thing I can think of is that I used a different method to defrost it than I normally do…
You know, I'm not really sure. But I never boil keema, just saying. I caramelize the onions, ginger, garlic, add spices, add keema, cover and let steam for an hour or two, until keema is soft and tender, add potato or boiled cholay, cover and steam for half hour more, sprinkle with cilantro, not to toot my own horn or anything, but that's the best keema I've ever had. =)
Btw, ground Anardana helps give a brown look to any dish.
you know when you boil the keema in plain water along with onions ... it gets cooked without any spices hence the dark color ...
But when you bhoon the spices first, then add keema , the keema immediately takes on the color of the spices and together they all get bhooned for a bit ... hence the keema will not turn dark brown color ... rather it will be a lighter shade of brown and more towards either reddish ( due to tomatoes) or yellow ( due to termeric )
Personally , I cook keema my original recipe way in day to day cooking ( boiling it in water first ) .. but when i am cooking for dawats , I cook it like you mentioned today ( bhoon masala first ) ... it just makes a better presentation :@:
Ohh and one more thing with keema ... if you over bhoon it , you will see that it turns more and more brown ... and wont taste as good ... hence you just have to bhoon it enough to cook it , not to burn the nutrients in keema ... In my experience 20 minutes of high heat bhoon is enough for keema ... and then another 20 minutes of covered cooking on lowest fire setting ... that helps cook it within , without burning the nutrients ... Result : tasty keema with perfect yellowish color rather then dark brown colored dish..
You used termaric? Or if you mean to say the mince was yellow then it must be high on fats.
No actually when I took it out of the freezer it was red (like its supposed to be) but then after defrosting and washing it it lost the "red" color (usually when I defrost something I leave it in the fridge overnight....this time though I had to make it very quickly so I left it in water for some time)
Sara , I think I know the difference ...
you know when you boil the keema in plain water along with onions ... it gets cooked without any spices hence the dark color ...
But when you bhoon the spices first, then add keema , the keema immediately takes on the color of the spices and together they all get bhooned for a bit ... hence the keema will not turn dark brown color ... rather it will be a lighter shade of brown and more towards either reddish ( due to tomatoes) or yellow ( due to termeric )
Personally , I cook keema my original recipe way in day to day cooking ( boiling it in water first ) .. but when i am cooking for dawats , I cook it like you mentioned today ( bhoon masala first ) ... it just makes a better presentation :@:
Hmmm that makes sense too. I actually like the dark brown keema more than I like the masala-colored one.
When you wash it under the tap, it loses all the blood content and turns whitish. I dont really mind this part so i have3 no problem defrosting and washing it. But you should defrost it beforehand if you want t
hmm interesting to hear all the different methods. i never knew about boiling keema first.
it's one of the things i can make quite well because we just have some aloo keema with pasta, since i'm rubbish at making roti's :p
i fry the onions first (in just a few tbsp of oil) and when they are done, some plum tomatoes go in, then i get all my spices* in and cook this for a few minutes. then i add the keema and after a bit add some milk as well.
i don't boil it or keep it covered, just keep cooking it until all the water that was present in the meat and after washing has completely gone and you can see the oils from the fat only. when it's bhooned, i had some pasta sauce (a pasata or something like ragu with bits of vegetables), let it cook for a few minutes again. then i add 1 cup of water and cubed potatoes. by the time the water has evaporated, the potatoes should be done. lots of coriander on top of course.
If I want to freeze any, I take it out as soon as it's bhooned. Then when I come to use it later, defrost, put in pan and evaporate any water again, add the pasta sauce and then the water and potatoes and just do this last step.
*2 onions, 2tsps salt, 1/2 spoon of garlic and ginger (we pre make this and keep it in a jar), 1/2 tsps chilli power, small amount of haldi, 1/2 tsps garam masala, mixed herbs, black peper, small cardamom (gets rid of the smell), small piece of cinnamon stick. I think this for about 500g of keema but I need to check. Oh, and it's for lamb keema.
Hi Stoppit, thanks for sharing the keema recipe ... the question is , why do you use tomatoes twice? once you use it before bhooning and then again in the form of pasta sauce .... would it make a difference if you added all of the tomato either before bhoonng or after ?
Coz that's how my mum taught me? Lol. Well the first lot of tomato is part of the malasa (always used peeled plum or chopped tomatoes) so it gets totally cooked. The second lot is mainly if we are having it for pasta and then it's actually noticeable in the final keema, gives it a more saucy texture and herby taste. It can be added before or after doing the potatoes to be honest. My sister loves the ragu with vegetables so she always puts it in right at the end.
If I wanted it more bolognesey, I'd still make the keema in the normal way and then add in lots of pasata (no potatoes), cook for a few mins before serving... tastes the same.
Btw... the final keema is not oily at oil.. just the oils from the fat so it depends on how fatty the keema is or not. Like once the keema is finished from the serving dish or handi... there is no oil at the bottom.
Nope CE , you arent a wierdo , I think most people wash it … who would want to cook the keema with all that blood in it :no: … hence washing it , that too with vinegar added , is a must in my household ..
Stopit, I have never heard of anyone putting milk in the keema, what exactly does that do? I make aloo keema once a week because kids and hubby love it! My question is, although I use the same recipe, the keema sometimes has this distinctive smell even after a lot of bhunofying. I do put my mum's home made garam masala at the end but still its there. Do you think that sometimes the keema has more fat content, thats why?
I'll have to ask my mum exactly why and what the difference is with or without. I just know that for nearly all our salan's my mum would add a little bit of milk once the masala has cooked and when adding the meat, so I do it that way too. I'm gonna guess and say it's just a bit of liquid to cook in the meat in, the water will evaporate and you will have the fats from the milk making the masala tastier.
Do you put some haldi and a cardamom or two in? Apparently these are for the smell. As you see, our method is to make the masala first and then the meat cooks in it the whole time, so once it's finished cooking it has no smell.
@ MissFreudian : Yes the fat content is high in the keema .. but what you can do to reduce the smell is that before starting to cook, put the keema in a strainer and add 3-4 tablespoons of vinegar , stir it in and let it be for 15 minutes.. then give the keema a light wash in the water ...
Vinegar kills most smells, reduces the blood in the keema, kills tonns of bacteria and it wont taste at all in the dish ... so it acts fabulously with meat ...
@ Stoppit : I know an aunty here , she adds tablespoon or two of milk to lighten up the spices ...doesnt necessarily have to be milk, can be yoghurt too ... as it also acts as a meat tenderizer ...
