Keema Recipe (Keema Curry)

Keema Recipe with 3 different variations! This Keema Curry is a flavorful and hearty dish that comes together in no time! It is perfectly soft, tender, juicy and aromatic, that you will fall in love with it instantly. Keema Curry is a popular dish consisting of minced meat cooked with onions, tomatoes, spices & herbs. Serve this comforting curry with Turmeric Rice, plain steamed rice, Plain Paratha, roti, Chapati or with Garlic Naan. Some sliced veggies like onions, cucumber and carrots or Kachumber Salad alongside Lassi make a comforting and complete meal.

About Keema

Keema also spelled as “Qeema” & pronounced as “Kee-Mah” refers to minced meat. It is popular in the Indian sub-continent and used in the preparation of various dishes like Curries, Biryani, Pulao, Parathas, Naans & even Samosa.

Though the terms ground meat and minced meat are used interchangeably in a lot of cuisines. It is important to note that Keema is just minced meat and should not be confused with ground meat.

Minced meat has a texture to it while ground meat is smooth. Though minced meat is used in this recipe, you can always substitute it with ground meat of choice.

In India, largely keema comes from goat, sheep, lamb & chicken. Though other kinds of keema exist, goat is the most preferred as it is believed to be lower in saturated fats and cholesterol, and higher in iron than other red meats.

A lot of people opt for young goat as the adult goat can have a strong gamey flavour compared to lamb.

There are numerous versions of this curried dish. Keema curry, aloo keema, keema matar & keema masala are some variations of this dish. Here are some details:

• Aloo Keema is made with minced meat and potaotes (aloo).
• Keema Matar is made with keema and green peas (matar).
• Keema Masala is the North Indian Version of the dish. Most times this is made with yogurt.

My Recipe

In this post I share a basic Keema Recipe, the way my Mom made for us. Simple, quick and delicious with the use of minimal ingredients. You won’t believe – making this is easier than you thought!

You can add green peas, potatoes, methi leaves or even cashews to this. Yes! a lot of Telugu-speaking people add cashews to their Keema curry. Read my pro-tips & variations section for that.

So reading this post you will be able to learn how to cook keema perfectly with many variations. If you want to use chicken, use this Chicken Keema Recipe.

More Similar Recipes
Lamb Curry
Lamb Vindaloo
Mutton Korma
Rogan Josh
Mutton Curry
Spicy Mutton Fry

Photo Guide

How to make Mutton Keema Curry (Stepwise Photos)

1. Heat oil in a pan and fry the whole spices. 1 bay leaf (or 1 sprig of curry leaves, 2 to 3 cloves, 2 to 3 cardamoms and 1 to 2 inch cinnamon piece.

2. Then add the onions and chilies.

3. Next add ginger garlic. Saute for 2 to 3 mins on a low heat.

4. Add Keema and saute for 2 to 3 mins. Stir in the red chili powder, masala powder, turmeric, salt and mint.

5. Saute again for 3 to 4 mins.

6. Cover and cook for about 8 to 10 mins on a very low heat. Keema releases moisture at this stage and turns slightly tender.

7. Add tomato puree. Mix and cook for 5 to 6 mins until the raw smell of tomatoes goes away.

8. Add little hot water and mix. Cover and continue to cook until the keema has turned soft and tender, until completely cooked.

Towards the taste test and add more salt and garam masala if you want. Add chopped coriander leaves and mix. We prefer to evaporate all the moisture from keema, you can also turn off a bit early if you prefer little gravy.

Serve keema with rice or paratha. Sprinkle some lemon juice and serve with lemon wedges.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Keema: You can use any minced meat/keema of choice. Cook time, quantity of ground spices and water will vary depending on the kind of meat used.
• Spice blend: You can use garam masala, meat masala, kitchen king masala, Biryani masala or mutton masala blends for this recipe. Due to the different spice combinations each of these impart different flavors to the dish.
• Whole Spices: All the whole spices are optional but recommended. They infuse better flavors than the ground spices.
• Tomatoes: I prefer using pureed tomatoes but you can also use them chopped or peeled and chopped.

Variations of Keema Recipe

Keema Matar: We make keema matar with ½ to ¾ cup peas/matar included in the same recipe. Young and tender green peas are best for this recipe as they impart sweeter tones. Frozen peas and baby peas too work well.

Aloo Keema: Diced potatoes are used in this variation and you can always add 1 large diced/ cubed potato directly after sautéing the meat. Adding tomatoes early can hinder the potatoes from cooking faster. So add them towards the end only after the potatoes are almost cooked but not fully cooked.

For this version I double the amount of onions, tomatoes and spices to make a slightly gravy dish. You will need to add more water depending on the potatoes and meat.

Kaju Keema: Fry ¼ cup split cashews at the beginning and keep them aside. Add them along with tomatoes to the keema. I have a separate spice blend on this mutton fry post which we use for kaju keema.

South Indian Keema Curry: Use curry leaves in the tempering and add ¼ cup thick coconut milk before finishing the dish.

North Indian Keema Masala has yogurt added to it. Saute the keema first for 4 mins. Follow this Chicken bhuna and make the bhuna masala later add the sautéed keema to it and cook adding little hot water.

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