Kheema Matar

Name: Kheema Matar
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: ½ teaspoon chilli powder; 2 tablespoons ground coriander; 2 tablespoons tomato paste (purée); ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric; pinch of asafoetida; 2 onions, roughly chopped; 2 tablespoons ground cumin; 5 cm (2 inch) piece of ginger, roughly chopped; 4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) minced (ground) lamb; 235 g (1½ cups) fresh or frozen peas; 3 teaspoons salt; 2 tablespoons thick plain yoghurt; 1 teaspoon ground black pepper; 2 Indian bay leaves (cassia leaves); 170 ml (⅔ cup) oil; 5 tablespoons finely chopped coriander (cilantro); ¼ teaspoon garam masala; 4 green chillies

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Food of India

By Priya Wickramasinghe

Published 2005

About

During the winter months, when peas are in season in Northern India, this dry-style lamb curry is often served with ubiquitous vegetable dishes such as aloo gobi and aloo methi. Leave out the chillies for a mild version.

Ingredients

2 onions, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
5 cm (2

Asia
India
Winter
Gluten-free
Breakfast
Spicy

Method

Put the onion, garlic, ginger and two of the chillies in a food processor and process until very finely chopped. If you don’t have a food processor, finely chop the ingredients or grind them together in a pestle and mortar.

Heat the oil in a karhai or heavy-based frying pan over medium heat, add the onion mixture and bay leaves and fry for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown. Add the lam