Keema per eedu (spiced mince)
SERVES 4You’ll find Irani cafés all over south Bombay serving little dishes of keema (spiced lamb
mince) and fresh bread for breakfast, lunch and dinner. While this lamb dish, keema pau,
sits on our all-day menu, at breakfast we serve a lighter variation using chicken mince.500 gm minced chicken
25 gm garlic, minced
20 gm ginger, minced
2½ tsp garam masala
2 tsp deggi mirch chilli
powder (see note)
2 tsp ground cumin
80 gm Greek yoghurt
¼ tsp ground turmeric
70 ml vegetable oil
175 gm white onions, finely
diced
1 dried bay leaf
3 green cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
35 gm fenugreek leaves
(see note)
A handful of coriander
leaves, coarsely chopped,
plus extra leaves, to serve
4 eggs, fried, to serve
Fried potato matchsticks,
to serve (see note)4 soft white buns, halved,
toasted and buttered,
to serve1 Combine minced chicken,
garlic, ginger, garam masala,
chilli powder, cumin, 1 tsp fine
salt and 50gm yoghurt in a
bowl. Cover and refrigerate
(1 hour or overnight).
2 Combine turmeric, 200ml
cold water and 1 tsp salt in a
separate bowl then set aside.
3 Heat oil in a saucepan over
medium-high heat. Add onion
and sauté until dark golden
brown (15 minutes). Add bay leaf,
cardamom pods and cinnamon
stick and cook until fragrant
(1 minute). Add marinated
chicken, 1 tsp salt and remaining
yoghurt. Sauté over high heat
until starting to brown (10
minutes), then turn heat downto low and sauté until cooked
through (15 minutes).
4 Meanwhile, soak fenugreek
leaves in the turmeric water
to rehydrate (5-10 minutes).
Drain and squeeze out water,
then add to the pan and cook
until infused (5 minutes). Add
coriander, stir, then turn off heat.
Cover and set aside (5 minutes).
5 Divide keema between bowls
then top with a fried egg, potato
matchsticks, coriander and
season with black pepper.
Serve with a bun to the side.
Note Deggi mirch chilli powder
is available from Indian food
stores, or thespicelibrary.com.au.
Fenugreek leaves are available
from Indian food stores. If
unavailable, substitute celery
leaves. For potato matchsticks,
cut a potato into julienne then
fry in vegetable oil until crisp.O
ur relationship
with Bombay,
like the best sort
of relationship,
continues to mature and
deepen with the passage of
time. Admittedly, the city
is not always easy to love. It is
an utterly imperfect city, full
of the best and the worst; the
extremes of human existence
cohabiting cheerfully, hemmed
in tight against each other
by the ocean on three sides.
Endless wanderings in
Bombay have brought us
more knowledge, to be sure.
However, each wandering,
each look into the history
of this or that building, and
each meeting with a Bombay
character full of stories to tell
has brought much more. As
our knowledge has grown, so
has our obsession with the city.
There is nothing we love
more than feeding people in
our restaurants, and we are
extremely happy to be sharing
our recipes so you can cook
them in your own kitchen.