Hyderabadi Kheema

A savoury mince recipe garnished with boiled eggs

• CuisineIndian
• CategoryMince
• CourseMains

Ingredients

• 1 kgbeef mince
• 3 tbspginger, minced
• 3 tbspgarlic, minced
• 2green chillies, sliced
• 2 tspchilli powder
• 1 tspturmeric powder
• 1 tbspcoriander powder
• 1 tspcumin powder
• 1 tsppepper powder
• 1 cupyoghurt
• 500 gmsonions, diced
• 6cloves
• 4green cardamoms
• 1brown cardamom
• 1 piececinnamon
• 800 gmsdiced tomatoes
• 250 gmsgreen peas
• 4eggs, boiled and halved
• 1 bunchfresh coriander, chopped
•  Oil
•  Salt

Preparation

1. Mix mince, yoghurt, ginger, garlic, green chillies, chilli powder, turmeric, coriander powder, cumin powder, pepper powder and salt and marinate for 1 hour
2. Heat oil in a pan and add sliced onions
3. Grind whole spices coarsely and add to onions
4. Fry till onions are transparent
5. Add diced tomatoes and fry till oil leaves the mixture
6. Add marinated mince and fry till browned
7. Add the peas and two cups of water and simmer for 20 minutes
8. Adjust salt and remove from heat
9. Hard-boil eggs, halve and add to mince
10. Garnish with chopped fresh coriander

There was a restaurant on D N Road, Fort, Mumbai that I ate at almost every day for three years called Cafe Bahar. Sadly, it went out of existence years ago. As I ate there quite frequently, I tried almost every dish that they had on offer (except for the veg dishes :-). One of the dishes there was Kheema mutter. I asked for it several times but every time, it was not available. Till one day, I was just not satisfied with a negative response. I asked the waiter why they do not have it ever. He explained that it was considered a breakfast dish and was never available during lunch time.

As the job I was at required frequent all nighters, this was a problem easily solved. The next time I worked overnight, I fronted up in the morning and demanded my kheema mutter. And I got it with pav (bread rolls) on the side. It was a lot greasier than I expected but it was absolutely delicious. Soon, I would look forward to those long nights that would end with a kheema mutter breakfast before I headed home. I also got skilled at picking up the kheema with a fork leaving most of the oil behind.

That was then and this is now. The idea of that amount of grease in a dish makes my arteries curl up. Having such a hearty dish for breakfast is a bit hard too. So this one is classified as a Mains dish. But the kheema mutter has always been a staple. This recipe is a bit different - the mince is marinated in yoghurt before cooking. If you don't like lumpy kheema, this is the dish for you. The marination and the cooking afterwards tend to make for fine, almost mashed up, kheema. The recipe is relatively mild. You may want to amp up the chilli and spices if you like it hot. I have garnished it with halved eggs. Another popular garnish is thick cut potato fries.