2014 Cooking Club Week 43: Aloo Keema w/ Saffron & Cardamom Rice

Hi all, sorry this is a bit late but only got around to cooking it last night And I'd also like to apologise for the quality of the pictures!

I'm a huge fan of Indian, it's my absolute favourite cuisine. I was a bit nervous of posting an Indian recipe here following Curry Addict's ongoing successful thread, but this one is probably a little different to the curries you'd be used to, and it's unbelievably simple to make.

Aloo Keema is a minced meat and potato curry. "Keema" in Hindi translates to any minced meat, and "Aloo" is Hindi for potato. I usually use minced beef for this dish, but I decided to use lamb last night and it was delicious. You can even use minced chicken - any lean (at least 80%) minced meat will be good.

(Recipe serves 4...although the rice recipe probably serves about 6/7 but I always make too much rice )

Aloo Keema

Ingredients

• 1 large onion finely sliced
• 1 inch of ginger, 5 cloves of garlic, 2 green chillis (preferably all blitzed in a processor to form a paste as in the picture. If you have no processor, simply chop finely and mix together)
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 2 heaped tsp tandoori masala
• 1 tsp hot chilli powder (adjust amount to taste)
• 4tbsps olive oil
• 1lb of lean minced lamb/beef
• 3 medium potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch squares
• 3 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp garamasala

Method


1. Heat oil in a large pot/pan and cook onions until golden brown. Add garlic, ginger and chilli mix and cook for 5-10 minutes on a low heat. Add tumeric, chilli powder and tandoori masala, mix and cook for 3 minutes.


2. Add the mince to the mixture and cook on a medium heat until browned. Now add the soy sauce and mix well, season with salt.


3. Add the potatoes, tomatoes and garamasala and cook for a further 35 minutes until potatoes are done.








Saffron & Cardamom Rice


(The original recipe recommends that you use basmati rice and soak for 30 minutes pre-cooking in cold water. I used Tesco Easy Cook Long Grain & Wild Rice, and didn't soak beforehand, and it turned out perfectly.)


Ingredients

• 2 cups rice
• 3/4 tsp crushed saffron threads
• 4 tbsps butter
• 6 whole cardamom seeds
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 or 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp salt

Method


1. Soak saffron threads in 2 tbsps boiling water


2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaves and fry for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rice and mix until it's fully coated.



3. Pour in stock, and add salt and saffron.


4. Cover and cook on lowest heat until rice is cooked and liquid is absorbed (10-20 minutes depending on what type of rice you use).






And enjoy!













Optional - copious amounts of alcohol, ice-cream and novelty napkins