Kheema (Mince lamb curry)

A favourite with many, my home-town of Kolhapur has achieved cult status owing to its awesome Kolhapuri food. The kheema -pav is a one such rockstar dish. Kheema means mince. The recipe is essentially mince curry. Over the years, I have mastered this dish, but my mother makes the best Kheema I have ever tasted. The ingredients she uses and the once listed here are identical but her curry tastes different than mine. When I say different it is good different off course. 

The key ingredient which gives this dish flavour and colour is "kanda lehsun masala" which is a onion garlic dry roasted masala. You can probably get this in most Indian or sub-continental grocery store. 

Ingredients:

1 Kilo Lamb Mince

1 1/2 cup of freshly grated coconut

1 large onion finely chopped

8-10 cloves of garlic

1 inch ginger

2 tablespoon kanda lehsun masala (substitute with 1 tablespoon of chili powder)

2 tablespoon garam masala

1 cup fresh coriander leaves

4 tablespoon of oil

salt to taste

Preparation time: 20 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Pressure cook the lamb mince for 3-4 whistles. Once cooked,separate the stock and the meat. Mash the mince to separate the clumps formed due to pressure cooking. If you do not have a pressure cooker then cook the mince in a pot with little oil.

Roast the grated coconut and in a blending bowl mix the coconut, ginger, garlic, coriander, garam masala and kanda lehsun masala. Adding 1/2 cup of water make a fine paste in a blender.

In a large pot add the oil and saute the onion until translucent. Add the blended masala and cook for about 7 minutes on medium heat. Add the mince and mix well. 

Add the stock and 1/2 litre of water and bring it to boil. Add salt to taste.

Serve with rice or white bread with a wedge of lemon.