Keema curry

It was a lovely sunny day yesterday and so we cooked a curry outside.  I prefer cooking curry outside as it stops the smell lingering in the house. It also makes me feel like summer is close.  We don’t eat a lot of meat still but this is quite a cheap curry that feeds 4.  I will often add a few handfuls of lentils and a bit more water  and tomato puree at the stage when you add the tomatoes as that way I can stretch the meal to make 2 more portions.

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped finely

4cm piece ginger, peeled and grated

2 green chillies, chopped finely (I use what ever chillies I have or home made lazy chilli)

2 tbsp oil

250g Beef mince

2 tbsp garam masala

2 tsp turmeric

A can chopped tomatoes or use 2 large fresh tomatoes and a splash of water

200g frozen peas or cooked fresh peas

Left over cooked potatoes or 4 small pre cooked potatoes

Method

Chop the onion, garlic, ginger and chillies. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the mixture until it becomes very fragrant. Add the mince and fry until it begins to brown, stirring to break up any lumps.

Add the spices and fry for 1 min. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer, cook for 1 min, then stir some salt and a good grind of black pepper. Add a splash of water if you need to, then cook the mixture for 20 mins. Add the frozen peas and potatoes and cook for 5 mins.

I like this meal as I can use up previously cooked potatoes, and it does not involve a lot of ingredients or fresh vegetables and so it is good to make in the hunger gap before the vegetables can be harvested in the garden.