Salams and Hello all! Hope all is well in your neck of the woods…over here winter is well and truly on its way…I am so not a winter person at all, I’m one of those who can feel the cold going right through my bones 😭😭 during winter I just want to be wrapped up all cosy and don’t want to leave the house, if only I was a hedgehog hey? (Why isn’t there a hedgehog emoji 🤔) Lol sorry for all the waffling I just needed to let that out. 

So I recently made this kheema pulao after a long time, as I don’t make it too often I tend to forget about this dish. I hadn’t written it down so had to give my mummy a quick call to run me through it again. Mum was like chuck that in and throw that in. So this time I thought I’d better write everything down as I go along. I have used chicken mince in this recipe but have previously made with lamb mince too, if you do like beef you can make it with that too.  Hope you enjoy making and eating it if you do decide to give it a go. Any questions as always just contact me…lots of love 

Let’s begin Bismillah….

INGREDIENTS:

1 KG or 2lb Chicken Mince (washed and drained completely)

1 1/2 Cup Sunflower Oil

5 onions (slice thinly)

2 tsp Ginger/Garlic Paste

3 TBS Green chillies (blended)

3 TBS Coriander cumin powder 

1/2 tsp Turmeric 

2 1/2 tsp Salt (add more or less according to taste) 

1 TBS Whole Cumin

2 TBS Lemon juice 

1/2 Coriander (chopped fine)

4 Tomatoes (small cubes)

5 Potatoes (large chunks)

1 Cup frozen Petit Pois

1/4 Cup Natural Yoghurt (whisk lightly)

3 Mugs Basmati Rice

3 tsp Salt

1 TBS Whole Cumin Seeds

1 Cinnamon Stick 
3 Cardamon Pods

METHOD:

In a large pot heat the oil and add the slice onions, fry till lightly golden, add the washed mince and also to that add the green chillies, the coriander/cumin powder, turmeric, whole cumin, ginger/garlic paste and salt, keep the flame on medium heat stir well, keep breaking up with a wooden spoon so that the mince does not form lumps.

As the mince changes colour add the chopped tomatoes and yoghurt and let this all cook, when the water is mostly burned off add the frozen petit pois and the potatoes, after around 5 minutes add coriander and allow to cook further until all moisture has burned off. Keep stirring every so often to ensure it’s not sticking to bottom of pot. Turn of once you can see that all moisture has burned off and the mince is nicely cooked.

While the mince mixture is cooking boil the rice by boiling a pot of water, when water comes to boil add the drained rice with the salt and 1 TBS whole Cumin . Cook the rice until it’s par boiled. Drain out into a colander. Run some cold water over the rice to remove the starch.

Once the mince has cooked you will need layer it all. So in another separate large pot, line a sheet of foil at the bottom and layer 1/3 of the rice, then layer the mince mix on top and then the remaining 2/3 of rice. Add some blobs of butter on top and sprinkle some more chopped coriander. 
Cover the pot with another sheet of foil and cover with lid.
Put the pot on the stove again on low to medium heat and allow to cook for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to gas Mark 3 or 170 electric…place pot in oven and allow to finish cooking for around 30-40 minutes. 

Check that potatoes are tender. 

Serve with yoghurt gravy, raita and poppadoms! 

Enjoy 😇

PS: sorry for the pic quality 🙈

Thinly slice onions 

Heat the oil and add the sliced onions 

Fry until lightly golden

Add the mince with all the spices 

Give it all a stir and cook

Add the chopped tomatoes 

Also add the yogurt 

Next goes in the petit pois and potatoes 

And the Coriander 

Give it all a stir slowly

Parboil the rice and layer 1/3 on bottom of a large pot 

Layer the mince mix on top and then another layer of the remaining rice 

Add blobs of butter and Coriander on top of the final layer of rice

Serve the Kheema Pulao with a yoghurt gravy (chaas) and cucumber raita