Keema Matar Lamb & Pea Curry

Keema matar is a classic Pakistani curry recipe featuring lamb or mutton and peas that are generously spiced, this is real comfort food!

Classic Keema Curry!

This recipe is really rather exciting for me, one of my very favourite dishes and one I rarely get an opportunity to cook!

Lamb is expensive here and difficult to find, but if I am listing my favourite things then it will be Lamb, Curry, Peas, Chilli…

My version of lamb keema with peas features spice heat from both fresh peppers and Kashmiri chilli powder.

It is also heady with Fenugreek, a herb/spice that I personally find synonymous with food from the region of Pakistan, Northern India and bangladesh.

So yeah it is safe to say that this dish is not just a few of my favourite things.

It is without question ALL of my favourite things!

Can I Use Beef?

Keema just means minced meat so yes, of course! Although I would personally change the spicing a little.

I have no idea why there seems to be a tacit acceptance that you can just swap the meat in a curry and not bother to change the spicing.

I write about this a little in my pork vindaloo and beef vindaloo recipes.

If I am making this with beef mince I scale back the coriander and cumin in the recipe by half.

Then I increase the fenugreek by 50%.

This is a similar spicing to the one that I use in my simple beef curry with peas recipe.

If I am using beef I try and use ghee rather than oil to approximate the rich mouthfeel that you get from lamb.

I personally think it gives a much better balance.

Recipe Hints and Serving Suggestions.

The secret to really getting a rich well rounded flavour in this keema matar is the fat in the lamb.

First of all, you need lamb with some fat content, shoulder is perfect.

Secondly and most importantly you need to cook that lamb long enough to render out that fat.

The fat holds the spices in suspension and creates the most luxurious mouthfeel and an incredibly well-rounded flavour.

It is the same thought process behind my lamb madras and lamb rogan josh curries.

This recipe contains whole spices added at the start of the cooking process. If I am serving to guests I try to fish them out before serving!

As for serving suggestions, look no further than the good old Mr naan bread although chapatis work really well too!

I often round out this dish by serving a kachumber salad on the side. That whole minty, onion “thing” works perfectly with the rich lamb.