Kheema Palav

I made this for dinner today as a special treat for my hubby who travels a lot (translates to eats outside junk food a lot) and didn't think my fussy toddler would like it (she's not a big meat fan), but, she DID !! Yay !! This is a Parsi dish usually served on special occasions. I had it at my friend Gulshan's place, loved it and have made it a few times since then. This is the first time I made it since my toddler started eating solid food tho'.

I won't say this is as quick as some of my other recipes, but its not hard. Just takes some chopping and lots of stirring to prevent stuff sticking to the pan. Helps to have all the ground spices on hand too to save on time. Here's the ingredient list and directions

For the Kheema (Kheema basically means Ground meat so Chicken Kheema is Ground Chicken) :

1 Lb Turkey or Chicken Kheema (I don't use breast because I think it is too dry. I like the one with 7% fat ideally chicken - not much of a turkey kheema fan in this recipe)

1 Onion - well chopped

Garlic – either paste, grated or very finely chopped (I usually use 1 tsp of giner-garlic paste but today I didn't have any so I used 3 cloves of chopped garlic)

Ginger - paste, grated or finely chopped (as said above I didn't have the paste on hand and so I very finely chopped a 1 inch piece of ginger after peeling off the skin)

1/8th tsp (about 2 pinches) Turmeric powder

1-2 Green Chillies - chopped, and/or chilli powder 1/2 tsp (or if you have a toddler like mine who can't tolerate heat leave this out. Trust me you won't be able to find a difference !)

1 tsp Dhania-Jeera powder

1/4 tsp Curry powder (if you are omitting the chillies and the red chilli powder you can use upto 1/2 tsp of this)

1/4 tsp Garam masala powder (again if you aren't using the green chillies you can add another 1/4th tsp of this)

Pasta/spaghetti sauce or tomato sauce (not ketchup) or grated/pureed tomatoes

Cilantro - chopped

Salt to taste

For the Pulav:

1 Cup Basmati Rice

Tomatoes – sliced

Cilantro – chopped

Mint Leaves – chopped (Iif using fresh use 4-5 leaves. I use dried mint which is crumbly so I use a pinch or two and sprinkle it lightly over the tomato layer)

Saffron soaked in 1 tbsp of hot milk for atleast 15 mins

3 tbsp Yogurt

1 tsp Oil (this is the ONLY oil used in the entire recipe! I try to make healthy food at home since hubby travels so much he gets enough of the artery clogging stuff on the road)

Whole Garam masala - Cloves (3-4), Dry Bay Leaves (1-2 leaves), 1/4th inch Cinnamon stick, 1 Black Cardamom (this imparts a really strong flavor so its best to use just 1)

Salt to taste

The Process :

Mash Kheema by hand. Then heat it on medium high heat, stirring occasionally till the meat releases off its juices (there's no need to add extra oil when cooking this). It helps to use a non stick pan . It'll help with all the stirring you'll have to do for the meat to release its juice. Now remove as much liquid as possible in a cup and keep aside. When kheema is dry, keep stirring so that it gets well browned but not burnt.

Then add the chopped onions and continue cooking till onions are almost cooked (light brown). Add ginger garlic and stir some more. Then add all the spices and 1 tbsp of water (don't add too much water !). Cook well. Add the tomato puree or pasta sauce continue cooking.

Now, remove the fat floating on the kheema liquid that was set aside and pour the lower liquid back into the kheema. Add more water if needed but making sure that the Kheema is wet but not “runny”. Mix in lots of chopped cilantro. Keep aside.

You can do this in parallel while the Kheema is cooking. Wash rice in water, rinse well and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan and add the whole garam masala (cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon and cardamom). Roast them until they start to crackle. Add rice (be careful since the oil may splatter since the rice is wet) and sauté gently so as not to break the grains of rice. Add water. I usually add 1X2 times (ie 1 cup rice 2 cups water). Add salt. Bring the mixture to a boil on high heat. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan and cook the rice until all water is absorbed.

Once the rice is done, immediately separate rice into 3 parts before it clumps together. To the first part, add yogurt and mix well. To the second part, add the saffron in milk and mix well (this will turn the rice yellow). I love the fragrance of saffron in the rice. Makes me feel like I'm eating a feast. Leave the last part of rice as-is.

Now we need to layer the different rice. Take a serving dish. First add the rice-yogurt mixture. Over this, spread a layer of sliced tomatoes and sprinkle with mint. Then add half of the kheema. Next, spread the plain rice. Repeat layer of tomato slices, mint and rest of the kheema. Finally add the saffron-rice mixture. It helps to use a microwaveable dish since it makes reheating easy (in case you want to make it a couple of hours ahead). Just sprinkle a little water over the top before heating. That'll help prevent the rice from drying out.

This makes about 4 servings