Ground Lamb Curry For One (Keema)

Ingredients

1 brown onion
5 cloves garlic
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger
1 tbsp peanut (or neutral flavoured) oil
200g (7 oz) lamb mince
½ tsp garam masala
¼ tsp ground chilli
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tbsp ground coriander
400g (14.5 oz) tinned crushed tomatoes
70g peas (fresh or frozen)
salt to taste
1 cup steamed rice to serve

Directions

Prep your ingredients
Peel and finely dice the onion then set aside.
Peel the ginger and garlic, then finely grate both and set aside.
The cook
Place a medium saucier or saucepan over high heat. Add the oil and wait for it to heat. Add in the diced onion with ¼ tsp salt and sweat for 2 minutes, stirring often until the onions become translucent.
Add in the lamb mince, grated ginger, garlic and ground spices. Stir and sear until the spices become fragrant and the mince has lightly browned.
Add in the tinned tomatoes with a splash (50ml) of water. Stir and reduce the heat to a medium simmer for 8 minutes.
Add in the peas, if using fresh peas, cook for 4 minutes until soft. If the peas are pre-frozen, they take just 2 minutes to heat through.
Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve over steamed rice and enjoy.

Recipe notes

Chef's Notes

Grate ginger and garlic together

I like to finely grate the ginger and garlic for two reasons. Firstly, it saves loads of time. Secondly, when you finely grate them together it creates a paste that absorbs into the sauce easily.

Bloom your spices in the fat

When you add the spices, give them a minute in the rendering lamb fat until you can smell them properly.

Storage

This recipe stores incredibly well, in fact the flavours only deepen with time, so go ahead and make a big batch for meal prep. Wait for it to cool slightly before popping it into containers and refrigerating for up to 3 days, or freezing for up to 3 months. When you need to reheat a frozen portion, simply pop it into a pot with a lid and place over low heat for 15 minutes until it comes to a simmer.

Serving suggestion

I like to serve this recipe simply over steamed basmati rice, but it’s also great with naan bread or Greek yoghurt.

FAQs

Fresh or frozen peas? For me this comes down to seasonality and ease. If my local market has fresh peas on display, I can't resist the urge to buy fresh peas. That does come with the downside of having to pod them yourself. Truth be told, most of the time, I go for the convenience of opening a bag of frozen peas and tipping them in. There’s no ‘right’ answer here, it’s about what makes sense for you.

Want to add more greens into your dinner? Toss in a couple of handfuls of baby spinach at the exact same time as the peas. It wilts down in seconds. If you want to add diced potatoes, make sure to parboil them first so all you have to do is warm them through in the sauce.

Can I use other mince? Swap the lamb for beef, chicken, turkey or pork mince.