I absolutely adore Indian cooking and a good deal of it is either gluten free or can be made gluten free easily if you’re good at it.

However. 1. I suck at cooking it mainly because it seems like I can make even a Lassi a mystery  2. Husband hates it because he equates all things hot-spicy with it.

So, I’ve always shied away from making ‘real’ Indian dishes, which is a complete shame because up til a couple of months ago I worked right up the street from Bombay Mart and a few blocks from Kohli’s. Since then Husband has bought me a lovely little Barnes and Noble book to experiment with: Cooking School- Indian. I made a trip back through Oakland to Kohli’s to pick up some essential spices I didn’t have on hand and got to work on Kheema Matar, veg-style. I halved this recipe and replaced the ground beef with lentils and we had more than enough for 2 w/leftovers.

Kheema Matar, for 4-6

2 tbs ghee (Clarified butter. The recipe says you can also use peanut or veg oil)
2 tsp cumin seeds (I used ground cumin)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbs garlic/ginger paste (don’t substitute for this, it’s great)
2 bay leaves (I omitted)
1 tsp any strength curry powder
2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2-1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
pinch sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb 2 oz (500g) lean ground beef or lamb (I substituted red lentils)
2 1/4 c frozen peas (don’t defrost)

 1. Melt the ghee in a skillet w/ a tight fitting lid. Add the cumin seeds and cook, stirring 30 seconds or until they begin to crackle. (Rose’s note: I cooked the ground cumin for the same amount of time)

2. Stir in onion, garlic/ginger paste, bay leaves and curry powder and keep stir-frying until the fat separates. (Rose’s note: Right after this step I added in 3 small peeled, diced red potatoes and cooked 2-3 min more)

3. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in coriander, chili powder, turmeric, sugar, salt/pepper and stir for 30 seconds.

4. Add the beef and cook for 1-2 min. until browned and break up with a wooden spoon. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (Rose’s note: instead of beef I added 1/2 c. red lentils and 1/2 c water. During the 10 minute simmering I added approx. 1 more cup of water as the lentils started to cook but you can adjust this as necessary)

5. Add the peas and continue simmering for another 10-15 minutes until peas are thawed and warmed. Add more water if necessary to prevent sticking or if you end up with too much, allow to simmer until it absorbs.

I really liked this recipe and would serve it with rice or wrapped in corn tortillas. It’s spicy but not hot and was quite good with fruit chutney.

Tasty Factor: Thumbs up by all- mild enough for everyone but you could certainly taste the spice. Not a lot of complicated ingredients and was relatively easy to throw together.

Poopy Factor: This could just be user error but the recipe wasn’t very clear about how long it would be until the fat separated in step 2. I gave up after a while and went on to step 3 but I wonder if I was supposed to do something else….?