Beef keema curry with fresh coriander and mint

Beef keema curry with fresh coriander and mint

My take on keema curry is one of my favourite trusted recipes that I go back to again and again when in need of some warming comfort food. This recipe is very quick and easy and I would really recommend it to anyone who has never made a curry from scratch as it is so simple to make.

And, thanks to some #SOS ingredients, I made this tonight for a mere £1.50 to feed four people! I had a 54p pack of lean steak mince in the freezer (down from £3.60) and some fresh garden peas for 25p (down from £1.56). The rest of the ingredients took this up to approx £1.50 - pretty good going for a freshly made curry!

I usually make this recipe with frozen peas but as the fresh were on offer I plumped for them instead.

I use plenty of fresh coriander and mint in this recipe - I always try to have a few pots of living herbs on my window sill to add flavour to dishes and thanks to the nice folks at The Fresh Herb Company I've got this lovely new window box to keep them in!

I find having living herbs is cheaper in the long run than buying the packets of cut herbs which often ruin within a few days. I'm also growing my own too! The lovely Fresh Herb Co folks also recently sent me a messaluna for preparing fresh herbs - it made chopping the mint and coriander for this dish so much easier than faffing about with a standard knife!

Here's my recipe:

1) Brown some mince and a finely chopped onion in a large pan for a few minutes.

2) Add a clove or two of chopped garlic, a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, two teaspoons of ground cumin, one teaspoon of ground coriander, half a teaspoon of chilli powder, half a teaspoon of turmeric and some chopped fresh coriander stalk (keeping the leaves for later). Fry until soft and the meat is fully browned.

3) Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and simmer on a low heat for about 15 minutes.

4) Add some frozen peas, chopped fresh coriander and mint leaves, juice of half a lemon and heat through for a few minutes until the peas are cooked.

5) Serve with lemon wedges and a sprinkling of the fresh herbs over the top.

Delicious served with rice or naan bread!

I love this dish - proper spicy and fragrant comfort food and the lemon juice cuts through the flavours to add a citrus kick. Delish.

P.S. Lots of tips on keeping fresh herbs at: http://www.freshlivingherbs.co.uk/