Kheema with coconut curry

Kheema with coconut curry is an amazing dish, flavourful and deliciously made with minced meat cooked in freshly ground coconut and mint masala spiced with green chillies and aromatic Indian spices. This is a very popular non-vegetarian dish from the cuisine of Kerala. Goes excellently well with Malabar parotta, roti, chapatti or rice! The speciality in this dish is its fresh and authentic flavours from the God’s own country.

Preparing with a simple combination of fresh ingredients that are perfectly blended and spiced together leads to an extremely delectable dish! The freshly ground homemade masala makes a huge difference in the flavour and taste of the dish. Kheema is the Hindi name for minced meat. Mince meat can be of beef, lamb, chicken or pork. There are a variety of dishes that can be made from minced meat.

Minced meat is generally used for making curry, stir fries or stuffing in snacks like samosas, puffs etc. It also makes an excellent filling for a kheema sandwich. Keema Matar (minced meat and green peas cooked together), Kheema paratha (Indian flat bread stuffed with spicy minced meat curry), Garlic pepper meat balls, Shammi Kabab, Keema Pulao and Lamb cutlet are some of my all time favourite recipes. Kheema with coconut is a wonderful dish, soft, spicy and the meat just melts in the mouth.

It is rich brown, fragrant and aromatic with spices, hot with green chillies and red chillies, the shallots give a great pungent and sweet flavour, the mint and coconut masala gives a dense and smooth texture to the dish. Coconut is a vital ingredient in most dishes prepared in this cuisine. There are abundantly available all over the state of Kerala and shows its prominence in most delicacies. 

The white flesh of coconut is used in grated, ground or powdered forms in most Indian curries and sweets. A variety of other coconut products is available to the chocolate and confectionery trade such as, moist white sweetened coconut, toasted coconut, creamed coconut and tenderized coconut. Coconut has been used as staple part of the diets of almost many Asian people for centuries.

It is used as food, as flavouring and made into beverages. Most gravy contains either fresh or desiccated coconut in Southern India. The coconut is generally ground with cumin, coriander seeds, red chillies, toasted lentils and spices.  Coconut oil is the most typical frying medium in Southern India. The aromatic pungency from the freshly ground masala gives an extraordinary and exotic flavours in this dish.

Coconut aroma goes well with savoury and sweet recipes. India is a diversified country and every state has its own tradition, culture, lifestyle and food. Most of them have their own secret recipes for spice powder and masala paste which is the main backbone of the dish, but what mainly unifies most Indian dishes is the spices that bring them their distinctive aroma and taste.

For preparing this delectable and appetizing Kheema with coconut, take sliced coconut, green chillies, cumin seeds, mint leaves, and grind into a little bit coarse paste and keep aside.

Now take a pan add oil, mustard seeds, red chillies dry, shallots sliced mix well, curry leaves, then add turmeric, then add kheema; mix well then add salt mix well close it with a lid and cook till 80% done .

Now remove the lid mix well, add the coconut paste mix well and cook till the kheema is done.

Do try this incredible variation from the cuisine of Kerala.

Click on the link below to watch the making of this dish:

Fresh Indian spices such as herbs, garam masala, coconut etc are used to uplift the taste and flavours of Indian delicacies. These ingredients do wonder in creating an appetizing, refreshing, charming and aroma in Indian food. The significance and demand of India spices does not limit to India only, there is a huge demand of Indian spices in foreign countries as well.

That’s why they are highly exported to other countries. Some leaves such as coriander, mint, Basil, curry leaves, bay leaf, peppermint leaves, rosemary, etc are the common types of spice plants used for bringing distinctive flavour in Indian food.

Do go for it and Enjoy Cooking!