I remember when my Appa made this. She was my mother in law who passed away from diabetes. I was very close to her death still affects me. When we both were in NYC she made this yummy dish and I haven’t forgotten the taste of it even though I do it a little differntly.
There are 4 methods. One is regular stovetop, stovetop pressure cooker method and the instant pot method. I have an instant pot duo crisp and everyone may have different makes and models so consult your owners manuals so you can get an idea what I am talking about.
First soak 1/4 cup of chana ki dal which is a type of lentil overnight in the fridge after rinsing them several times. In a mortar and pestle to grind in to a coarse powder, add 2 each of cloves, green elachi (cardamom), kabab chini (cubeb), 1 pinch each of seeds of cumin, coriander, fenugreek, black cumin, shahi zeera (caraway seeds), mustard, black peppercorns, either 1 whole round red chili or Kashmiri chili. Set aside.
Add 1/4 cup of cooking oil of choice such as olive, coconut, grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, grapeseed, peanut, canola, or 1 tbs of dalda ghee. Add 1 onion or shallot or 4 green onions. Let caramelize then add then 4 cloves of garlic chopped, 1 pinch each of turmeric, red chili powder, the contents of the mortar and pestle, 2 aloo bukhara, 1 pinch of either turbindano sugar or coconut sugar, 1 green chili, 1 small piece of ginger chopped, 1 tomato chopped and cook on low on stovetop until it is mushy.
Add 1 lb or 1 kg of mince of chicken, turkey, veal, beef, lamb, goat or 1 bag of Morningstar farms veggie crumbles. This has to be on high heat If you want loose open keema then cook this until it is on brown. On the instant pot this is all done on saute mode. If you want kofta then be sure you add either 1 handful of besan or rice flour with 1 egg to the keema and kneed until it is like a ball. Break these off to make kofta (meatballs). Place this in the tomato curry mixture.
When finished then add the soaked chana ki dal and on regular stovetop turn heat to low and cook for 40 to 45 minutes, regular pressure cook method is 13 minutes. For regular slowcooker method start everything on stovetop first then transfer contents to slowcook for 4 hours on high. For instant pot and the like users since your cooker may be on saute mode, turn that off and either go in to pressure cook or slowcook mode, the choice is yours.
This dish really turned out great and Mr. Riaz was happy with this dish. I normally don’t use ghee in a recipe except if I am making biscuits or even pie crust. Anyway this was really an exception and it turned out great. Enjoy this with either naan, shearmal, taftan or kulcha.
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