Mince and peas is a northern English habit and a northern Indian one too, which is the joke behind Hairy Bikers keema peas. The recipe is in One Pot Wonders, made with 500g of lamb mince, 300g of peas and a splash of coconut milk, and feeds four at about 455 calories.
They say it was a regular in both their houses growing up, and they call it a classic one pot. Their point is that it takes ten minutes of work and then looks after itself.
Nothing needs watching once it is all in the pan. Tomatoes, coconut milk, peas and water go in together, and from there it is half an hour of bubbling while you do something else.
Hairy Bikers Keema Peas
Description
The coriander gets split in two, with the stems chopped into the pan early and the leaves saved for the top. Coconut milk goes in alongside the tomatoes to take the sharp edge off them. Nigella seeds and bay leaves do the rest.
Ingredients
To serve
Instructions
- Soften the onion: Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and cook until soft and see-through.
- Sear the lamb: Turn the heat up, add the lamb and sear until well browned, then stir in the ginger and garlic.
- Add the coriander stems: Separate the coriander leaves from the stems. Keep the leaves for later and finely chop the stems. Add the stems to the pan with the curry powder, nigella seeds and bay leaves, and stir to combine.
- Add everything else: Tip in the tomatoes, coconut milk, peas and about 100ml of water, then season with plenty of salt and pepper.
- Simmer: Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and cook for about 30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced and turned creamy.
- Serve: Scatter over the coriander leaves and green chillies, and serve with lemon or lime wedges and flatbread.
FAQs
Should I cook the peas for the full half hour?
Your choice, and the book gives you both. Thirty minutes makes them soft and sweet, which they compare to tinned peas and say they love.
For bright green firm peas instead, hold them back and add them five minutes before the end. The photo in the book shows that second version, so even they go both ways on it.
What is the coconut milk for?
Taking the edge off the tomatoes. Only 100ml goes in, but it turns a sharp tomato sauce into something rounder and softer over half an hour.
It also keeps the dish gentle. Two tablespoons of mild curry powder and no chilli in the pan means all the heat comes from the sliced green chillies you add at the table.
Do I really need the coriander stems?
They are the better half of the bunch for cooking. Stems hold their flavour through half an hour in the pan while leaves would turn grey and taste of nothing.
That is why the leaves are kept back for the top. Their carrot and coriander soup and red lentil and harissa soup both split the bunch the same way.
What are nigella seeds?
Small black seeds with a mild onion taste, sold as black onion seeds or kalonji. You will have seen them scattered over naan bread.
One teaspoon is all you need. Without them the dish still works, though you lose a bit of what makes it taste northern Indian rather than generally curried.
How is this different from their keema curry?
Different book, different dish. Their keema curry has you measure out five ground spices, adds whole cloves and cinnamon, and cooks potatoes in the sauce.
This one leans on shop-bought curry powder and puts 300g of peas in where the potatoes would be. One is a weekend project, the other is a Tuesday.
