Dum Ka Keema

The authentic and unique Dum Ka Keema recipe from the royal kitchen of Nawabs of Hyderabad. Make this delicious keema in just 20 minutes of cook time. Serve it loads of zesty ginger and cooling mint.

Dum ka Keema is spiced and smoked ground meat curry. It is made by marinating ground meat (keema) with an Indian spice blend. Then ground meat is cooked with fried onions and yogurt. Gram flour is used to thicken the gravy. It is usually served with paratha and mint chutney .

Keema means ground meat, throughout the post ground meat and keema will be used interchangeably. Dum means ’to smoke’ so make sure your keema has a deep smoky flavor.

• Why this recipe is so easy?
• Ingredients
• How to cook?
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

We love eating keema at home, no wonder I’m having so many mince recipes on the blog. The best once are bhuna keema , chapli kebab , keema cutlets , Mongolian meatballs and keema naan .

Why this recipe is so easy?

There are three basics of this recipe if you hooked them right, you’ll end up with the most delicious keema very easily.

• Finely grounded: The finely grounded texture gives this dish a curry like authentic look and taste.
• Marination: This step makes sure keema is juicy and cooked to perfection. The papaya paste or any meat tenderizer also necessary for that soft juicy texture.
• Smoking: This is most cruicial. Getting properly smoked mince can be tricky. I’d recommend re-smoking keema if needed, until you can taste and smell the smoke in the keema.

Ingredients

The ingredients are visible in the image below which are ground meat, yogurt, ginger, garlic, chili, gram flour, onion, oil, butter or ghee, papaya paste, and Indian spices. Read below for substitute for ingredients or skip to the how-to-make section.

• Ground Meat: You may use beef , mutton or lamb mince to make this recipe. We want finely grounded meat so ask your butcher to process it through the machine twice.
• Gram Flour: Gram flour is easily available in Indian stores, you can substitutes it with chickpea flour. You may skip it.
• Black cumin : Black cumin has rich aroma so it is recomemded. But you can easily substitute it with white cumin.
• Raw Papaya paste : The raw hard green papaya has capability to emulsify meat protien so it help tenderize the meat . You can use any meat tenderiser.
• Onion: I used fresh onion in this recipe. You can also use crushed fried onion. You’ll need about ⅓ cup crushed fried onions.
• Ghee and butter taste amazing in this keema. I used a mix of ghee and oil.

How to cook?

Making Dum ka Keema is very easy, just sear (bhunnofy) it very well until browned. You can also marinate the meat a night ahead and store it in the fridge. Also, smoke keema in a wide pan so it smoked evenly.

1. Take all ingredients of marination in a bowl.
2. Mix all and marinte overnight (8 to 36 hours) in the fridge or 2 hours on the counter in a cool dry place. Cover the ground meat with a thin cloth or mesh to allow air circulation. (Do not skip the marination.)
3. Heat oil in a pan fry chopped until until golden brown. ( Protip: You can also use crushed and fried onions to save time.)
4. Add marinated ground meat. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. As the keema begins to cook, it will release the juices and it will get easy to stir. Give it a good stir and break the lumps. Cover and continue to cook on low heat until water dries. Slow cooking can really enhance the flavors.

1. Now we need to sear (bhunna) the dum ka keema for a few minutes until the keema turns a little darker in color. Watch Video.
2. Add gram flour to the keema and mix well. Continue to simmer for 5 minutes on low heat then remove heat.
3. This is the most crucial step. Heat at least 2-inch pieces of thick charcoal. It has to be red hot, I keep it for heating when I start searing the keema. Keema should be in a thin layer in a wide pot. Then place the coal on the keema as shown in the above picture. Drizzle oil on the charcoal and cover the keema. Place a tight lid with no holes. The smoke must not escape. Smoke for 10 minutes for a deep smoky flavor.
4. Now, this part is a personal choice. If you like keema to be juicy add ¼ cup water and let keema simmer on low for 5 minutes until you see the oil separating on the sides of the pan. You may keep it dry and skip this step.
5. Dish out the keema and add a small dollop of butter in the middle. Garnish it with loads of julienne ginger, fresh mint, and sliced onion salad.

Serve Dum ka keema with paratha or romali roti and mint chutney. Alternately you can use this keema as filling in samosa or paratha roll. Also, pair some sliced onions and cucumbers to go along.

Yes, this keema is freezer friendly and will come out just as fresh.

A large amount of searing and oil; the absence of potato, tomato makes this keema tin packing friendly. Make sure there is a layer of oil on top.

Hungry for more Keema? Try these!

• Pakistani Keema Matar Recipe
• Chapli Kabab Recipe
• Pakistani Keema (Bhuna)
• Keema Naan Recipe

📖 Recipe

Ingredients

Marination

• ▢ ½ kg ground meat , lamb or beef, use finely ground meat (that is minced twice or just process regular ground meat in a food processor for a fine texture).
• ▢ 1 cup yogurt
• ▢ 1 tablespoon green chili paste
• ▢ 1½ tablespoon raw papaya paste , or use meat tenderizer as directed on the packet.
• ▢ 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• ▢ ½ tablespoon red chili flakes , or less
• ▢ 2 teaspoon coriander powder , preferably roasted and grounded
• ▢ 2 teaspoon cumin powder , preferably roasted and grounded
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ▢ 1 teaspoon red chili powder , skip for less spicy
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili , for color, optional
• ▢ ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ▢ 1 teaspoon black cumin , optional
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon salt

Cook Keema

• ▢ ⅓ cup oil
• ▢ ¼ cup ghee , tallow or butter
• ▢ 2 medium onions , finely chopped
• ▢ 1 tablespoon gram flour , (channe ka atta) ,optional
• ▢ 2 inch piece of charcoal , to smoke

Garnish

• ▢ 2 inch ginger , cut in juliene
• ▢ A handful mint leaves
• ▢ Butter , to serve with individual servings.

Instructions

• Take all ingredients of marination in a bowl.
• Mix all and marinate overnight (8 to 32 hours) the in fridge or at least 2 hours on the counter in a cool dry place. Cover the ground meat with a thin cloth or mesh to allow air circulation.
• Heat oil in a pan fry chopped onions until until golden brown. (Protip: You can also use crushed and fried onions to save time.)
• Add marinated ground meat. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. As the keema begins to cook, it will release the juices and it will get easy to stir. Give it a good stir and break the lumps.
• Now you need to sear (bhunna) the dum ka keema for about 5-7 minutes until oil separates on the side of the pan.
• Add gram flour to ground meat and mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes then remove from the heat.
• Heat at least 2 inch peice of thick charcoal. It has to be red hot. In a wide pot place the coal on the keema as shown in above picture. Drizzle oil and cover the keema tightly. Smoke for 10 minutes.
• If you like keema to be juicy add ¼ cup water and let keema simmer on low for 5 minutes until you see the oil separating on the sides of the pan.
• Dish out the keema and add a small dollop of butter in the middle. Garnish it with loads of juliene ginger, fresh mint, and sliced onion salad.

Notes

• Ground Meat: You may use beef, mutton, or lamb mince to make this recipe. We want finely grounded meat so ask your butcher to process it through the machine twice.
• Gram Flour: Gram flour is easily available in Indian stores, you can substitute it with chickpea flour too. You may skip it altogether.
• Black cumin : Black cumin has a rich aroma so it is recommended. But you can easily substitute it with regular cumin.
• Raw Papaya paste : The raw hard green papaya has the capability to emulsify meat protein so it helps tenderize the meat. You can use any meat tenderizer powder as well. Meat tenderizer powder quickly tenderizes meat compared to papaya. So it is a good option if you have little marination time.
• Oil and ghee: Keema tastes best when cooked in ghee. I find a mix of butter and ghee also tastes great.
• Onion: I used fresh onion in this recipe. You can also use fried onion. You’ll need about ⅓ cup of crushed fried onions.

Nutrition Information

Dum Ka Keema

Ingredients

Marination

• ½ kg ground meat lamb or beef, use finely ground meat (that is minced twice or just process regular ground meat in a food processor for a fine texture).
• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon green chili paste
• 1½ tablespoon raw papaya paste or use meat tenderizer as directed on the packet.
• 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
• ½ tablespoon red chili flakes or less
• 2 teaspoon coriander powder preferably roasted and grounded
• 2 teaspoon cumin powder preferably roasted and grounded
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder skip for less spicy
• 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili for color, optional
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon black cumin optional
• ¾ teaspoon salt

Cook Keema

• ⅓ cup oil
• ¼ cup ghee tallow or butter
• 2 medium onions finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon gram flour (channe ka atta) ,optional
• 2 inch piece of charcoal to smoke

Garnish

• 2 inch ginger cut in juliene
• A handful mint leaves
• Butter to serve with individual servings.

Instructions

• Take all ingredients of marination in a bowl.
• Mix all and marinate overnight (8 to 32 hours) the in fridge or at least 2 hours on the counter in a cool dry place. Cover the ground meat with a thin cloth or mesh to allow air circulation.
• Heat oil in a pan fry chopped onions until until golden brown. (Protip: You can also use crushed and fried onions to save time.)
• Add marinated ground meat. Cover the pot and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. As the keema begins to cook, it will release the juices and it will get easy to stir. Give it a good stir and break the lumps.
• Now you need to sear (bhunna) the dum ka keema for about 5-7 minutes until oil separates on the side of the pan.
• Add gram flour to ground meat and mix well. Cook for another 5 minutes then remove from the heat.
• Heat at least 2 inch peice of thick charcoal. It has to be red hot. In a wide pot place the coal on the keema as shown in above picture. Drizzle oil and cover the keema tightly. Smoke for 10 minutes.
• If you like keema to be juicy add ¼ cup water and let keema simmer on low for 5 minutes until you see the oil separating on the sides of the pan.
• Dish out the keema and add a small dollop of butter in the middle. Garnish it with loads of juliene ginger, fresh mint, and sliced onion salad.

Video

Notes

• Ground Meat: You may use beef, mutton, or lamb mince to make this recipe. We want finely grounded meat so ask your butcher to process it through the machine twice.
• Gram Flour: Gram flour is easily available in Indian stores, you can substitute it with chickpea flour too. You may skip it altogether.
• Black cumin : Black cumin has a rich aroma so it is recommended. But you can easily substitute it with regular cumin.
• Raw Papaya paste : The raw hard green papaya has the capability to emulsify meat protein so it helps tenderize the meat. You can use any meat tenderizer powder as well. Meat tenderizer powder quickly tenderizes meat compared to papaya. So it is a good option if you have little marination time.
• Oil and ghee: Keema tastes best when cooked in ghee. I find a mix of butter and ghee also tastes great.
• Onion: I used fresh onion in this recipe. You can also use fried onion. You’ll need about ⅓ cup of crushed fried onions.

Nutrition