What is Aloo Keema?
Aloo Keema is a iconic Pakistani & North Indian dish consisting of curried, minced or ground meat (keema) and potatoes (aloo). Enter your email below and get it sent straight to your inbox. Plus, get recipes & tips every week! Keema curry, or qeema, can be made with any meat, but Pakistani versions typically use beef. If I had to pick one traditional dish from my childhood, it’d be Aloo Keema. It’s not glamorous, but it’s home. If you’re new to Tea For Turmeric, rest assured that I test, dissect, and improve each recipe several times before I declare it ‘good enough’ to go on this here blog. We’re talking blood, sweat, and tears y’all (this is a country-style recipe, go with it guys). And when it’s such a special, close to home, memory-evoking dish like Aloo Keema, the pressure is on! (Speaking of pressure, here’s an Instant Pot version.) Let’s just say I ate way more than my share of red meat to bring you this classic, deeply flavorful, yet simple recipe of Aloo Keema.
A Note on a Few of the Ingredients
Ground/Minced beef – Both lean or full-fat will work in this recipe. Potatoes: I use Russet or red potatoes for their quicker cooking time. The smaller you cube the potatoes, the faster they’ll cook. I generally like to cut them into 1/2″-3/4″ cubes. Spices: Whole spices are meant to be discarded before/during eating. If you don’t want to bite into any whole spices, feel free to omit.
How to Make Aloo Keema
Aloo Keema is hard to mess up, and this recipe is particularly forgiving, adaptable, and straightforward:
Tips for Making Aloo Keema
After you add in the meat, sauté it until the moisture evaporates from the meat. This technique, called bhunnai (a blend of sautéing and stir-frying), gives ground beef a well browned, deeply flavorful finish. I’ve added 1/4 cup water before covering and allowing to cook, but feel free to add more if you’re afraid it’ll stick to the bottom. I grew up eating a ‘dry’ (no curry, but moist) version, but you can always increase the curry by adding more water. Since Keema Aloo is all about comfort, you’ll notice I’m generous with the spices, salt, and oil. Feel free to adjust these to taste.
How to Serve Aloo Keema
Sometimes we like to serve it with some crunchy vegetables like red onions or cucumber, but it’s so flavorful that it doesn’t really need much enhancement. In terms of pairing, Aloo Keema pairs well with just about anything:
Naan Roti or Paratha (mmm!) Basmati Rice Good old’ sandwich bread
If you try this recipe, please let me know in the comments below! I love hearing from you!
More Keema (Ground Beef) Recipes for you to try:
Keema Matar (Ground Beef & Potato Curry) Beef Kofta Curry (Meatball Curry) Shami, Chapli Kabab or Seekh Kabab
This is an updated post of a recipe that was originally published in March, 2019.
