I love to come home to this flavourful Keema Curry Konkani style any time. Fragrant with whole spices, yet mellow on the heat quotient, this comforting minced mutton curry recipe will make your heart sing.
If you love minced meat, look no further. Our easy keema curry recipe is perfect for family meals as children relish it and the elderly enjoy it too. It is unique as it uses no tomatoes like many other keema preparations. This Konkani keema curry recipe uses coconut milk as one of the key ingredients which makes it a delicious must-try.
To make this keema curry recipe Konkani style, keema (minced meat) is first marinated in spices, onions, and ginger-garlic pastes. Whole spices are sautéed in ghee to bring out their lovely flavours followed by cooking the masala which calls for curry leaves, onions, and coriander leaves, before adding the marinated keema. Once the keema loses its rawness, salt and potatoes are added and cooked. This is then simmered in second press coconut milk till the potatoes are cooked through. Thick or first press coconut milk is added last and simmered briefly. The dish is finished with a squeeze of lime juice. Our keema curry recipe yields a thick and flavourful curry with a soft and creamy texture.
Konkan, sometimes known as Konkan coast is a part of India's western coastline. Starting from the Daman Ganga river in the north, it runs along Maharashtra, Goa, and ends in the Udupi district on Karnataka's Kanara coast.
Konkani food is the term used to describe a multitude of cuisines found across this region. Konkani food is characterized by the use of seafood and pork. Mutton, chicken, and beef are also consumed. Rice is the preferred grain all along the coast. Coconut is ever present in Konkani recipes due to them being ubiquitous along the coast in abundance. Marinating meats is essential in Konkani food, while kokum and tamarind are used as souring agents.
The Konkan coast is culturally rich due to the presence of diverse communities such as Malvani, Koli, Bunt, Goud Saraswat Brahmins, and Pathare Prabhu, among others. Some tribal communities and Muslims and Christians also inhabit the area.
Keema translates as ‘minced meat’. It can be any sort of meat that has been minced – from chicken, mutton, lamb, pork, beef, to meat from game. In our keema curry recipe, we use minced mutton.
While buying keema, ask your butcher to mince it by hand with a knife rather than in a machine. The texture, in our opinion, is much better this way and results in a tastier keema curry. If you are buying keema that is minced in a machine, then ask for a medium setting so that the keema is not too fine.
It is essential to marinate the keema so that the spices and garlic impart their flavour and permeate the mince. Whole spices also play an important role in bringing out the flavours in this Konkani keema curry recipe so ensure that you have them stocked up.
Sauté the onions till just beyond translucent and lightly coloured to remove their pungency and evoke just a touch of sweetness. We don’t want them fried too dak where they could impart a bitterness to the dish.
Unlike many other recipes in which coriander leaves are added towards the end of the cooking, this recipe calls for adding coriander leaves early to incorporate their flavour in the dish. This also lends a hint of green to the prepared keema curry.
We always extract fresh coconut milk to give this traditional curry its best flavour. Note that while the second press or thin coconut milk is added early to cook the keema and potatoes in, the first press or thick coconut milk is added towards the culmination of the cooking process to flavour the keema dish. After adding thick coconut milk, do not bring the curry to a boil but just simmer for a few minutes, and switch off the heat This ensures that the flavour of coconut milk is retained. Lime juice is added after turning off the heat to prevent the coconut milk from curdling.
If you are preparing this Konkani keema curry recipe during the winter, you can make a large batch and enjoy it over a couple of days.
If you prefer, you can substitute lamb for mutton in this recipe with no other change.
Enjoy the Konkani keema curry piping hot with chapati, rice, or local breads such as poee or pav. If you don’t have access to these breads you could serve keema curry with naan, kulcha, khameeri roti etc. If you want, you can garnish the keema curry Konkani style with fried curry leaves or chopped coriander leaves.
Across India, keema recipes use different ingredients such as peas, potatoes, cashews, coconut milk etc. You could look at adding diced carrots, peas, and beans to this recipe if you like to incorporate vegetables into it.
Keema or minced meat is used to create a plethora of dishes such as our Chettinad keema matar, parathas, naan, keema samosa, street food favourite keema pav, and even the super-tasty keema biryani.
Keema Curry recipe Konkani style is made with simple cooking techniques and Ingredients. This Konkani keema curry recipe video and pictures give you step by step directions to make the most flavourful, fragrant Konkani mutton curry at home.
See all our Mutton Recipes right here!
Or read more in our article on Traditional Indian Cooking Techniques if you have an interest in learning about Indian cuisine.