Beef Kheema – Classic Base

Beef kheema is an incredibly versatile base, and one of the dishes I always keep in my freezer. It’s a real time saver and is incredibly handy because it can be used for any meal. For breakfast, it can be made as kheema toast or kheema omelette. For lunch and dinner, you can make masala kheema, kheema cutlets or even kheema stuffed potatoes.

Particularly in Kerala Christian homes, cutlets are a staple during Easter and Christmas, often served with challas. Kheema is perfect for these occasions because it can be prepared ahead of time, reducing the cooking load on festival days.

How to make beef kheema in 3 steps?

1. Saute finely chopped onions, ginger for 5 minutes.
2. Add minced beef, green chillies, turmeric, chilli powder, salt and half of curry leaves. Cook until all the moisture evaporates and meat browns.
3. Add black pepper, curry leaves and coconut oil and stir for 5 minutes. Cool and store or serve.

What to serve with kheema?

Being an absolute master base, you can turn it into so many different dishes. Some of my favourites to whip up are kheema omelette, kheema toast, kheema cutlets and masala kheema.

Check out another classic beef dish, kerala beef fry.

Print Recipe

Beef Kheema – Classic Base

Author: admin Courses: Beef, Kitchen Essentials, Main Course, Non-Veg

Difficulty: Beginner Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 30 min Total Time 40 mins

Ingredients

Servings

• 1 kilogram Minced meat
• 50 grams Ginger
• 500 grams Onions
• 1/2 teaspoons Turmeric
• 2 teaspoons Red chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon Crushed black pepper powder
• 4 Green chillies (chopped)
• 3 sprigs Curry leaves
• 1/2 cups Coconut oil
• 3/4 teaspoons Salt (or to taste)

Instructions

1. Finely chop onions, ginger, green chillies and curry leaves. 

2. Add 1/4 cup of coconut oil om a skillet. Add finely chopped onions and ginger. Saute for 5 minutes. 

3. Add minced meat, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric and chilli powder. 

4. Stir to combine everything together. Keep stirring until the meat changes colour from pink to brown. Cook for 10 minutes. 

5. You'll see the water coming out from the beef and onions. Keep it covered and cook on medium flame for 10 minutes. 

6. Then open and cook on high flame, stirring continuously. Continue to cook until all moisture evaporates. 

7. Add salt, pepper powder, rest of curry leaves and 1/4 cup of coconut oil. 

8. Continue to cook, stirring until mixture is light brown. 

9. Add 1 tbsp of coconut oil at a time if its looking too dry. 

10. If the skillet gets too hot, reduce the flame to medium for 5 minutes and continue stirring so the mixture doesn't burn. 

11. Then increase the flame again and brown the mixture. Once the kheema is nicely browned, switch off the flame. Stir for 5 to 10 minutes and let it cool, completed. 

Note

Storage and serving

• Store in an airtight container in the freezer for upto a month. 
• To use, bring to room temp or reheat directly in the microwave. 

I usually prepare a kilo of kheema and freeze it and whenever I use the last portion, I immediately refill the freezer. 

Unlike many frozen foods that require full thawing for the taste to be right, kheema is forgiving. You can simply scoop out a portion from the freezer withh a butter knife, thaw it at room temp or even reheat directly in the microwave, the flavour remains the same. 

Meat - I usually use beef tenderloin. I ask my butcher to trim off all the fat and tendon leaving only clean lean meat. This is the cut that gets minced, giving the best texture and flavour. 

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