Keema Dip

This recipe is a bit of a spin on the classic South Asian meat dish Keema. Keema is made with minced meat and is often served as a side dish. I figured this would be a perfect dish to experiment with as my entry into the Food Bloggers Of Canada blend and extend appetizer contest with Mushrooms Canada . Have you heard of the blend and extend method?

According to Food Bloggers of Canada - " If you haven't heard, Blend & Extend is a great new concept, blending finely chopped mushrooms into your favorite ground beef dishes. Blending mushrooms into meals like tacos, lasagna, and burgers adds another serving of vegetables to your plate, boosts the nutritional profile of the dish, adds volume to meals, and helps extend portion sizes." 

We've put a bit of a spin on traditional keema and made it into an appetizer. 

We've served our dip with naan bread but it would work equally well in lettuce cups or even with tortilla scoops. 

Keema Dip

Ingredients

2 Tbsp oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp mustard seeds

2 medium onions

4 cloves garlic

1 jalapeno

1 lb extra lean ground beef

16 oz button mushrooms

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp paprika 

1 tsp garam masala

1 bunch kale

14 oz can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup frozen peas

naan bread

Greek yogurt

Directions

First thing you want to do is prep all your ingredients.

Finely chop the onions, mince the garlic and jalapeno, measure out the spices, chop the kale, open the can of tomatoes, and pulse the mushrooms in a food processor until they are finely chopped.

When all your ingredients are ready, you are good to go. (HINT - After I chopped the mushrooms in my food processor I threw in the garlic and jalapeno and pulsed until fine. That saved me having to mince them by hand!) 

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. When it is hot, add in the cumin and mustard seeds. 

Cook and stir for about 1 minute, until seeds start popping. 

Add in onions and cook and stir for 5 minutes. 

Add in the garlic and jalapeno and cook another minute.

Add in the ground beef.

Cook until beef is browned.

Add in the finely chopped mushrooms and spices.

Cook and stir for 2 - 3 minutes.

Add in the kale.

Cook and stir 2 - 3 minutes.

Add in tomatoes.

Stir in well.

Cook over medium heat, uncovered, stirring often, for about 5 minutes.

Lastly, add in the frozen peas and cook and stir another 1 - 2 minutes. 

Remove from heat and serve hot.

Drizzle with some Greek yogurt to add a bit of tang and to make it even prettier. (If that's possible)

Serve with naan bread (or even lettuce cups or tortilla scoops). 

This recipe is super easy to work with. You can add more heat or less heat by using more or less jalapeno - you can even add a bit of cayenne if you like! 

Don't worry too much about the size of the ingredients - more onions, kale, mushrooms won't really change the recipe too much. 

This is a perfect appetizer before an Indian meal or, as I discovered, when you are just having a few friends over for a glass of wine and snacks. We made pretty short work of the whole batch but you can easily half the recipe if you think it is too much (FYI - it's totally not. You'll eat it all. Trust me.)

It may seem like a lot of ingredients but it's really not. They are mostly spices. 

I think from start to finish this took me about half an hour to make, and that includes going into the garden to pick the kale. 

P.S. - it reheats really well too if you want to make it up ahead of time. 

 

 

We're sharing at  Carol's Chatter, be sure to check it out!