Achari keema has a different flavour and taste, finds out Pushpesh Pant

We love mince and are always looking for recipes that enable us to enjoy it in a novel manner. When it was bliss to be young in Nainital circa 1960, Ashok restaurant, an appendage to the ‘talkies’ similarly named, used to serve a mean keema curry for Re one per half plate, just enough to knock off four small tandoori roti with, setting us back by another rupee.

Times were often hard and the treat was saved for special occasions. Note, the keema curry had no frills not even a sprinkling of peas (not even in season). When one moved to Delhi and encountered the dhaba, one was seduced immediately by the keema-kaleji combo, the gift of the refugee Punjabi to the nation that has been pushed in the background by the much-hyped tandoori chicken. The Pavlovian drooling starts even now whenever some one mentions Hyderabadi dum ka keema.

Only the palate challenged will confine themselves to native recipes. Is not the aubergine-slice encased moussaka sublime? Who can tire of the joys of mince-topped spaghetti or the potato-encrusted Shepherd’s pie? Our eyes light up when we are served a keema dosa or Mughaliya (Bengali) parantha and we have not forgiven good friend Vijay Jambolkar for exposing us to the addiction of methi keema. The distressing part is the non-availability of aromatic fenugreek the year round. Refreshed Kasuri methi tries hard but doesn’t come close to the greens. (In case you think we have forgotten the peas- now that they are always available frozen and dehydrated- keema matar seems pass`E9). We have not yet mentioned myriad kebab and kofta.

We were delighted when at a friend’s house we were served achari keema. We have had achari gosht and murgh as well as achar made with mutton, chicken, fish and prawns but had never come across keema cooked with pickling spices. We lost no time in wheedling out the recipe and recommend it very strongly to our beloved readers as per the adage ‘share and share alike’.

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