Keema matar ( English: "mince and peas"), also rendered qeema matar, is a dish from the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

associated with the

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

. The term is derived from Chaghatai Turkic قیمه (minced meat) which is cognate with Turkish kıyma (minced or ground meat).

History

"Keema matar" was popularly eaten in the courts of Mughal India.

Name

The dish was originally called "keema matar" but is referred to as "matar qeema" nowadays. In Pakistan, due to the way the letter ق is pronounced, the dish is spelled with a "q" (qeema), but in India and Bangladesh it is written with a "k" (keema).

Variations

A popular variation of this dish is aloo keema (potatoes and minced meat). It is commonly cooked in North Indian and Pakistani households. Keema is also used as a filling for samosas.

Ingredients

The primary ingredients of this dish are already specified in its name—"matar" (pea) and "keema" (mince). Meats used include ground

goat meat Goat meat is the meat of the domestic goat (''Capra hircus''). The term 'goat meat' denotes meat of older animals, while meat from young goats is called 'kid meat'. In South Asian cuisine, goat meat is called mutton, along with sheep meat.''O ...

, lamb, or beef. All other ingredients include Indian spices and water with banaspati ghee.

References

Ground meat Indian cuisine {{bangladesh-cuisine-stub

History

Name

Variations

Ingredients

See also

References