A Plate Full of Comfort

Investigating the origins of paalakura keema.

The whistle of the pressure pan shakes me out of my deep slumber. It’s Sunday morning and I’d do anything to sleep in. I can hear the rattle of utensils in the kitchen and the aroma of spices seep into my bedroom, tempting me to get out of bed. My mother is making paalakura keema (minced goat meat with spinach).

For as long as I can remember, paalakura keema has been my favorite non-vegetarian dish. A staple in my paternal grandparents’ home, I was introduced to it as a child. What makes it even more special is that I’m yet to come across the dish in any other home, restaurant menu, or recipe book. Keema is typically paired with tomatoes or peas. Mutton and chicken are sometimes cooked with spinach, methi (fenugreek), gongura (sorrel leaves), and other greens. But paalakura keema is rare. 

I somehow never wondered about the origins of this dish until earlier this year. I was binge-reading The Goya Journal, my favorite online food journal, and one of the articles reminded me of this dish. As a child who disliked green vegetables (even though I loved Popeye), the only two spinach dishes I happily ate were paalakura pappu (spinach and lentils) and paalakura keema.

I recently asked my mother how she started making it and she recalled that she had learned it from my paternal grandmother. While her mother often cooked chicken and meat with spinach, it was only at my father’s place that paalakura keema was a regular affair. My grandfather was very particular about eating a balanced meal and insisted on including green vegetables in at least one dish in every meal. So my grandmother started making paalakura keema more often. Since it was a large household, it was also convenient and economical to make in large quantities, versus chicken or mutton.

I don’t think my grandmother invented this dish, so I wonder where she got the recipe from. Living in Hyderabad, the land of the Nizams and famous for its biryani and other non-vegetarian dishes, it may have been borrowed from the Muslim community. But when I asked some of my Muslim friends, none of them had heard of the dish.

I decided to take my curiosity online and went down the Google rabbit hole. I learned that keema originated in Persia and is derived from ‘Kyma,’ which means minced meat in Turkish. It was popular during Emperor Akbar’s rule when several cuisines flourished and was first documented in the Ain-i-Akbari in the 16th century. Keema is also popular among the Parsis, whose ancestors migrated from modern-day Iran to India to escape religious persecution by the early Muslim invaders of the 7th century. Keema pao, keema samosa, and keema lukhmi are just some of the Iranian snacks devoured by Parsis and Hyderabadis alike.

Shawkat Osman, a culinary expert and author from Bangladesh, attributes the popularity of Mughlai cuisine in Northern India to Humayun, the second Mughal emperor. “Humayun’s most lasting achievement was the introduction of Persian cuisine into the royal kitchens of Delhi,” he writes in his book ‘Recipes from the Rasoi.’ He also clarifies that the use of the tandoor, and food items like naan, keema, and kebab, were introduced by the Delhi sultans much before the Mughal emperors, although they became popular during the Mughal period, and are, thus, widely associated with Mughlai cuisine.

With no clear headway on the origins of paalakura keema, I turned to social media. I found photos, videos, and recipes of the dish posted by chefs and food bloggers in Pakistan. I also found a few uploads from India, but they looked different from what we make at home.

In an era when there was no Internet and Google search, how did my grandmother source the recipe of a dish that seems to be more popular in Pakistan than in India? 

I wish I had asked earlier.

For now, enjoy the recipe of paalakura keema, my chicken soup equivalent aka comfort food for days.

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RECIPE FOR PAALAKURA KEEMA

Ingredients

½ kg keema
½ kg spinach (cleaned and chopped)
A handful of methi (optional)
2 medium-size onions (sliced)
2 tsp oil (vegetable oil, ghee, mustard oil works well) 
2-3 cloves
2 small cinnamon sticks
2 cardamom pods
1 tsp shahi jeera
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
½ tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp red chili powder
2 tsp salt
½ tsp coriander powder
Fresh coriander leaves for garnish

Method

Heat the oil in a pressure pan. Add the shahi jeera, cloves, cinnamon, and cardamom. Once they start spluttering and their aroma is released, add the methi. Next, add the thinly-sliced onions and cook until they turn golden-brown. Add a pinch of salt and stir. Then add the ginger-garlic paste and mix.

When the mixture turns brown, add the keema and mix well to break the lumps. Cover the vessel with a lid and let it cook for a minute. When the water starts to release, add the turmeric powder and mix. Then add red chili powder and mix. Next, add ½ tsp salt and mix. 

Once all the water is absorbed, add the spinach and slightly turn up the heat. Add 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp coriander powder. Cover with a lid and pressure cook for two whistles at medium-high heat. When the cooker starts letting out steam, put the whistle on. Lower the heat after the first whistle, and turn off the stove after the second whistle. 

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with hot rice. Enjoy!