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    Home » Main Course

    Published: Nov 4, 2018 · Modified: Nov 14, 2022 by Wajiha · This post may contain affiliate links ·

    Dam ka Keema Recipe (slow cooker ground beef) – Fry masala

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    Dam ka keema, is a spicy, silky smooth ground beef Main course, which we usually pair with chapatis and parathas in Pakistan. It is a pet favorite on wedding events, parties and on Eids. Being a total sucker for desi food, naturally, over the years, I’ve had several different versions of this very popular Pakistani dish. And honestly I love most of the versions that I have tried so far. But I am posting this version first because of 2 very basic reasons:

    1. This fried masala version is the easiest of the lot
    2. This is also fool proof so even if you are a beginner, you are gonna nail this recipe!

    It is paired with flatbreads like chapati and roti and fried breads like parathas. Some of us love pairing this with a vegetarian side kick like the Moong Masoor Dal

    As much as I LOVEEEE this recipe and want to take credit for it, my inner voice is telling me to tell you my sources. This version of dam ka keema is actually one of my Aunt’s recipes (Khala). And god bless I have 7 of them! So like any other cooking maniac, I chase them down for recipes when they feed me with their deliciousness. 

    DAM KA KEEMA RECIPE - SLOW COOKER GROUND BEEF

    WALKING YOU THROUGH THE IDEA OF THIS DISH

    There are 100 different ways and masalas to make Dam ka keema. Other versions make use of roasting the masalas, or use raw masalas or just go with a packet masala as well. Plus the ingredients also differ with each recipe, and so does the color of the resulting dish.

    This particular recipe makes use of frying the masala and grinding them for marination.

    I personally love Dam ka Keema with parathas and green chutney, sliced onions and aloo ki tarkari (potato curry) as I am sure do all Pakistanis around me. (*wipes of drool from chin*). Let me walk you through the steps a little bit so you know what to expect while making this delicious Pakistani favorite food.

    EASY INGREDIENTS = EASY STEPS

    • dam ka keema recipe - slow cooker ground beef
    • dam ka keema recipe - slow cooker ground beef

    We start off with frying our masalas (like I’ve babbled about it at the top). So the onions are sliced into half and sliced fine like we do in Biryanis. And then you fry the onions, red chilies and garlic altogether in a generous amount of oil.

    PRO-TIP: Sometimes, adding all the masalas together may cause the red chilies to burn. To avoid this, add the onions first and let them turn transparent. Then add the garlic and red chilies. This way all your ingredients will fry evenly. 

    And that’s that! You grind the fried masala and add it to your ground beef. I usually grind the yogurt along with the fry ingredients, but just to show you all the elements of the dish, I added a little yogurt on top of the ground beef. And you can also see raw papaya paste and cumin seed powder as well.

    dam ka keema recipe - slow cooker ground beef

    Marinate the heck out of the beef.

    So your ground beef is all dressed up and ready to party! It usually requires 8 to 12 hours of marination. But personally, I feel the longer the better for this particular dish. I leave it for almost a day and you can even leave it for 2 days and then cook it. This is why I love Dam ka Keema for dinner parties so much! All the prep is done before hand and I just have to leave in on the stove the day of the dinner.

    PRO-TIP: Keep the use of salt to a basic minimum because the beef is going to clump together after it shrinks during cooking. You can always season it later if you feel the salt is less.

    SLOW COOKING YOUR BEEF

    And now let the stove take over!  We are just gonna transfer our beef to the cooking pot and let it cook at low flame. Ideally, keep something below the pot for insulation, like a griddle (tawa) or an insulating disk if you have any. This is to prevent the meat from sticking to the pot at the bottom.

    Your beef will release lots of water so make sure you use a pot that only fills up to 3/4th of its capacity or less with the meat. Once the water dries up, your beef is going to start binding together and when you can see a hint of oil at the base of your pot, you know your beef is done.

    I personally loveeeeee to smoke my Dam ka Keema at the end. So when the dish is ready, I leave it at low flame for another 5 to 10 minutes and add a piece of charcoal to smoke it out. You can even smoke your dish when you marinate it. Its totally your call.

    For cooks and newbies who find baking easier, you can even bake this dish instead of cooking it in a pot. More instructions on the recipe card!

    Dam ka keema recipe slow cooker beef

    THE LEFT OVER OIL

    Once your done with the frying, you are going to have left over oil in the pot. You will only add 1/4th cup of this oil in your marination. So what should you do with the remaining oil? Honestly, this oil is So packed with flavor that I usually use it for making omelettes and chicken to add a little extra punch of flavour to them.. If you are making something which has a simple marination or is bland generally, use this oil for frying them or grilling them to give it that extra heat and flavour. If not, you can also just simply use for regular cooking too.

    CRIME AGAINST DAM KA KEEMA

    Alright, so I know a lot of Dam ka Keema recipes available on the internet have basin (gram flour or chickpea flour) as an ingredient as well but PLEASE! I Mean I beg you please don’t add gram flour to your Dam ka Keemas. Restaurants use gram flour in their recipes because that way their Keema doesn’t reduce in quantity a lot and they get a bang for their buck. It’s similar to adding cotton to your Niharis. (As in ITS A CRIME!) It totally ruins the actual taste of the dish. Its more like a hack for Dam ka keema but this hack is a total fail! Don’t go for it and stick to the original taste of the beef. Or if you are curious you can go ahead and try with and without the gram flour and you’ll know what I mean.

     

    DAM KA KEEMA RECIPE (FRY MASALA EDITION)


    DAM KA KEEMA RECIPE SLOW COOKER GROUND BEEF

    Dum ka Keema (Fried Masala)

    The most silky smooth and bursting with flavour kind of dam keema I have ever tried.
    4.94 from 16 votes
    Print Pin
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: South Asian
    Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour hour
    Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes
    Servings: 8 servings
    Calories: 459kcal
    Author: Wajiha

    Ingredients

    • 1 kg ground beef or keema
    • 6 medium onions sliced in biryani cut
    • 4 whole garlic
    • 50 pieces or 3/4th cup of round red chilies saabit lal mirch
    • 4 tbsp raw papaya paste kaccha papeeta paste
    • 2 cups yogurt
    • 1 - 2 cup oil for frying
    • 2 tsp roasted and grind cumin seeds bhuna wa zeera
    • 1 tsp salt or to taste

    Instructions

    • In a large sauce pan or pateeli, pour in a generous amount of oil and fry the onions.
    • When the onions turn transparent, add red chilies and garlic cloves and fry all of them until they turn golden brown.
    • Remove the onions, garlic and chilies from the oil and let them cool down
    • In a grinder or a blender, blend the fried ingredients along with yogurt and raw papaya paste.
    • Add the mixture to the ground beef.
    • Add roasted cumin seeds, salts, and 1/4th cup of the oil used in frying the masala.
    • Once the meat has been marinated, keep it overnight in the fridge.
    • Add the meat in a pot and allow to cook at medium flame. Ideally keep an insulation pan or a griddle below the pot. This is called as "dum dena" or cooking with insulation.
    • Your meat will take somewhere around 40 to 60 minutes to release water and cook entirely.
    • Once you see the water drying up and your keema (meat) binding together, add a piece of charcoal to your keema to give it the smoky flavor it needs.
    • After 5 to 10 minutes of smoking the keema, turn off the flame
    • Serve with lemons and onions garnish. It goes well with rotis, parathas and potato curry on the side

    Notes

    ALTERNATIVE COOKING METHOD

    You can also bake this dish
    Take out the marinated meat and smoke it with coal before hand.
    Dish out the meat in an oven proof dish (making sure you fill only half the depth of the dish)
    Bake at 180°c for about 40 mins and keep checking. Once you see a dark brown layer forming on the top of the dish, and water dried up, you can take it out and serve the dish as it is.

    SMOKING THE DISH

    Place a piece of bread or aluminum foil on your bread in your meat.
    Take a piece of charcoal and put it directly on top of a flame for 3 minutes or until it turns glowing red.
    Add the charcoal on the foil or bread and drizzle 1 tbsp of oil on the coal. It will start releasing smoke immediately. Quickly cover the meat and let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes. And you have officially smoked your dish!

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1servingCalories: 459kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 25gFat: 82gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 16gMonounsaturated Fat: 46gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 92mgSodium: 415mgPotassium: 641mgFiber: 2gSugar: 16gVitamin A: 138IUVitamin C: 20mgCalcium: 146mgIron: 3mg
    Can't wait to see your remakes! Tag meon IG with your pictures @butteroverbae

    Hope you try this out and if you love it, say a lil prayer for me and my Khala :D. If there is anything that wasn’t clear or if you have any questions regarding this recipe, feel free to comment below and let me know how can I be of help!

    OH and I found a few other dam ka keema recipes that DON’T USE gram flour so you might want to give them a try sometime too. Check it out:

    Cook with Faiza’s recipe

    Ayesha’s Bihari Keema Recipe

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Syra says

      January 29, 2024 at 4:19 pm

      Hi, i just came across your recipe as I was looking for an easy keema dish. Would you be able to tell how much onion, yogurt and red chilles i should add if cooking for 50 peoples.
      Thanks

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        February 10, 2024 at 12:08 pm

        Hi Syra! that depends on how much beef you are using? Are you using 5kg or more?

        Reply
    2. Faiza says

      August 04, 2020 at 8:29 am

      What can i use as a raw papaya replacement? 🙁

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        August 11, 2020 at 9:00 am

        hey there. you can use meat tenderizer powder or make a paste of kiwi fruit and use that instead. 1 tbsp of meat tenderizer should be more than enough. use kiwi paste double the quantity of papaya paste

        Reply
    3. Anonymous says

      May 02, 2019 at 3:17 am

      4 cloves of garlic or 4 pothi garlic,it won’t be another?

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        June 12, 2019 at 11:30 am

        thats 4 pothi garlic

        Reply
    4. Samantha Flores says

      November 13, 2018 at 3:32 am

      This sounds like it is full of such great flavor!

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 10, 2018 at 3:28 am

        it totally does! the red chilies and yogurt does the trick

        Reply
    5. Tina Basu says

      November 12, 2018 at 10:14 am

      This is a lovely recipe. I am going to try it out soon.

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 10, 2018 at 3:33 am

        Lemme know how it turns out 🙂

        Reply
    6. New Coupon Diva says

      November 12, 2018 at 6:12 am

      Thank you so much for sharing this recipe, I love trying new things especially curry dishes.

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 10, 2018 at 3:33 am

        OH then this is definitely for you. Its going to be on a drier side as it doesn’t really have any gravy in it.

        Reply
    7. Rel says

      November 12, 2018 at 4:01 am

      OMG, yummm sounds delish!!! Thank you for sharing!

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 10, 2018 at 3:34 am

        ‘:) your most welcome! glad you liked it

        Reply
    8. Alysa Kelley says

      November 12, 2018 at 2:42 am

      Omg looks so good! I have never heard of this but I’m going to try it now.

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 10, 2018 at 3:35 am

        It’s a South Asian dish which is packed with a lot of flavor. 🙂 you should try it, although hold on to the red chilies a bit if you can’t tolerate heat

        Reply
    9. With Love Moni says

      November 11, 2018 at 6:30 pm

      I have never tried making it like this before. This recipe is sort of little different. ! I can’t wait to give this recipe a try! I’ll have to try it.

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        December 10, 2018 at 3:35 am

        oh yay! please do!

        Reply
    10. Andrea Warren says

      November 11, 2018 at 6:18 pm

      This sounds amazoing and I love all the flavor. I am always on the lookout to try something out of my comfort zone and this is for sure. Thanks

      Reply
    11. Mary says

      November 11, 2018 at 5:30 pm

      This looks amazing!!! Great recipe.

      Reply
    12. Holistic fish says

      November 11, 2018 at 5:12 pm

      It looks DELICIOUS! I will definitely try this next time I have a meaty day 🙂

      Reply
    13. Alice V-DIYerfy says

      November 05, 2018 at 8:12 pm

      I’ve never had Masala I can’t believe there’s over 100 variations of it

      Reply
    14. Suman says

      November 05, 2018 at 2:38 pm

      Was planning to make something different with qeema n ur recipe came up… will definitely try…is overnight marination necessary or 4-5 hrz will do?

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        November 05, 2018 at 7:41 pm

        am i personally love the flavour that comes out after overnight marination. But if you are in a hurry you can marinate it for 4 to 5 hours too. Just double the quantity of raw papaya mentioned.

        Reply
    15. Feemi says

      November 04, 2018 at 5:32 pm

      I have alway always wanted to know how to make this! You make it look so easy, thank you!

      Reply
      • Wajiha says

        November 04, 2018 at 5:43 pm

        ohhh! im so glad i could be of help 😀

        Reply
    4.94 from 16 votes (16 ratings without comment)

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