Chicken Kheema

I had minced chicken meat on hand and usually i would make koftas/meatballs curry. My daughter loves fried koftas so much that once she ate almost all of them even before i had a chance to add them to the gravy. We adults had to only settle for a couple of koftas and loads of plain gravy. But today i had no time for a leisurely dinner. Racing back home from class, I only had 30 mins before dinner time. After wasting 5 more mins on deciding what to make, I finally settled for a street styled but healthy homemade Chicken Kheema.

Kheema or spiced mince meat is usually made with lamb or goat meat. But you can try it with any ground meat. This recipe is made with chicken.  Vegetarians can make this with Indian cottage cheese also called as paneer. This a quick finger licking good recipe.
You can also stuff it into a bun and make your own version of Indian flavored sloppy joes. 

Ingredients:
1/2 pound mince chicken
1 large onion diced finely
1 tomato chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic grated
1/2 inch ginger grated
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped mint
1 tbsp. kasuri methi
2 tbsp. yogurt
1/2 tsp red chili pdr
1 tsp. coriander pdr
1 tsp. cumin pdr
1/2 tsp biryani masala/garam masala
1 bay leaf
1 stick of cinnamon
1 star anise
2-3 cloves
2-3 green cardamons
2 tbsp of oil
salt to taste

Directions:
In a large pan or wok, heat oil to medium.
Throw in the cinnamon, star anise, cloves, bay leaf and green cardamoms. Let it infuse the oil well and get fragrant.
Add chopped onions and saute well till lightly browned.
Add grated ginger and garlic and saute for another min.
Stir in the mince chicken and mix well till the chicken gets lightly browned.
Add tomatoes and all dry spice pdrs.
Now add kasuri methi, salt and yogurt. Mix well and let cook for sometime.
If the mixture gets dry, add in few tbsps of water. Cook for about 10 mins more.
Taste to balance the spices and salt.
Garnish with mint and cilantro leaves. Serve hot with naan or roti.
I served it with gluten free chapati/sorghum flatbread and a salad.