If you love the flavor of curry, you’ll absolutely love Pakistani Kima! This dish is literally bursting with flavors, and it reminds me a little bit of some of the dishes my husband and I ate during our two-year stay in Taiwan.
I love using fresh ginger, because I love the zest that the pieces of ginger add to this curry — but feel free to use powdered ginger if your taste buds aren’t quite as adventurous, haha. You can also cut back on the amount of curry used if you are serving this to picky eaters.
Having said that, one of my children loves Pakistani Kima so much that he requests it every year for his birthday dinner!
My mom made this for our family when we were growing up, and she got the recipe from her very used copy of the More with Less Cookbook. I’ve continued making my version of this recipe with my own family, and I honestly love it more each time I make it!
Pakistani Kima is an amazing way to stretch a single pound of meat into so many servings. And, I personally think that the leftovers taste even better the second day!
Pakistani Kima Recipe Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil (or butter)
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
- 1-2 inch chunk fresh ginger root, peeled and finely diced (or 1 teaspoon ginger powder)
- 1 pound ground beef (I use venison)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
- 3-4 large potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 cans green beans
- cooked rice
Serves 6-8
How to Make Pakistani Kima
1. Heat the 3 Tablespoons olive oil in a large electric skillet over medium heat. Add the finely diced onion and sauté until tender. Add in the diced garlic and ginger, and continue cooking and stirring for another minute.
2. Add in the ground beef and continue cooking and stirring occasionally over medium-low heat.
3. Stir in the salt, pepper, curry powder, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger (if not using fresh ginger) and cook for a minute or two to let the flavors season.
4. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and diced potatoes and mix well. Put a lid on and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender. Add water as needed throughout cooking so that the mixture doesn’t get too thick (I fill the tomato can with water and usually end up using about half of it).
5. Add in the cans of green beans and stir. Put the lid back on and continue to simmer for 1-2 minutes.
6. Serve over cooked rice.
Pakistani Kima
Ingredients
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil or butter
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 4-5 garlic cloves minced
- 1-2 inch chunk fresh ginger root peeled and finely diced (or 1 teaspoon ginger powder)
- 1 pound ground beef I use venison
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
- 3-4 large potatoes peeled and diced
- 2 cans green beans
- 4 cups cooked rice
Instructions
- Heat the 3 Tablespoons olive oil in a large electric skillet over medium heat. Add the finely diced onion and sauté until tender. Add in the diced garlic and ginger, and continue cooking and stirring for another minute.
- Add in the ground beef and continue cooking and stirring occasionally over medium-low heat.
- Stir in the salt, pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, and ginger (if not using fresh ginger) and cook for a minute or two to let the flavors season.
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes and diced potatoes and mix well. Put a lid on and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender. Add water as needed throughout cooking so that the mixture doesn’t get too thick (I fill up the tomato can with water and usually end up using about half of it).
- Add in the cans of green beans and stir. Put the lid back on and continue to simmer for 1-2 minutes.
- Serve over cooked rice.
Nutrition
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Thank you for sharing this recipe!! We tested it out for dinner today and it’s delicious!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Love the More with Less cookbook! Pakistani Kima was a favorite of my family as well. I usually used diced tomatoes instead of crushed. Never tried fresh ginger but I bet that would be delicious. A note from a commenter in the original cookbook stated to top the meal with shredded coconut and I highly recommend that addition!
Coconut sounds like an amazing addition! I’m pretty sure the original recipe does call for diced tomatoes, but my picky family doesn’t like chunkns of tomatoes, so crushed it is. I’ve grown to prefer it that way too.
My mom made this for us growing up from that same cookbook your mom used! She passed away in 2020 and my dad called me a few weeks ago asking if I had the recipe. Sadly I didn’t, but I’m going to send this to him and make this for my family! 🥹
Awww – I love that your dad will be able to make this again!
I started learning to cook when my eldest was a baby with More with Less! This is one of my favorite recipes. I love the potatoes but my metabolism can’t handle them much, so I use a bag of rice cauliflower and it’s still delicious…the most amazing combination of spices…savory yet slightly sweet. I use more than called for of all of them! I also tried mild Rotel in it last time because I didn’t have regular canned tomatoes ans it was amazing!
These are some great ideas – thank you so much for sharing!
I have that cookbook too — have had it for years and it is falling apart. I’ve made so many recipes from it, so often. Pakistani Kima is one of them.
That cookbook was definitely a favorite of my mom’s too!
You mention cutting back on the curry, but curry isn’t listed as an ingredient. Am I missing something?
Thank you for catching that! I can’t believe I left it out – yikes. But it’s fixed now. 🙂
We really like keema too! It’s a recipe that the sum is greater than it’s parts sort of dish. We often substitute peas for the beans and it’s just as good!
We’ve done peas before as well!