This is an authentic Indian curried beef mince recipe called Qeema (or keema or kheema). It’s a gem of a find because it tastes incredible but unlike many Indian dishes, there are no hard-to-find spices in the ingredients. And it’s super fast – on the table in 20 minutes!
Qeema – Quick & Easy Indian Curried Beef Mince
This recipe is an excellent way to get an Indian food fix without having to hunt down hard-to-find Indian spices.
It’s also an excellent way to change up your usual rotation of beef mince recipes. Spag Bol, we love you, but sometimes it’s nice to try something new!!
And new this is. You probably haven’t seen Qeema on Indian restaurant menus because it’s a home cooking meal. But blimey, it’s a great find! 100% legit Indian flavours, 7 minute prep, 13 minute cook. Get all the spices from regular grocery stores – turmeric, garam masala, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper.
What you need for Qeema
The key to achieving the bold, authentic Indian curried beef flavour in this quick ‘n easy recipe is a good amount of fresh garlic and ginger, and a generous amount of ground spices.
Here’s what you need:
Beef mince – That’s ground beef to those of you in the States! I’m using lean today, but regular is fine (fattier – juicier). I also made this recipe a few years ago using chicken mince which was terrific.
Fresh garlic and ginger – Key to flavour in this otherwise simple Indian dish, so don’t skip these.
Spices – Garam masala, cumin, coriander, turmeric and cayenne pepper. You can get all these at regular grocery stores here in Australia. Garam masala is an Indian spice mix which I tell people is the “better curry powder” because it tastes more legit, whereas the curry powders you get at regular grocery stores are very Westernised.
Fresh coriander/cilantro for garnish. (Skip if you’re not a coriander fan).
Green cayenne pepper (optional garnish) – This is for garnish, and it adds fresh chilli flavour without much spiciness because cayenne peppers are not that spicy. But it’s entirely optional, so feel free to omit!
How to make Qeema
Sauté – Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds until golden, don’t let it burn! Add onion and cook for 1 minute until it is starting to turn translucent.
Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it changes from pink to light brown. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT water. Cook for a further 2 minutes to let the spices bloom.
Cook 10 minutes – Add water, give it a stir, then put a lid on (or cover with a baking tray if you don’t have a lid for your pan). Turn heat down to medium and let it simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated, but still a bit juicy.
Serve over with basmati rice or plain white rice, garnished with extra chilli and coriander/cilantro, and lots of Mint Yogurt. Naan or flatbreads would make it even better, though if time is not your friend, try frozen roti (pictured in post, more on this below the photo).
What to serve with Qeema
Serve over basmati rice and mint yogurt or plain yogurt (recipe below for mint yogurt). Then mix up the beef into the rice so it flavours the rice, then dig in!
It’s also pictured above with flaky, buttery roti which I stuffed with the Qeema and rice. Not homemade. I always have a stash of frozen ones which you can get at regular grocery stores. I love them because they can be cooked from frozen in a few minutes – how good is that! Ideal to use for any and all Indian / South East Asian saucy foods, like curries.
Though, if I have the time (or foresight to plan in advance), you can’t beat homemade naan. 😊
For vegetable sides, try one of these:
Indian Tomato Salad with Mint Raita Dressing
South Indian Carrot & Cabbage Salad with Coconut is fresh and popping with flavours – love the coconut flavour in this!
Give this Everyday Cabbage Salad an Indian spin by sautéing garlic and cumin seeds in oil before mixing up with other Dressing ingredients.
I really hope you try this Qeema recipe, the flavour is so authentic! Something a little different to make with that packet of beef mince you threw in your shopping trolley on the weekend. – Nagi x
recipe credit
This Qeema recipe is very slightly adapted from this Authentic Indian Minced Meat Qeema recipe from Scrambled Chefs. I just spied a 5 Ingredient Indian Potato Curry and this Chicken Curry has just jumped to the top of my Must Try list!
Watch how to make it
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Qeema Indian Curried Beef
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil , or other neutral oil
- 4 tsp ginger , finely mince
- 5 large garlic cloves , minced (about 4 tsp)
- 1 large onion , finely diced
- 500g / 1 lb beef mince (ground beef)
- 3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper or chilli powder (pure, not US chili powder spice mix), omit for not spicy
- 1 1/4 tsp garam masala (Note 1)
- 1 1/4 tsp cumin powder
- 1 1/4 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 cup water
Garnish
- 1 green cayenne pepper , deseeded, finely sliced
- Cilantro/coriander leaves
- Plain yogurt or Mint yogurt (below)
Mint yogurt (optional, pictured in post)
- 3/4 cup plain yogurt
- 1/2 cup (lightly packed) mint leaves
- 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
Instructions
- Sauté – Heat oil in a skillet over high heat. Add ginger and garlic and saute for 30 seconds until golden, don't let it burn! Add onion and cook for 1 minute until it is starting to turn translucent.
- Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until it changes from pink to light brown. Add remaining ingredients EXCEPT water. Cook for a further 2 minutes to let the spices bloom.
- Cook 10 minutes – Add water, give it a stir, then put a lid on (or cover with a baking tray). Turn heat down to medium and let it simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the water has evaporated.
- Serve over with basmati rice or plain white rice, garnished with extra chilli and coriander/cilantro, and lots of Mint Yogurt. Naan or flatbreads would make it even better, though if time is not your friend, try frozen roti (pictured in post, Note 3).
Mint yogurt
- Blitz then stir – Put just 1/4 cup of the yogurt with the mint leaves and salt in a jug just big enough to fit the head of a stick blender. Blitz until mint is very finely chopped. Then stir in remaining yogurt. (Note 4) Refrigerate until required.
Recipe Notes:
1. American “Chili Powder” is not pure ground chilli, it contains other spices like paprika and is not very spicy. This recipe calls for pure ground chilli for spiciness, or cayenne pepper. 2. Garam Masala – Spice mix used in Indian cooking, a more legit curry powder. Sold at regular grocery stores in Australia -> Coles, Woolworths, Harris Farms. 3. Roti – Flaky Indian round flatbread that’s sold in the freezer section of large grocery stores these days. Love them because they’re so handy – cook from frozen on the stove in just a couple of minutes. Cheap, tasty, if you’ve never tried it, it’s a game changer! 🙂 4. Mint yogurt – Blitzing makes yogurt watery. So just blitz the minimum to puree the mint, then stir the rest in which thickens the sauce up again. 5. Leftovers keep for 3 – 4 days in the fridge, or freezer for 3 months. Nutrition for beef only, not including rice or yogurt sauce.
Nutrition Information:
First published April 2016. Republished 7 years later with sparkling new photos, brand new recipe video (couldn’t make them back then!) and of course added a Life of Dozer section!
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Life of Dozer
He doesn’t realise it’s a vegetable platter. (Yet).
This is delicious. I know you’ve had a rough week but may I say you are the best, most loyal cook on the internet and my absolute go to!! thanks Nagi x
Great recipe. Mint yoghurt took it to another level
Halved the recipe for dinner for my son last night as I only had 250gm mince. Thought he could have it 2 nights in a row. I was wrong – he scoffed the lot! Said it had a good ‘kick’ and was very tasty. Easy to make, and I will definitely be making again soon. Another winner – thanks Nagi!
Amazing recipe! Super easy to whip up and very tasty. Love the herbs and spices too. I’ve made this twice already the past two weeks and we can’t get enough!
This recipe was so easy and delicious! I omitted the cayenne for my littles and they loved it! A win in our family. Thanks for the recipe!
Yes! This is great! I added some peas and cabbage to the mince to complete the neal. Maybe I added a bit more of the spices too! The mint yoghurt is sublime. Best thing ever is discovering those frozen Roti in Cole’s. OMG ! Fantastic !
Ooh, thank you, Veronica! I was just thinking that I would try to add some vegies to this. I had already decided to add peas, then I saw your suggestion of cabbage!💡I think that would be amazing! I might also try a small amount of shredded baby spinach.
Someone further back in the comments also suggested potato cubes and small pieces of cauliflower, as made by her Indian mother-in-law. 😋
I made this tonight – delicious! Deducted 1 star it isn’t as quick as recipe says. Would definitely make again. Mint yogurt sauce a keeper too! So little effort but adds a lot. Will make it again with other dishes.
This was fantastic! Whole family lived it, including some picky eaters and young kids. It’s so easy I’m making it for a beach vacation. Nagi – can I make the beef ahead of time and freeze?
Hi Erica. Hope you had an amazing beach trip!
I’m gonna guess you worked out the freezer thing but, just a heads up, Nagi almost always includes fridge/freezer/storage advice at the end of the notes section. 🙂
G’day from Sydney.
I’ve cooked this a number of times and agree the spice needs a bit more oomph, as I commented a few months ago. More spice yes, but I’d not agree to cooking it for longer unless you want the beef to resemble sawdust. A bit of pink adds to the flavour and juiciness of the dish – cooking times are spot on.
I increased all the spices and added some chicken broth to make it a little soupier and thought it was delicious. And super easy
I agree it was bland as written. However I added 1 tsp red pepper flakes and cooked it closer to 15-20 minutes with the water and it helped a bunch. Definitely adjust your cook times!
A few weeks ago my daughter made this recipe and doubled it. It seemed a bit bland and we felt she may have made a mistake somewhere, considering the incredible write ups. Like me, she goes to Recipetin Eats first, because the recipes are so wonderful.
I decided I wanted to make the recipe again. My husband and I have thoroughly enjoyed this recipe this evening, but only because, as well as the mint yoghurt and roti, I served it with a homemade rhubarb chutney which boosted the flavour.
There are many many wonderful RTE recipes that I would make before this one.
This was delicious! I love Indian and this one is a keeper! I have a question though: Do you perhaps have a recipe for BEEF KORMA?!!
I made this last night, and it was delicious. I was horrified to find, after starting the recipe, that I was somehow out of turmeric. Fortunately the garam masala and cumin carry most of the heft in this recipe, and I added a bit of ground mustard powder instead. I had some chicken broth I needed to finish up, so I used it instead of water. (Low sodium! watch the salt if also you do this) I can see myself making this regularly, and I’ll try it with ground turkey, too! Thank you for the recipe!
Yummy. Love her recipes. Another keeper.
I make your queema all the time. It’s just like you say: quick and easy with ingredients I always have at home. It’s SO tasty! I always add a generous amount of thinly sliced jalapeños as a garnish. It’s delicious! Sometimes I leave it quite thin the queema quite liquid and eat it almost as a soup (if I want to save on carbs and have it without rice). Sometimes I add peas for a bit of extra veg. Yesterday I had it garnished with chopped cocktail tomatoes (and sliced jalapeños) and that made it really fresh. It’s a wonderful recipe and I make it a least once a month.
Scaled the recipe quantities back to 2. Next time I’ll use half the meat but use the other ingredients as if making for 4. It lacked the zing I was expecting. Great taste, I just wanted more of it.
PS: served with roti – I’m a convert too.
Thank you Nagi! I made this for my family tonight and everyone had seconds. Finding something that all three children love is almost mission impossible!
Wow so easy and delicious! Another great recipe!!
AMAZING! Have struggled with qeema recipes from other websites. My husband has now made this 3 times and it’s been perfect each time.