Topic: Anyone make Keema Naan

[JerryM]

i love keema naan and madras curry sauce as a starter.

i made curry dev's sheek kebab as a kebab recently and thought it a good starting point for keema naan. also CA has recipe for kebab and instructions on how to make a "filled" naan.

links
curry dev http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=3415.0;topicseen

CA http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=1525.0


i used curry dev's recipe as the starting point adding in some bits from CA's and making up the rest based on the taste i know.

the finished naans were just ok - a goodway short of what u get from a BIR causing me to think i'm on the wrong recipe track.

hence the post - the question being does anyone make keema naans on a regular basis. i had a look in my KD1 book but felt that recipe no closer to the real McCoy.

have added a few pics for info.

[Cory Ander]

i used curry dev's recipe as the starting point adding in some bits from CA's and making up the rest based on the taste i know

What "bits" did you add Jerry?

the finished naans were just ok - a goodway short of what u get from a BIR causing me to think i'm on the wrong recipe track

In what way were they "short" Jerry?  Do you mean the flavour of the keema?

Looking at your pics I'd make the following observations:

1)  It looks like you haven't flattened the keema into a flat disc and cooked it beforehand?

2)  It looks like you've way overfilled the naan with keema filling

3)  It looks like you've used way too much flour on shaping the naan

4)  The dough of the naan also looks far too stiff

5)  It looks like you've undercooked the naan (but the finished naan doesn't otherwise look too bad)

6)  It looks like you haven't brushed the naans with ghee after cooking?

Perhaps if you can elaborate on what you think is deficient, I can maybe help you further?

[JerryM]

thanks CA - i would appreciate your help. the "short" referred only to the flavour of the keema.

i'm after that red succulent meat. it seems pretty consistent in most BIR's. difficult to describe the taste would say predominantly tandoori with a hint of spice.

i took currydev's recipe except the cloves. ingredients: meat, onion, ginger, besan, garlic, lemon juice, cardamom, chilli, cinnamon, ground coriander, nutmeg, salt.

to this i added from your recipe: mint, tandoori massala, red colour, sugar. i left out the curry powder and garam. i used deggi instead of chilli as i wanted colour without heat.

to this mixture i added tom puree and oil as a guess to go further in the right direction.

i cooked the keema mixture in a lidded pan on v.low heat for 40mins. i also blended the mixture to a fine paste before cooking.

your observations on the naan bread are good.

the filling part i had difficulty with. initially i tried poking my thumb into the dough ball. the surface of the naan seemed to go too thin when rolling out though as  the keema started to show through the surface. i then tried making a well in the dough ball (as per the pic) for the keema and then wrapping the edges/sides over the keema. both methods seemed about the same in that i could not stop the keema starting to appear on the surface.

in terms of the flavour going fwd. i would leave out the ginger & gram flour. reduce the cinnamon or even leave it out. i think turmeric might be missing but the yellow colour is troubling me given the red colour of the finished dish. i might also think incease the tom puree or as passata to help as the filling around the meat in addition to the existing onion.

all in all i'm stuck on the best way fwd.

[George]

I'm keen on keema naan, too, and have been meaning to try making the filling for ages. Like you, I would have thought it was something along the lines of a kebab, flattened out and stuffed into a naan.

I'm sure you're correct to view it as a two stage project: (1) get the taste of the filling optimised and (2) work out how to stuff it into a naan like the BIRs do. That second stage can't be very difficult. I would expect (1) to be the main thing.

I might buy a take-away keema naan and tip out the filling at home, to take a closer look.

[JerryM]

I might buy a take-away keema naan and tip out the filling at home, to take a closer look.

I will do same. Your post made me realise that i've not tasted the keema on it's own when my taste buds are clean (so to speak) and best able to judge the ingredients.

It's defo a 2 stage - and for me stage 1 is the crucial bit ie the keema filling.

on the filling i think my filling was too thick and that's probably why it did not roll out well inside the dough.

the ones i made tasted very good and were all eaten very quickly. they just didn't have that BIR keema taste.

[George]

I must admit I've never looked really closely at what I'm eating, with the BIR keema naans but, from memory, the filling is quite 'set' a bit like slices of kebab off the large Turkish style rotating things. Perhaps it doesn't taste much different, either. First question...is the filling lamb based? I expect so. The filling seems to sort of set and it separates from the bread, when you try to pull off a bit to eat.

[JerryM]

First question...is the filling lamb based? I expect so.

i am pretty sure the best tasting are made of lamb. i'm not that convinced that lamb's used universally across BIR's. i must admit i'd be hard pressed most of the time to identify what the meat is. i used beef.

i think the taste can only be down to spicing as i can't see there being much in the way of other ingredients (for me just onion and possibly a bit of tomato and garlic to add infill to the coarser texture of the meat).

i'm pretty convinced tandoori masala is a key spice. after that i'm stuck. i don't feel for example it contains curry powder or garam. red colouring is clearly used albeit not essential for home cooking.

the only other thing i'm pretty convinced on is that there is no ginger in it.

[chilli head]

hi Jerry.
        You are right in what you say its the same as in sheek kababs but instead of just using the minced lamp you must put the mixture in the blender and blend it to a more thinner type mix and spread Finley inside and then roll it back to a tear shape it looks as if your naan has not cooked long enough as i would have expected to see more blistering on the top of the naan. Another tip would be when the naan looks cooked then micro wave for 1min to make sure the keema is ok and nice and hot it cooks better in the tandoor but we have not got one yet  >:(and of coarse a little ghee for show.
    Andy

[JerryM]

Chilli head,

i'm ok on the taste of the naan bread itself - it's the taste of the keema mixture that's weigh off at the mo.

do u have a recipe at all?

would you explain a little more on the filling procedure - i did struggle on it. i made a little hole in the dough ball, pushed in the keema, squashed the hole closed, turned it over and rolled out as normal. i don't get what u mean by spread finely inside.

many thanks

[chilli head]

hi,
 What i tended to do is roll the doh out realy thin then spread a the kema mix and then fold the doh back over it and roll back to a tear shape.sorry i dont no any other way to do it mine is the greek way lol.Its like the garlic naan you chop the garlic very finley add it to a little ghee mix and then paint the naan after cooking.
      ANDY