Keema Gratin served with a Kachumber salad

Our guest blogger and MasterChef Semi-finalist 2020James Bacon @jamesbaconcooks shares this delicious recipe for Zyliss UK. Give it a go yourself and show off your results using #jamesbaconXzyliss 

This tasty dish has layers of Indian spiced Lamb mince and sliced potatoes, topped with Paneer cheese and tomatoes, it’s a must for curry lovers. 

Kitchen tools needed: Zyliss Bakeware, Spiraslice, Easy pull food processor Zyliss Twist & Roll Mini Food Chopper

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: 1 hr. 30 mins

Difficulty Easy

Serves 6 

Ingredients for gratin

• 1kg Lamb Mince
• 2 onion, finely chopped in the Easy pull food processor
• 4 garlic cloves, and 1 thumb size piece of ginger chopped in Zyliss Twist & Roll Mini Food Chopper
• 2” cinnamon stick
• 6 cloves
• 5 cardamom pods, crushed
• 10 black peppercorn
• 1tsp Turmeric (plus more to dust the paneer cheese in)
• 1tsp chili powder
• 1tsp Coriander powder
• 1Tbs mild curry powder
• 1Tbs Garam Masala
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 400g tin tomatoes
• 600ml cold water
• 2 cups of frozen peas
• 2 large Maris Piper potatoes
• 1tsp sugar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• juice of 1/2 a Lemon (taste and use the other half if it tastes too rich)
• 200g Indian Paneer cheese
• 10- 15 cherry Tomatoes (sliced)
• 2 Tbs vegetable oil

Ingredients for the Kachumber salad

• 10-15 cherry Tomatoes quartered
• 1 red onion, sliced
• 1/2 a cucumber, halved length ways, seeds scraped out and sliced
• A small handful of Coriander, roughly chopped
• The juice of 1-2 limes
• 1tsp chili flakes
• salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large pan I used Zyliss Cook Ultimate Stock Pot 24cm, heat up the vegetable oil on medium heat and add the whole spices , cook until aromatic, then add onions and garlic cook until soft and begin to colour.
2. Add the Lamb mince to the pan and fry over high heat for 8-10 minutes the until browned and most of the liquid has evaporated, breaking up any lumps with a spatula. Add the all the ground spices apart from the Garam masala and cook for 2 mins then stir in tomato puree, the tinned tomatoes, cold water and bring to the boil. Add the Sugar, reduce the heat and simmer for a further 10-15minutes, then add the peas and Garam masala and cook for a final 5-10 mins. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and the lemon juice.
3. Meanwhile, peel the potatoes. Using  sheet blade, spiralise the potatoes into long sheets. Cut the sheets to the length of your Zyliss Durable Non stick Baking tray. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan /Gas Mark 6.
4. Place a layer of the Potato sheets at the bottom of the dish so they slightly overlap each other. Cover with a thin layer of the Keema and ensure you’ve covered all the potatoes and there are no gaps. Repeat until all the potato and keema are used up but finish with the keema on top (I managed 3 layers). Top with the sliced cherry tomatoes and the Paneer that has been tossed in turmeric. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes then remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes.
5. While the Keema gratin is baking, mix the prepared vegetables for the Kachumber salad in a bowl, check for seasoning (it should be spicy and sour with a lovely freshness that’s perfect to cut through the richness of the lamb)
6. Using the Zyliss Easy Lift Silicone Spatula divide the Gratin in to 6 pieces and remove from the Zyliss non stick baking tray and serve with the kachumber salad on the side.

You can prepare the Kachumber salad 1-2 hours before and set aside in the fridge to let the flavours intensify.