Tawa fry beef Qeema, once a popular breakfast in Awadhi Cuisine, is often enjoyed as a popular street food today. A quick and easy recipe, this qeema is absolutely mouthwatering and finger-licking good!

You will never see Qeema or ground meat featured on the menu at fine dining restaurants in Pakistan. However, it’s very popular as part of street food. Cooked on big Tawas in the true style of Awadhi cuisine, the Tawa fry qeema is essentially a type of stir fry.

Unlike Mughlai cuisine, which used exotic spices, nuts and dried fruits, Awadhi or Lucknow cuisine uses simpler ingredients. Relying more on the meat’s natural flavour and less on any additional ingredients, the cuisine is famous for its delicious taste.

In my house, we enjoyed this Tawa fry beef qeema with parathas for breakfast or brunch and in Ramadan for sehri.

With Ramadan about to descend on us, I thought I would share my family recipe. I know I’ll be cooking this for sehri often, and once you taste it, I’m sure you will too.

Similar in concept to my chicken karahi and my beef karahi recipes, this is cooked as a stir fry. If you cook and try this recipe, please visit untoldrecipesbynosheen.com to rate it.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup cooking oil (SEE NOTE)
• 3 onions
• 2 tsp garlic paste
• 2 lbs. ground beef (SEE NOTE)
• 6 Roma tomatoes (SEE NOTE)
• 2 tsp red chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp dhania powder
• 2 tsp salt
• tsp garam masala (optional)
• 2 tbsp Kasuri Methi (fenugreek)
• 2 tbsp crushed ginger (SEE NOTE)
• 4 green chillies
• 2 tbsp slivered ginger (SEE NOTE)
• ½ cup cilantro
• 1 lemon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Finely chop the onions
2. Heat the cooking oil
   
3. Sauté the onions till they are a medium brown
   
4. Add the garlic paste and sauté for 1 minute.
5. Add the ground beef and sauté till it’s no longer pink
   
6. .Add 4 chopped tomatoes, cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat till the tomatoes have melted (the other 2 tomatoes are added at the end)
7. Uncover and turn the flame to high
   
8. Add the salt, red chilli powder, turmeric, cumin, dhania and garam masala (if using)
9. Fry till all the water evaporates
10. Add the remaining 2 tomatoes, crushed ginger and Kasuri methi and fry for 3-5 minutes
    
11. .Turn the stove off and add the lemon juice, green chillies, cilantro and stir.
12. Garnish with the slivered ginger and serve with parathas or hot naan
    

NOTES

• If you want a richer flavour to add 2 tablespoons of butter.
• Ground mutton or chicken can be substituted for beef.
• Roma tomatoes are best for curries, but if not available other tomatoes can be used. If using larger tomatoes, use 3 instead of 6.
• I don’t use garam masala in my recipe but if you like the fragrance, use it.
• I like to crush my ginger with a mortar and pestle, but if you don’t own one, you can use a food processor or even a grater to crush or grate the ginger.
• Thinly slice about 2 tablespoons of ginger to use as a garnish. This is about a 1-inch piece of ginger.