Veg Keema Recipe

If you love mix vegetables, then you will like this Veg Keema recipe. All you need to make this dish are some Indian pantry staples and your favorite mix vegetables. The Veg Keema or Vegetable Keema is an easy, vegetarian, vegan, hassle-free and high on nutrition dish.

About Veg Keema

Keema or kheema is a Hindi word for ‘mince/minced.’ Though the origin lies in ‘qıyma,’ a Turkic word for ‘minced meat,’ it is also related to the Greek ‘kimas,’ Persian ‘qeyme’ and Turkish ‘kıyma.’

Thus, keema would essentially relate to a dish made of ground meat mixed with other ingredients. Since, India is also considered as a vegetarian nation, there are many vegetarian and vegan versions of keema as well.

There are multiple ways to cook keema. For instance, it can be made into a dry or semi-dry vegetable dish like this Veg Keema or Vegetable Keema.

It can be used as filling for snacks like samosa/sandwiches/rolls or breads like naan/paratha, grilled on skewers as kababs, made into koftas for a thick gravy, turned into patties and used in burgers, etc.

This is my version of Vegetable Keema and it is a really nice, tasty and different way of including veggies in your diet. Since the vegetables are minced or grated, the cooking time is also less. It works good as a breakfast, brunch or tiffin option.

About The Recipe

The preparation time might be a bit more as hand grating the veggies takes time. If you have a food processor then using it will surely reduce the time taken to prep up the vegetables.

I have used cauliflower, carrots, French beans, green peas and button mushrooms in this Veg Keema recipe. You can add your choice of vegetables while preparing it. I am sure even with other veggies, it will taste just as fantastic.

This Vegetable Keema is a semi-dry dish and pairs really well with chapati, phulka, Indian pav buns, Naan, paratha or even your regular bread accompanied with a Vegetable Salad or Raita. It can also be a side dish to a dal-rice combination.

Keema is one dish I have always been familiar with, as during my growing up years it was a common preparation at my home. But then, it wasn’t Veg Keema.

My family would always go for the kheema dishes at the most iconic Parsi cafes and restaurants too in Mumbai.

Like keema-pav, which is spiced minced meat and peas served with Indian buns or pav. Even my mother made a fabulous keema-pav at home.

Since the time I’ve turned vegetarian and started my blog, I’ve been working to recreate the most popular meat-based recipes into vegetarian and vegan. This Veg Keema is one of those creations.

Vegetables To Include

While the vegetables can be of your choice and liking, but you have to include veggies which do not become a mush after cooking.

Vegetables like cauliflower, french beans, carrots, green peas work perfectly in the recipe. You could also add bell peppers and potatoes.

Avoid adding soft vegetables like okra, pumpkin, squashes, zucchini, various gourds, leafy greens and eggplants.

The veggies should be cooked perfectly to make this dish taste good in terms of both flavor and texture. While I always prefer to add mushrooms in the keema recipe, feel free to omit them if you are not fond of mushrooms.

You could also try making this recipe with unripe jackfruit. Either use jackfruit as the only veggie. If mixing it with other vegetables, cook the jackfruit first.

Then mix the cooked jackfruit with the remaining vegetables after they are tender and cooked. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes more.

Veg Keema recipe from the blog archives was first published on April 2013.