Equipment
Ingredients
Shortcrust Pastry
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 150 g unsalted butter, diced and very cold
- 45 ml water, ice cold
- 3 g salt
Keema Filling
- 500 g lamb mince
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 green chili, finely chopped
- 30 g ghee
- 5 g garam masala
- 3 g ground cumin
- 3 g ground coriander
- 2 g ground turmeric
- 30 g tomato paste
- 150 ml lamb stock
- 240 g canned butter beans, drained and rinsed
- 15 g fresh cilantro, chopped
Assembly
- 1 egg, beaten
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition is estimated per serving. Nutrients without complete source data are omitted.
Full nutrition
- Calories
- 647 kcal
- Protein
- 26 g
- Carbohydrates
- 55 g
- Fat
- 37 g
- Fiber
- 8 g
- Sugar
- 5 g
- Sodium
- 642 mg
- Saturated Fat
- 20 g
- Trans Fat
- 0 g
- Monounsaturated Fat
- 8 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat
- 1 g
- Cholesterol
- 121 mg
- Potassium
- 1197 mg
- Calcium
- 87 mg
- Iron
- 3.8 mg
- Magnesium
- 72 mg
- Phosphorus
- 251 mg
- Zinc
- 2.9 mg
- Vitamin A
- 213 mcg
- Vitamin C
- 18 mg
- Vitamin E
- 1.0 mg
- Vitamin K
- 10 mcg
- Vitamin B6
- 0.5 mg
- Vitamin B12
- 1.4 mcg
- Thiamin
- 0.18 mg
- Riboflavin
- 0.19 mg
- Niacin
- 6.0 mg
- Folate
- 15 mcg
- Water
- 78 g
Sources: Aggregated Public Data, USDA FoodData Central
Method
Combine the all-purpose flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Rub the cold, diced unsalted butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the ice cold water gradually, bringing the dough together into a disc. Wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Heat the ghee in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion, minced garlic, grated ginger, and chopped green chili. Cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the raw lamb mince to the pan. Wash your hands thoroughly and sanitize any surfaces that came into contact with the raw meat to prevent cross-contamination. Break the meat apart and sear until heavily browned and no pink remains.
Stir in the garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander, and ground turmeric. Toast the spices for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and lamb stock, scraping any browned bits from the bottom. Simmer until the liquid has mostly reduced to form a thick gravy. Gently fold in the drained butter beans and chopped cilantro.
Transfer the keema and butter bean filling to a clean dish and let it cool completely. Never put hot filling into a raw pastry shell, as it will melt the butter and create a soggy crust.
Preheat your oven to 200°C/400°F. Place a heavy baking sheet on the middle rack to heat up; baking the pie dish on this hot tray helps crisp the base.
Take two-thirds of the chilled pastry and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick. Carefully line your pie dish with the pastry, leaving a slight overhang.
Spoon the cooled filling into the pastry-lined dish. Roll out the remaining pastry to form the lid. Place the lid over the filling, crimp the edges to seal securely, and trim any excess. Cut a small slit in the center of the lid to allow steam to escape. Brush the top entirely with the beaten egg wash.
Place the pie dish onto the preheated baking sheet in the oven. Bake at 200°C/400°F until the pastry is deep golden brown and the internal temperature of the filling reaches a safe minimum of 74°C/165°F.
Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to rest before slicing. This resting period allows the filling to stabilize so it does not spill out immediately when cut.
Chef's Notes
- Always cool the meat filling completely before it touches the raw pastry. A hot filling melts the butter in the dough, resulting in a tough and soggy crust.
- Do not aggressively drain the fat from the lamb mince before adding the spices; the fat carries the fat-soluble flavor compounds of cumin, coriander, and garam masala to every part of the pie.
- Butter beans provide a creamy texture that contrasts beautifully with the spiced lamb, but you must fold them in gently at the very end of cooking the filling to prevent them from turning to mush.
- Baking the pie dish directly on a preheated heavy baking sheet provides an immediate burst of heat to the bottom of the pie, effectively mimicking a blind-bake to ensure a crisp base.
Storage
Refrigerator: 3 days — Keep covered to prevent pastry from absorbing fridge odors.
Freezer: 2 months — Freeze unbaked or baked. If baked, cool completely before freezing.
Reheating: Reheat in a 180C oven for 20 minutes until the filling is hot and pastry is crisp again. Do not microwave if you want to keep the pastry crisp.
Troubleshooting
Soggy bottom pastry
Cause: The filling was too hot when assembled, melting the pastry butter, or the oven base heat was insufficient.
Fix: Cover the top with foil to prevent burning and bake on a lower oven rack to push more heat into the base.
Prevention: Cool filling completely before filling the pie dish, and bake the pie dish on a pre-heated heavy baking tray.
Pastry shrank during baking
Cause: The gluten in the dough was overworked and the pastry was not rested sufficiently after rolling.
Fix: Cannot be fixed once baked.
Prevention: Handle the dough as little as possible and always chill the lined pie dish for 15 minutes before filling if the kitchen is warm.
Cultural Context
Keema, a richly spiced minced meat dish, is a staple across South Asia, traditionally served with flatbreads or rice. Encasing it in a buttery shortcrust draws on the rich British history of savory meat pies, resulting in a deeply comforting Anglo-Indian fusion dish that celebrates both culinary heritages in a single slice.
