Kheema Toasties

(Minced meat preparation scooped on to tiny, cocktail sized slices of bread and topped with cheese to grill for a few minutes until toasted)

My mom would top it off on pizzas too, so if you get smallish sized pizzas you can try this way out.

There are two steps to this.

Step 1: Kheema (Minced meat preparation)

Ingredients
1 large onion (peeled & grated/2 tablespoons of onion paste)

½ tbsp chopped green chillies (Could use red chilli powder - 1.5 to 2 teaspoons based on how spicy you like it)

1 tsp chopped ginger

1 tsp chopped garlic

2 large tomatoes (immersed in hot water for 5 minutes, drained, peeled & chopped)

500 grams minced meat

1 cup shelled green peas (I use frozen peas)

Cinnamon - 1 small stick

Cloves - 2-3

Bay leaves 1-2 leaves

½ tsp turmeric powder

2 tsp coriander powder

½ tsp chilli powder (use only if you're using green chillies, else not)

1 cup water

½ tsp garam masala

¼ cup chopped coriander leaves

Salt to taste

Method:

1. Grind the following items to a paste in a mixer: green chillies (if you're using), chopped ginger and garlic.

2. Heat the oil. Add cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf. Then add the onion and fry till golden brown.

3. Add the ground paste and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes and cook covered for 2 minutes. Mash lightly in the pan itself.

4. Add the minced meat and fry on a medium flame for about 5 minutes, stirring most of the time.

5. Add the green peas, turmeric powder, coriander powder and chilli powder (if you're using only chilli powder, add only at this stage not before). Stir.

6. Add the water enough to cook it and salt. Stir and simmer until meat is cooked and oil separates. Cook it until it is dry and moist enough so it can sit on top of a toastie.

7. Add the garam masala. Stir. Garnish with coriander leaves.

Step 2: Kheema Toasties!

1. Cut round slices of a long bread loaf or if you're using sliced bread, then cut each slice into half.

2. Butter it lightly, spoon the minced preparation (kheema) mixture on top and sprinkle grated cheese. Avoid adding the cloves, cinnamon or bay leaves when topping off the mince on toast.

3. Pop it into the microwave to grill for about 2-3 minutes (until the cheese slightly melts and the bread toasts lightly - dont toast it too long else it gets too hard to eat).

Enjoy!! This dish can also be part of the main course so if you have leftover kheema, you can eat it with rice/bread during your lunch. When we're eating kheema at home, we usually mix it with rice or eat it with a few paavs (Indian baked bread) fresh from the bakery.

We tried to make this dish with soy granules and it worked just as fine (only you dont get the flavour of meat). This option is great if you're vegetarian.