It may have an unusual sounding name to native English speakers, but Pakistani kima has become one of my favorite dinner recipes. I tried this recipe at a friend’s suggestion and adapted it slightly to fit our family’s preferences. The result is a fast, easy, delicious recipe that makes for great leftovers. (If there is any left!)
Typically Pakistani kima is made with white potatoes, but substituting sweet potatoes works just as well and gives it a great complex flavor. If you prefer the more traditional recipe, this is a great version.
Pakistani Kima is a one-pan delicious pan stir-fry that also reheats very well and makes a great omelette when mixed with eggs. It’s also one that kids (depending on age) can help make, which always makes them more likely to eat it. It has complex and delicious flavors and makes the house smell amazing! Many thanks to reader Sara for sending in the photo 🙂
Pakistani Kima Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 4 TBSP butter (or coconut oil)
- 1 lb ground beef (or venison, buffalo, etc.)
- 1 TBSP curry powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 3 medium sweet potatoes
- 15 oz can of tomatoes (diced)
- 1 lb green beans (fresh or frozen)
Instructions
- Dice the onion.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter or coconut oil and add diced onion.
- Cook three minutes or until starting to become translucent.
- Add the ground beef, curry powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, cinnamon, ginger, and turmeric and cook until the meat is browned.
- While the meat is cooking, peel and dice the sweet potatoes into small pieces and set aside.
- Once meat is cooked, drain and add the diced tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and green beans.
- Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until the sweet potatoes have softened. Check after ten minutes and add a couple tablespoons of water or chicken broth if needed.
- Serve warm and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Like this recipe? Check out my new cookbook, or get all my recipes (over 500!) in a personalized weekly meal planner here!
What’s your best healthy “fast food?” Please share below!
Can you suggest a substitute for the green beans? We have some people in our family who do not like green beans.
I tried this last night and everyone loved it! Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thanks for sharing:)
Just curious, but how can you tell if a can has BPA in it or not? is there any way to tell (or do you look at the label?)
My healthy, vegan and gluten free, go to fast food is: hummus, mock tabbouleh (I use rice instead of bulgar wheat), and corn chips. I will also add variety with chopped up cucumber, onion, and avocado. Such a quick dinner and my entire family LOVES it. The rice mixture is what takes the time, but not much at all. And for anyone who does meat and dairy you can always have that option on the side as well. ENJOY!
Hmmm… I was hoping for some ideas for fast food. My go to I guess would be stir frys. Cooks quickly. Or fish because it thaws and cooks quickly.
Yum, this was great. I loved the flavors! My husband won’t eat it so I won’t have it often but it will be one of those go to’s for having women over.
is there anything you can substitute the butter with?.. im sick and have asthma and i cannot have anything thats made from milk due to the fact that it causes bad congestion, and id really like to make this
.
Coconut oil works great!
You can use ghee (clarified butter) instead of butter; it has no dairy content.
I want to make this but I need to know if I am supposed to drain off the ground beef after it has browned?
If it is grass fed, then no, but if not, then drain.
Wonderful, love it but the food wimps in my home wont even try it. Super, left overs all for me
also, took a long time for the sweet potatoes to cook. I would add the beans when the potatoes are almost done
What do you do when your child refuses to eat any of the meal? (She’s 8). Do you give her something else or would she eat nothing and then not get any snack before bed?
My rule is that everyone eats the same thing. No one is forced to eat if he/she is truly not hungry, but I don’t allow complaints or negative comments either. I absolutely will not make special food for anyone short of homemade soup during an illness.
I would like to try that. If they don’t eat supper would you still give them a bedtime snack? Thx!
Nope… but I will let them eat the food from dinner if they decide they are actually hungry.
Same school here Mama. If you don’t eat what I make go hungry. I never made allowances for my son and he learned to like a wide variety of foods. It irritates me when my friend’s kids won’t eat anything but McNuggets, mac and cheese or pizza. Feed them a variety at a young age and they will learn to like it.