Beef Keemiya

This is a variation of the Maldivian ‘oh keemiya’ – a light snack for teatime. These keemiya are stuffed with a flavourful minced beef and green peas filling and deep fried until crispy. They taste especially good with a cup of hot black tea.

To make the filling in our recipe, we have used Rum Jungle Free-Range Ground Beef, provided to us by one of our partners, Blackgold Foods. This is 80 percent lean beef, which is free of any hormones and antibiotics. The beef browns really nicely, giving the keemiya a really deep, savoury flavour.

Makes: 16 beef keemiya

Ingredients:

For the filling

• 1 tbsp oil
• 200g Rum Jungle Free-Range Ground Beef
• ½ cup finely chopped onions
• ½ scotch bonnet (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• ½ tbsp sugar
• 2/3 tsp salt
• 2/3 tsp cumin powder
• ½ tsp chilli powder
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• ¼ tsp ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp fennel seed powder
• ½ cup canned green peas

For the dough

• 200g flour
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp oil
• ½ cup warm water

For frying the beef keemiya

• 2 cups oil

Instructions:

1. Heat up 1 tbsp oil in a pan for 30 seconds on high heat. Once the oil is heated, add 200g defrosted Rum Jungle Free-Range Ground Beef and sauté for 3 minutes or until the beef is fully brown in colour. While cooking, mash the big pieces of beef that are stuck together, so that the filling has an even, minced consistency.
2. Then, add in ½ cup finely chopped onions and ½ scotch bonnet (finely chopped) to the beef. Mix to combine everything together and continue sautéing on high heat for another 3 minutes or until the onions become translucent and soft. Then, add 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste and mix well.
3. Next, reduce the heat to low and season the beef with ½ tbsp sugar, 2/3 tsp salt, 2/3 tsp cumin powder, ½ tsp chilli powder, ½ tsp coriander powder, ¼ tsp ground black pepper, ¼ tsp turmeric powder, and ¼ tsp fennel seed powder. Mix well for 1-2 minutes until fully combined.
4. Lastly, add in ½ cup green peas and mix to combine. Cover the pan and cook for 7 more minutes on low heat, to let the flavours infuse into the beef and peas. Stir occasionally and once cooked, set aside. The filling will be a darker yellowish brown in colour when fully cooked.
5. Next, prepare the dough for the keemiya. Start of by mixing 200g flour, ¼ tsp salt and 1 tbsp oil together in a bowl, using your fingers. Then, gradually add ½ cup warm water and knead until you have a dry, smooth dough.
6. Make 16 equal small balls out of the dough. Then, using a rolling pin, roll the dough balls evenly into small ovals that are around 5 inches long and 4 inches wide.
7. Take one rolled dough piece and put about 1 tbsp of the beef and green peas mixture in the centre. Fold the left and right sides over it; the dough doesn’t need to fully cover the filling.
8. Using a pastry brush or your finger, brush some water on the other two ends and roll it up to close, tucking the filling in firmly. The water will help to stick the dough together.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until you make rolls with all the dough pieces.
10. In a pot, heat up 2 cups oil. You can tell that the oil is heated enough when a piece of dough is added to the oil and small bubbles rapidly form around it. Once fully heated, start frying the keemiya in batches of 5-6 pieces, flipping them over to get a nice and even fry. Each batch will take around 5-6 minutes to fully fry. When fried, the keemiya should be lightly crispy and golden in colour.
11. Once fried, remove the keemiya from oil and place in an oil draining basket or a plate lined with tissues to get rid of any excess oil.
12. Continue frying the keemiya in batches until it’s all done. Make sure to keep the temperature of the oil at medium heat throughout while frying, turning down the heat if it gets too hot.