The Queen, Kamran Akmal, and Delicious Qeema

Hey, hey, hey!  Big news for Queen Elizabeth and the Commonwealth, so let's start with that today.  Prince William is getting married to Kate Middleton, and the Queen is delighted.

Excellent!  She is very fond of her future granddaughter-in-law and is very happy for William.  Congrats to everyone!  I personally am fond of the royal family, and I wish the Queen another 50 years of her reign, and I wish William and Kate a happy life together.    William is second in line to the throne, which means he will most likely be Canada's head of state in the future.  I think he'll do a wonderful job.   Good on all of ya, and good on all of us!

Ok, that didn't have much to do with cricket, but the next gossip does.  Kamran Akmal, the drop-tastic regular wicket-keeper for the Pakistan team, was being investigated for match-fixing.

 It looked like he would not be allowed to participate in the 2011 World Cup, but he has been cleared by the ICC.  However, Mohammed Amir, the 18 year old whiz kid bowler is still suspended pending investigation.  Man, that kind of makes my blood boil.  Hurry up with Mohammed Amir's investigation and get him cleared for the World Cup.  Take longer to investigate Kamran Dropmal Akmal.
There are other wicket-keepers available.  So, unless KA improves his attitude and shows me he can play better, I'll continue being a bit of a Sour Sally towards him.  Smarten up!

On a side note; whenever I see the World Cup abbreviated to WC, I giggle.  Please write "World Cup" in full.  No need to abbreviate. 

Right then!  Now's here's the cooking I've been promising you.  Today's dish is Qeema, a salan made with ground beef.  Think of it as a delicious pakistani version of chili con carne.  For those of you from Qualicum Beach, this sure beats any chili you get at the Fire and Ice Festival!

Make sure you use an extra lean ground beef because it gets cooked in the tomato gravy, not fried first and then drained.   Ask a butcher to make you the ground beef from an extra lean cut like rump if it's available.  You can also skim off any possible fat near the end of cooking if you're concerned about fat intake.    So, take out your knives and let's get to business!
Qeema
ingredients
1 kilo extra lean ground beef
3 potatoes, cut into 8 pieces each (potatoes optional)
1. 5 tomatoes, very finely chopped
4 big tablespoons yoghurt
1 onion, finely diced
7-8 cloves garlic, very finely diced or crushed
3 cm piece of ginger, very finely diced or crushed
1 bay leaf
1 stick of cinammon
1 star anise
5 cloves
5 black peppercorns
5 green cardamom pods
1 teaspoon cuminseeds
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon lal mirch (red chili powder)
1/2 cup of kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
chopped coriander (cilantro)
chopped green chilies to taste
salt to taste
oil for cooking
water

1.  Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a big pan and fry the onions til golden and slightly crispy.
2.  While the onion's frying, add bay leaf, cinammon, star anise, cloves, peppercorns, cardamom pods and cuminseeds.
3.  When the onion is golden and slightly crispy, add the garlic and ginger, fry for a minute being careful not to burn the garlic.
4.  Add the turmeric and lal mirch.
5.  Add the chopped tomatoes and yogurt.  Stir and "bhunna", like you did for Aloo gosht, basic vegetable salan and qorma.  That means:  fry until the tomato/yoghurt mix sticks to the pan, add a bit of water to "lift" and incorporate what's stuck to the bottom into the gravy.  Repeat this 4 or 5 times, until the tomato/yoghurt mix is a deep reddish colour and has a uniform paste consistency.  The oil should start to separate or "leak" from the mix. If you need a reminder, here's the link:

http://kikiscookinforcricket.blogspot.com/2010/10/theory-and-practical-lesson-basic.html

6.  Now add about 4 cups of water, and bring everything to a rolling boil for a minute or two.
7.  Add salt, but not too much, because the liquid will evaporate!
8.  Add the ground beef, and simmer.  Let all of the water evaporate, until everything is dry.  Fry the evaporated mix for a minute or two, again, until it sticks, then add more water.  Add the potatoes now if you wish to have potatoes.
9.  Add the kasoori methi and green chilies at this point
10. Simmer until the potatoes are cooked, or until the queema reaches your desired consistency.  Add more salt if desired.

Traditionally, qeema is eaten with roti, so it's cooked until it's quite "dry".  However, feel free to add more water to make it saucier and have it on basmati rice.

Have an excellent day today.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow's test match, and I'm hoping you'll be there with me in spirit to cheer on my favourite team!  Whaddya say?  Pakistan Zindabad!

Happy eating, and Happy Cricket!