Curried Mince Macaroni

Submitted by UmmAzhar

"This is a regular pasta dinner in my household,and has always been.. even before I got married.Easy to make and scrumptious to eat...."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 3

ingredients

• 1 (500 g) packet pasta shells (macaroni)
• 250 g ground lamb
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoons ginger paste
• 2 tablespoons garlic paste
• 250 ml yogurt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon garam masala powder
• 3 teaspoons red chili powder
• 4 tablespoons finely chopped coriander leaves
• 2 green chilies
• 1 lime, juice of
• salt
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vegetable oil (or any other)

directions

1. Take a deep pan and heat the 1& 1/2 tbsps oil.
2. Add chopped onions and fry till transclucent.
3. lower the flame to medium heat and add the garam masala powder and fry for a couple of seconds.
4. Add the lamb mince and fry till no longer pink and water has dried up.
5. Keep breaking the lumps to ensure the meat is lump free.
6. Now add the Ginger-garlic paste ,chilli powder and salt and fry for another minute.
7. Add the yogurt and cook for 2-3 minutes,stirring now and then to get a uniform mixture.
8. Now add the chopped tomatoes,green chillies,lime juice and the chopped coriander,and mix well.
9. Cover the pan and let cook on low flame for 15 mins,till you can see some oil on the top of the curry.
10. Cook the pasta as per instructions (a little under done).
11. Mix the pasta in the curry and let cook on the lowest flame for a further 5-10 minutes.
12. The entire dish should be saucy-- Garnish with a few coriander leaves.
13. I usually serve it with some yogurt chutney.

14. NOTE:

15. The yogurt might break up due to the heat,so please don't worry about it.It is just a process,that will make the curry,taste tangy rather than creamy.
16. I wanted to add a few sugesstions to this recipe after reading the reviews -- the oil can be reduced if your mince is fatty,this is just an estimate,so go by your judgement -- as for the tomatoes,i usually add tin when fresh is not available,and personally i feel it doesnot alter the taste -- .

Reviews

[stormylee]

Lovely, spicy dish! My big goof was that I skimped on the salt and had to sprinkle on a whole lot more once this was on my plate, but I'll remember it next time - I think this dish requires quite a generous dose of salt as there is so much pasta. Which brings me to my next point: 500 g pasta but just 3 servings? This made more like 5 for us - although I can totally see how one could overindulge on this dish! :-) Mind you, I used pasta shells instead of macaroni, so I'm not sure if I somehow got a larger volume of pasta, so to speak. My dish was nowhere near as saucy as in SG's picture - I think I'll use less pasta the next time so I get more of the curry sauce, which was delish! Thanks for a great recipe!

 

[Daydream]

I would love to give this spicy, tangy curry 5 stars but feel it would be inappropriate as I made some changes - not because I felt it necessary, but because I didn't have the exact ingredients. For a start, I had ground beef on-hand instead of lamb and double the quantity. I used a can of chopped tomatoes (drained), as at the last minute I realised I was out of fresh. I did increase the garam masala to 1 teaspoon, and reduced the amount of chili powder, as mine is seeringly hot. I added the yoghurt a tablespoon at a time, and stirred to incorporate it after each addition, to prevent it from 'breaking up'. I think that because I did this, and also because I had a greater quantity of meat, I needed to add a few slurps of water while the mixture was simmering, to get the right consistency. It was a very, very yummy meal. I highly recommend it and I will certainly make it again.

 

[Sackville]

This was a really interesting twist on similar meals that my mom used to make with minced meat, pasta and tomatoes. I was a bit worried about adding the yogurt so early in the cooking process because the heat broke it up, but it added a nice sharpness to the dish without making it creamy. This dish was also quite spicy, and I deseeded the green chilis, so I can see why you would want to serve it with yogurt chutney. The only thing I was confused about was where to add the garlic and ginger paste. As it wasn't mentioned in the steps, I forgot about it completely, but I assume it would go in with the chillis and tomatoes? In any case, it was a tasty recipe without the ginger and garlic and I'm sure it would be even better with them added in! Next time I might also drain a bit of oil off the meat, before adding in the spices and other ingredients.