Xanna’s Chapati Keema (Zanzibar Pizza)

When I visited my mother-in-law in Mombasa for the first time in 1986, she showed me how to make a few of her favourite dishes.  This was one of them that I noted down in a hard back exercise book I bought from the local market and have made many times since.

Mince Ingredients-  (make half quantity for this recipe)

1 kg mince
3 tbsp ginger/garlic paste
4 tbsp green chilli chopped
1 ½ tsp salt
1 tbsp red chilli powder
1 tbsp whole cumin
1 tbsp garam masala powder
¼ bunch fresh coriander
2 large onions chopped fine
1 tbsp Lemon juice

Cooking Steps

Step 1
Chop onions and coriander very finely and keep aside.

Fry the mince in a flat pan, add garlic/ginger paste and cook on a high heat until brown.

Add the chopped green chillies and cook until all the water from the mince has evaporated

Step 2
Add salt and red chilli, garam masala, cumin and lemon juice. Stir well.  Cook for 10 minutes

Step 3
Add the chopped onions and coriander. Cook for a further 5 minutes and turn off the heat.

 This mince recipe can be used for chapati keema, meat puffs, potato chops, meat pancakes and samosas.

Chapati Keema Pastry
Ingredients

250g plain flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
Approx. ½ cup water to mix

Step 1
Mix the flour and salt together. And 2 tbsp of oil and just enough water to mix to a soft dough.

Step 2
Tip the dough onto an oiled tabletop and knead for 3 mins. Divide the dough into six balls.  Place in a bowl and drizzle a little oil over the dough balls to keep them moist.  Cover and leave to rest for 2 hrs

Make the Chapati Keema

Step 1
Place a dough ball on an oiled table top and start stretching the dough out into a large chapati until quite thin (slightly thicker in the middle).

Step 2
Add 1 heaped tbsp of mince into the centre of the chapati, sprinkle with a tsp of chopped raw onion and green chilli and top with a tbsp of beaten egg. Fold the chapati pulling the 2 sides together to meet in the middle and fold over the other sides to form a square parcel.

Step 3
Fry in shallow oil until the ‘pizza’ is golden brown.