Punjabi Rajma Masala | Red Kidney Beans Curry

I usually try two-three different recipes for the same dish and keep the one we likes most. That is the one that ends up here too. Rajma chawal [Rajma-Rice] is the comfort dish for most North Indians like how we south Indians like rasam and rice. I have had rajma masala at numerous restaurants and in friends places but never made them at home. I finally got around to making it last week and the recipe was so tasty I decided that I am going to keep this version and not search for better recipes. This is the best I have had :). Hope you guys cook this and its a winner recipe for you too.

Ingredients

Recipe Source - Mosoon Spice

Serves - 4
Spice level - Moderate
Prep time - 20 min + 8 hrs soak time
Cook time - 1 hr

Rajam/Red kidney Beans - 1 cup
Tomatoes - 3 large pureed
Tomato paste - 1 Tbsp [optional, I dint use this]
Kasoori methi - 1 Tbsp crushed

To saute and grind to paste

Onions - 2 medium sized, chopped roughly
Garlic - 4 cloves, peeled and chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece, chopped
Cinnamon - 1 inch piece
Cloves - 3
Coriander seeds/Dhaniya - 1 Tbsp
Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp
Dry red chilli - 3-4
Oil - 1 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp

How do you do it

1. First wash the kidney beans well in water and let it soak overnight or for 8 hours.

2. Heat a tbsp oil in a kadai. Add the cinnamon, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, dry red chilli and saute for a couple of minutes until they change color and give a nice aroma.

3. Add the chopped onions, ginger and garlic now and saute for about 5 minutes until the onions cook well and turn translucent.

4. Cool and grind the above into a smooth paste without any water.

5. Heat a 2 tbsp of oil in a pressure cooker. Add the ground paste from step 4 and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the crushed kasoori methi and mix well.

6. Mix in pureed tomatoes and tomato paste [if using] and simmer for 5 minutes.

7. Drain the soaked rajma now and add it to the pressure cooker. Add 1 cup of water and mix well.

8. Pressure cook for 30-35 minutes. It took me around 45 minutes of pressure cooking to get a soft yet firmly cooked rajma. The pressure cooking time would vary with the kind of kidney bean you have, so to be on the safe side, pressure cook for 30 minutes and then you can check to see if it needs more time and cook accordingly.

9. Once pressure cooked and released, add salt to the curry and mix well. Check for proper consistency of the masala, add more water if needed or let the curry boil to thicken as desired.

10. Switch off flame and garnish with coriander leaves.

Serve this yummy and healthy rajama masala with Plain rice or with Jeera Rice or with any flat bread of your choice.