Monday, January 12, 2009

Punjabi Rajma Masala - Punjabi Kidney beans in gravy

Let me begin by wishing everyone a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR !! . I have been very very irregular with my blogging offlate , the reason for this is that I am hardly doing any cooking these days :-) . My mother-in-law has been in town for the past couple of months and hence we have been treated to delicious home made food everyday . I make the same things using the same recipe , but somehow it never turns out as tasty as the ones she dishes out everyday . Probably this is a result of the long experience . Over the years she has discovered a lot of time saving tricks which she has been kind enough to pass on to me . Here I am sharing one of those time saving techniques for making the world famous - rajma masala . Usually we all associate Rajma with lots of soaking , boiling and then getting around to make the curry , according to my mother -in-law there's no need for that . Read on to find out her secret ..to a quick and the best tasting rajma that I have ever had :-)

Ingredients –
Kidney beans/Rajma – 250 gms
Medium sized onions – 2
Tomatoes – 2
Garlic – 6-7 cloves
Ginger – 1 inch piece – finely chopped
Turmeric powder – ½ t sp
Red chili powder – 1 t sp (adjust as per taste)
Garam masala powder – 1 t sp
Salt – as per taste
Asafoetida – a pinch
Coriander leaves – chopped for garnishing
Oil – 2 tb sp

Soak the kidney beans overnight with enough water. Make a paste of onions and garlic. Heat oil in a pressure cooker; add the asafoetida powder and then the onion and garlic paste. Sauté for a minute and then add finely chopped ginger. Keep sautéing till the onion becomes a little brown, and then add the red chili powder, turmeric and salt. Then add the tomato paste. Sauté till the oil starts separating from the masala. In the meanwhile drain the kidney beans and keep them separately. Add the pre-soaked kidney beans to the masala and sauté them till all the water evaporates. Then add about 1 –1.5 glass of water and pressure cook Keep the flame high till the first whistle and after that cook on low flame for about 20 minutes. After that let the pressure cooker cool. Once cool check for tenderness, if the beans are soft then add garam masala powder. If the beans are not soft then pressure cook for some more time. Once cooked properly garnish with coriander leaves and serve with hot steaming rice. You can adjust the thickness of the gravy as per your requirement by adding more water or boiling it some more to thicken it.

You can also boil the kidney beans with water and salt separately and then mix the beans and the water in the masala. Then let it boil for 10 minutes till the time the masala gets mixed well and the gravy thickens.

This is my first entry for the Legume love affair of Srivelli , I hope she accepts it . This event is the brain child of Susan of The well seasoned cook.

12 comments:

Lakshmi said...

Rajma looks tempting N. Wish you a happy and prosperous new year to you all. I wish you post regularly in 09 :) Even when I follow the same recipe as my MIL it does not turn out as delicious as my MIL cooks.

SPICE OF LIFE said...

Thanks LG :-) Yeah I hope to be able to more regular in blogging . I know exactly what you mean ... I just hope that I would be able to cook as well as them someday !!

FH said...

Great entry and a yummy comfort dish! :))

Srivalli said...

Looks great Nupur..thanks a lot for sending it across!

SPICE OF LIFE said...

Yes Ashaji ..it is indeed a great comfort food for someone who has grown up on it.

Srivelli ..will try to send in a few more entries :-)

Deepthi Shankar said...

I love rajma too. this is a yumy recipe

SPICE OF LIFE said...

thanks for dropping by Deesha ...we love rajma too.

notyet100 said...

looks perfect ,..just need bowl of pplain rice,..:-)

SPICE OF LIFE said...

I totally agree Priyanka..... :)

Rajee said...

Looks tempting.

SPICE OF LIFE said...

thanks Rajee ....

rosun said...

Hi,
Here is my concern. The packaged 'Rajma' that we get in the stores has got to be different from the ones our mothers used at home. I was told by a friend to soak it 24 hours before cooking it and over 10 whistles later while cooking. I tried soaking it overnight but it was still too hard and chewy.
Also, according to my mother including tomato in the dish will make my chana/rajma/potato less soft. is it true?
I am desperate to make a gud rajma-chawal. Any thoughts on my problem is so much appreciated