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.

Kidney beans Sandwich

This recipe is a result of my experimentations .... Kidney beans is one of the favorite foods of my hubby and so I thought of using it in a new way . I have taken the basic recipe from Mexican recipes using refried beans. Breakfast is usually a hurried affair for most of us rushing to catch the bus to office , getting the kids ready for school ..and doing hundreds of other things .... the beauty of this recipe is that you can make the filling and store it in the fridge ...then in the morning all you need to do is to make the sandwich and grill it ...
Well enough rambling about my reasons for loving it ...here is the recipe for all those who might want to try it :-)

Boiled and mashed Kidney beans /Rajma - 1 cup
1 Medium sized onion - finely chopped
1 Medium sized tomato - finely chopped
3-4 pods of garlic - finely diced
1/4 inch Ginger - finely diced
Green chillies - 2-3 (depending on taste)
Salt - to taste
Red Chilli powder - 1/2 tsp.
Asafoetida/ Hing powder - a pinch
Garam masala powder - 1/2 tsp.
Oil - 2 tb. sp.
Water - 1/2 cup
Mozarella cheese - Grated - 1/2 cup
Bread slices - 6-8


The procedure :-

In a pan heat up the oil . Once the oil is hot add the asafoetida , then add the chopped garlic and ginger followed by the onion and green chillies. Sautee till the onion is translucent , then add the tomato . Cook on a medium flame till the tomato is well cooked and mixed with the rest of the ingredients , then add the red chilli powder , salt . Then once the oil starts separating from the mix in the pan add the mashed kidney beans and mix well . Then add the water and cover the pan .Let it simmer at low flame . This allows the various flavours to blend together and make a wonderfully creamy mixture . Then after about 3-4 minutes add the garam masala and then recover the pan . Cook till the ingredients have mixed well and then remove from flame.

Then apply this mixture evenly over a slice of bread , spread a layer of mozzarella cheese and cover with another bread slice . Apply a little oil over the outer surface of the bread slices and grill the sandwich . This will melt the mozarella cheese. Once well grilled , cut the sandwich diagonally or serve as it is ...

A healthy and nutritious breakfast is ready . :-)