A flavorful curry made of soft cooked red kidney beans in subtle, fragrant gravy of tomatoes, onions and special Punjabi spice mix. This is a very popular dish in the Northern states of India and is a must have in every home, restaurant or a highway dhabba. The Punjabis adopt the slow cooking method to make this delicious curry. The overnight soaked rajma beans is cooked along with well sautéed masala of onions, tomatoes, ginger ,garlic and a medley of freshly ground spices over a charcoal or wood fire. The smoky flavor of the dish is absolutely heavenly. This masala is served with roti or rice .Rajma,Roti,Chawal is a popular staple in southern parts of Orissa.
Though Rajma masala is authentic to the Indian cuisine, the red beans has had a long travel from its native land of the New World-Central Mexico and Guatemala to India. The Spaniards and the Portuguese brought the beans to Europe. The dry seeds were a valuable source of protein for sailors, and ships soon carried the kidney bean to Africa and Asia.
The red kidney beans held a special place in the diets of Native Americans. The amino acid profile of the bean complemented the amino acid composition of corn thus making this classic meal combination, loaded with complete protein. In fact it has been recorded that some predominantly vegetarian tribes of Central America avoided malnutrition by incorporating this red seed into their daily staple corn recipes.
INGREDIENTS
- RAJMA 1 CUP SOAKED OVERNIGHT
- SALT – AS REQUIRED
- TOMATOES – 3 MEDIUM BLEND TO A PUREE
- ONIONS – 2 MEDIUM GRIND TO A COARSE PASTE
- GHEE – 2 TBSP
- BLACK CARDAMOM – 1
- CINNAMON – 1 INCH STICK
- CLOVES – 3
- CUMIN SEEDS – 1 TSP
- PEPPERCORNS – ½ TSP
- GINGER GARLIC PASTE – 1 TSP
- ASAFOETIDA – A PINCH
- KASHMIRI CHILLY POWDER – 1 TSP
- CUMIN POWDER – ½ TSP
- RAJMA MASALA POWDER – ½ TSP
- CORIANDER POWDER – 1 TSP
- TAMARIND CHUTNEY/DATE CHUTNEY – 1 TSP CHOPPED
- CORINADER – 1 TBSP
METHOD
- Wash and soak the rajma in water overnight
- Pressure-cook the rajma along with soaked water and required quantity of salt.
- Pressure- cook it to 4 whistles on high flame, then lower the flame and cook for 15 minutes.
- Take a heavy bottomed pan. Add the ghee. Once the ghee is hot add in the whole spices and the asafoetida. Give them a sauté.
- Now add the onion paste and fry with constant stirring till it browns evenly and begins to leave the sides of the pan.
- Now add all the powders and the required salt for this mixture and give a stir. Add the tomato puree and sauté on low flame till it begins to leave the sides of the pan.
- Now pour in the cooked rajma along with the cooked water. Add more water if needed because the consistency now should be watery.
- Lower the flame, cover the pan and cook for 15 -20 minutes.
- Open the pan and check for its consistency. The masala will now be thick enough if not allow it to boil for another 5 minutes.
- For the final boil add the date/sweet chutney and garnish with coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with rotis or rice.
