A delicious, comforting and fulfilling red kidney beans recipe cooked in an onion tomato sauce. This tastes great with both rice and Indian flatbreads
Rajma or red kidney beans curry is a very popular North Indian side dish. While there is a Kashmiri and a Punjabi method to make it, I am sharing my recipe for the latter. And my Punjabi rajma masala pairs amazing, both, with Indian breads and rice. There are a lot of ways in which you could cook the rajma. From elaborate to very simple preparations. But, no matter how you cook it, this is food for the soul. Rajma chawaal or red kidney beans curry with steamed rice is a very common lunch/dinner item, not just in India’s northern parts, but everywhere else too. This Punjabi rajma masala recipe is an easy and quick recipe, too. The only thing you will need to do is to soak the raw kidney beans overnight, before you cook it. However, if you are using the canned beans, you can directly cook them.
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Comfort food
To make my Punjabi rajma masala special I caramelize the onions. This gives the rajma masala a delicious flavor. While it does take some time to brown onions, it is absolutely worth the time. However, if you’d like to make the curry .on a weeknight, you could use store bought browned onions. Also, this is a delicious lunch box recipe too. Pack some with steamed rice or naan and enjoy your yummy rajma curry on the go! If you are planning to give my recipe a try, I’d love to hear your feedback on it. You could share you feedback in the comments below or share your food pictures with me over on Instagram.
Eat hearty!
Punjabi rajma masala
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup rajma or red kidney beans soaked in water overnight or 6 hours
- 1 cup onions finely chopped
- ¾ cup tomatoes ground to a paste
- 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
- 2-3 chilis slit
- 2 tbsp coriander powder
- 1 tbsp cumin seed powder
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- ¼ turmeric powder
- 2 tbsp garam masala powder
- 2 tbsp kasuri methi dried fenugreek leaves
- 2-3 tbsp fresh coriander leaves finely chopped
- 2-3 tbsp mustard oil
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Drain the soaked rajma and add it to a pressure cooker with a teaspoon of salt and 3 cups of water. Pressure cook the beans until soft and reserve the water. Drain and keep aside (reserve the water)
- In the cooking pot heat the oil until smoking hot, reduce the heat and heat again. Add the onions and fry until they caramelize. Then add in the ginger-garlic paste and chilis
- Fry for couple minutes and then add the tomato pulp. Cook until it is thick and reduced
- Add all the spice powders (except the kasuri methi), salt along with ¼ cup of the reserved rajma water (or hot water). Mix well and cook until the oil separates
- Now add the boiled rajma and simmer over medium heat for 10-12 minutes. Keep adding water if you need to. Once you've reached the consistency of the curry you want, turn the flame off and stir in the coriander leaves
- Serve your yummy Punjabi rajma masala, hot along with rice and/or parathas. Enjoy!
Notes
- You could also use canned red kidney beans for the recipe. In that case, start from step 2
- 1 cup - 250 millilitres
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon
must have tasted great .learnt a little different recipe.yummy!
It does taste yummy. The use of deep fried onions make a huge difference! Thank you x