Punjabi Rajma Recipe
Punjabi Rajma recipe or Tender red kidney beans , simmered in flavoursome onion tomato gravy, and loads of asian spices.A perfect, sumptuous and a healthy meal .
Punjabi Rajma or red kidney bean curry is a quintessential bean curry dish served with steamed rice , in the North India, especially the region of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. This dish happens to be one of the top most curry dishes, loved by kids as well as grown ups.
These kidney beans are dark red in colour and are also known as the chilli bean or red beans. These visually resemble the shape of a kidney. Kidney beans like other beans are a very good source of cholesterol-lowering fibre . In addition to lowering cholesterol, kidney beans high fiber content prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly after a meal, making these beans an especially good choice for individuals with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycaemia. When combined with whole grains such as rice, these provide virtually fat-free high quality protein.
Cooking Rajma / Red Kidney beans
To prepare Punjabi rajma curry ,soak the kidney beans (rajma beans) in enough water overnight . To cook, boil the soaked and rinsed beans in pressure cooker for about 20-25 minutes till the rajma beans are tender, and you can easily crush them using two fingers. Add tempering of onion , ginger, garlic, tomatoes paste and lots of Indian curry spices. Soaking these overnight is really important, as that reduces the cooking time, and makes the beans easy to digest.
In the cooked beans,add a tsp of mustard oil, cover and let it simmer on slow till you get the tempering ready. Adding mustard oil is completely optional. I add it because it provides a slightly rustic , sharp taste and flavour to the beans when these are cooked. Most of the people do not add it. So you can skip this if you want to.
Tempering
For tempering I mostly use ghee, as using ghee makes it easier to digest whole beans and legumes, and of course using ghee enhances the taste of the curry, but if you want to add any other oil of your preference you can use that.
The ingredients required for tempering are crushed ginger garlic , onion and cumin seeds paste, fresh tomatoes pureed, green chillies and dry spices. Crushed ginger garlic- use fresh or use store bought paste. Onion cumin paste-In a grinder roughly grind onions and cumin seeds together. Tomato puree– In a grinder , nicely grind tomatoes till they form puree. Dry Spices needed are- asafoetida powder, salt, red chilli powder, degi mirchi powder or Kashmiri mirch powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, dried crushed fenugreek leaves.
Heat oil/ ghee add asafoetida powder. Sauté for a minute and add crushed ginger garlic. Sauté this till the raw aroma goes away. Add onion and cumin seeds paste , and sauté till the paste is thoroughly cooked. It will start turning golden. Make sure not to burn it.
Last add the tomato puree. Sauté this till the tomatoes are nicely cooked, and the oil/ ghee starts leaving sides.The tempering should be properly cooked, and there should be no water. Now add chopped, or sliced green chillies. Add all dry spices – salt, red chilli powder, degi mirchi powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder. Mix well. Add fenugreek leaves, and mix.
Once you tempering is ready, add it to the cooked rajma, and mix well. Pressure cook once again for one whistle, so that the tempering is incorporated , and the beans absorb the flavour . Turn the heat off.
Open the pressure cooker once the pressure has subsided, and serve rajma with a dollop of ghee / butter, fresh coriander, and a sprinkle of garam masala.
Serving Rajma-
The best accompaniment for the rajma is steamed rice, or jeera rice, but they go well with paranthas, or tandoori roti as well. Serve it with sliced onions, and salad, raita and your healthy dream lunch is ready.
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Rajma /Red kidney beans curry
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rajma / red kidney beans soaked overnight in 5-6 cups of water
- 5-6 cups water to boil rajma
- 1 tsp mustard oil
- 2 tbsp ghee
- a dash of asafoetida powder/ hing
- 2 tsp crushed ginger and garlic or use paste instead
- 1 medium onions
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 3-4 medium tomatoes pureed
- 3-4 green chillies- adjust qty as per the spice you want chopped/ or sliced
- salt as per taste
- 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp deggi mirchi powder
- 1 tsp haldi/ turmeric powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp hand crushed dried fenugreek leaves/ kasoori methi
to garnish
- 1 tsp ghee/ butter to drizzle
- fresh coriander chopped/ handpicked
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
Instructions
- In a pressure cooker, boil water with a tsp of salt, and add soaked beans in it .Pressure cook on medium heat for 20-25 minutes, till the beans are tender and can be crushed easily with two fingers.
- Once the rajma is cooked, add a tea spoon of raw mustard oil. Cover and let it simmer on slow heat, till you prepare the tempering.
For tempering
- If you are using fresh ginger garlic – crush 7-8 cloves garlic, and 1 inch ginger slice in mortar pestle/ or in a mixer grinder.
- To make Onion cumin paste- In a grinder roughly grind onions and cumin seeds together.
- To make tomato puree- In a grinder , nicely grind tomatoes till they form puree.
- Heat oil/ ghee add asafoetida powder. Sauté for a minute.
- Add crushed ginger garlic. Sauté this till the raw aroma of ginger and garlic goes away.
- Add onion and cumin seeds paste , and sauté till the paste is cooked. It will start turning golden. Make sure not to burn it.
- To the above add the tomato puree. Sauté this till the tomatoes are nicely cooked, and the oil/ ghee starts leaving sides.The tempering should be nicely cooked, and there should be no water.
- Now add chopped, or sliced green chillies, and all dry spices – salt, red chilli powder, deggi mirchi powder, turmeric powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder. Mix well. Add fenugreek leaves, and mix.
- Once you tempering is ready, add it to the cooked rajma in the cooker, and mix well. Pressure cook once again for one whistle, so that the tempering is incorporated , and the beans absorb the flavour . Turn the heat off.
- Open the pressure cooker once the pressure has subsided, and serve rajma with a dollop of ghee / butter, fresh coriander, and a sprinkle of garam masala.
- Serve these on top of steamed rice, or jeera rice, with a side of sliced onions, salad, raita and your healthy dream lunch is ready.
Notes
Looks delicious!