rajma masala

one of the regulars at any punjabi house…. rajma masala or rajma chawal. everybody’s favorite and specially if made by their moms.

the rajma recipe (in english kidney beans) that i am posting here is another one of mom in law’s. its her special recipe and it is special in one more sense … its a really, really simple and easy rajma recipe. no grinding, no sauting, no frying of anything… its a one pot recipe.

i am not so fond of rajmas, but i make this for everybody as they all like rajma masala and especially, made in the punjabi way.

lets begin step by step recipe for rajma masala

pick, rinse the rajma in water and soak the rajma beans in water overnight or for 8-9 hours. you can use any kind of red rajma. i have used the jammu rajma… a variety of rajma from jammu, a state in india.

what you need to make the rajma masala are the basic ingredients that go into indian cooking… see pic below… easy… right?

chop all of the above ingredients. take all soaked rajma in a pressure cooker or a big pot. add the chopped onions, green chilies, garlic and ginger.

add the tomatoes

spice it up with cumin seeds, turmeric powder, red chili powder, asafoetida and salt.

add water

and finally add butter, preferably white butter… yes… you read it right…. butter…. if you are into loosing weight or are calorie conscious, then add oil instead of butter.

cover the pressure cooker with the lid and pressure cook the rajma for a good 15-20 minutes. when the pressure lowers in the cooker, open the lid and check to see if the rajma is cooked.

if the rajma are not cooked, close the lid and pressure cook again for some minutes. later add garam masala powder and dry mango powder.

simmer for some more minutes till the gravy thickens. garnish with coriander leaves. serve the rajma hot with cooked rice or jeera rice. it also goes well with chapatis.

tips for making rajma masala:

• make sure that the rajma is soaked well or else it will take a lot of time to cook it.
• the gravy is not watery but thick. if you find that the water is too much and the rajma are cooked. then cook the rajma without any lid to evaporate the water.
• if while cooking the water reduces, then add some hot water.
• the rajma have to be soft and well cooked.
• though i have given the measurements for using water, you may have to check the consistency of the gravy as rajma are different in different places. some rajma take a longer time to cook than other varieties. i have faced this issue many times. some times even in spite of cooking the rajma for a good 45 minutes in a pressure cooker, the rajma are not cooked to the fullest.
• i have used regular red rajma for the recipe. you could try it with tinned kidney beans…. though i have never tried anything with tinned beans and would not know how the recipe would taste. in using regular beans, the flavors and aroma of the gravy is absorbed by the beans as we are cooking everything together. not sure if the same would happen for tinned beans.
• if you do not have a pressure cooker, use big pot to cook the rajma. but it would take a lot of time to cook the rajma in a pot.

rajma masala recipe details given below:

rajma masala

 

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Prep time

9 hours 15 mins

Cook time

45 mins

Total time

10 hours

 

Author: dassana

Ingredients

• 1 and half cup rajma/red kidney beans, soaked overnight
• 2 onions chopped
• 4-5 tomatoes chopped
• 1 and half tablespoon ginger garlic chopped
• 1 or 2 green chillies, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp red chili powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp garam masala powder
• 1 tsp dry mango powder/amchur
• 3 tbsp butter, preferably white butter or 3 tbsp oil or ghee
• 8-9 cups water
• salt or black salt

Instructions

1. soak the rajma in water for a good 8-9 hours.
2. in a pressure cooker, add the soaked rajma and all the chopped veggies,all the spices and spice powders & salt to the rajma, except for garam masala powder and dry mango powder.
3. add water. give the mixture a stir.
4. cover the lid of the pressure cooker and pressure cook the rajma for 20-25 minutes.
5. check to see if the rajma is done, if not then pressure cook for 8-10 minutes.
6. once the rajma is cooked, then add the garam masala powder and dry mango powder.
7. let the rajma masala simmer for 7-8 minutes till the gravy thickens.
8. finally garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve rajma hot with plain boiled rice or jeera rice.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 4

3.2.1652