Rajma

I apologise for not posting anything new on my blog this whole past week. Schools opened this week and suddenly I find this huge block of free time on my hands. In the past I have often fantasized about this time and how I will spend it and now that it is here I just cannot for the life of me remember what I wanted to do with my free time. Cook and bake was on top of my list but my 'mojo' seems to have vanished, anything I touch turns all wrong. I burnt the cookies, under baked the cake and over salted the sabjis.

But now we are one week into school and my little one is adjusting to life in kindergarten and I am adjusting to life at home ! So I am relaxing a bit and redoing all the dishes I messed up. I have finally gotten my mind and heart back into my kitchen. However, it is still a work in progress, so I am taking baby steps. I made Rajma as it is his favorite sabji after paneer. I usually do not add that much red chili powder as I have mentioned in the recipe as the kids will not like that.

Whenever I am in a rush I use the canned red kidney beans and a small jar of salsa, all you have to do is add some garam masala and your Rajma is ready; this eliminates that need to soak the beans overnight and cook them in a pressure cooker, cut up onions, tomatoes etc.

This is a really tasty recipe, it is spicy but the spices do not overpower the taste of the kidney beans. Rajma is a good source of protein and fiber and in our house we cook this at least once a week,. Do not cook out all the water as a little gravy to this sabji is desirable.



Rajma

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 cups red kidney beans / rajma , soaked overnight and cooked in a pressure cooker or in a saucepan
2 dried bay leaves / tejpatta
1 stick ( about 2-3 inches approx ) cinnamon / dalchinni
1/2 tsp cumin seeds /  jeera seeds
1 big onion, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder / haldi
1 1/2 tsp red chili powder ( the amount can be adjusted depending on how hot you prefer it to be )
2 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp coriander powder / dhaniya powder
3 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
salt, to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup water


Method

1. Heat oil in a big saucepan, to it add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick and bay leaves. It will start turning brown instantaneously, make sure it does not brown too much or else the whole dish will have a burnt after taste to it. Add the ginger and garlic and onions to it. Let the onions turn light brown, then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, turmeric powder, red chili powder, garam masala and coriander powder. Stir it all together and fry this paste for 2-3 minutes, making sure all the masalas get fried properly.
2. Now add the cooked red kidney beans and the one cup of water. Lower the heat, cover and cook on this low heat for 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally to ensure that it is not burning at the bottom. Add salt and check for seasonings. Do not evaporate all the water, if it does get evaporated, add some more - about 1/2 a cup - as you want to have a little gravy in this dish. Remove from heat and sprinkle with the chopped cilantro. Serve with rotis or hot steaming rice.