Like red kidney beans? Like kidney beans and rice? Looking for a vegetarian dish to serve as a main course? If your answer to all the questions is yes then you’ve hit the jackpot with this red kidney bean curry. Thick and creamy with great depth of flavour, you won’t believe that beans could taste this good. The plump cooked beans are like little morsels of meat and while this dish is usually served with rice or roti, don’t be surprised if you find yourself armed with only a spoon. It is that good.
Rajma Masala is a very popular North Indian dish. It is sometimes referred to as Punjabi Rajma Masala. The beans are cooked separately and then combined with a masala paste and pureed tomatoes, the cooking liquid from the beans and simmered until thickened. It’s different from the curries we enjoy in the Caribbean.
I’ve adapted the recipe to use ingredients that are easy to find. Some recipes call for hing (asafoetida), black cardamom and fenugreek (methi) leaves.
INGREDIENTS
For the curry:
- 4 cups rehydrated kidney beans (see note below)
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 2 teaspoons red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons amchar or garam masala
- 2 cups pureed tomatoes (see note below)
- Salt to taste
- Fresh cilantro/coriander
For masala paste:
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 1 x 3-inch piece cinnamon stick, broken into small pieces
- 2 heaped teaspoons whole geera/cumin seeds
- 6 whole cloves
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 cups finely chopped onions
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- Minced hot pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
- Rinse and drain the rehydrated beans and add to pressure cooker along with 4 – 5 cups of water and 1-teaspoon salt. Cover, place on medium heat and bring to a pressure; pressure for 6 – 8 minutes (the time would vary depending on your pressure). The beans should be cooked through and soft but not completely broken down. Strain and reserve the cooking liquid.
- While the beans are cooking, make the masala paste – heat the oil in a pan and add the whole spices (cinnamon, cloves, geera and fennel seeds); fry in oil until they just start to change colour. Add the onions, ginger, garlic and pepper; reduce heat to low and cook until the onions are soft. Remove the entire mixture, including residual oil and grind to a paste. Set aside.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil on medium heat. Add the masala paste and cook for 1 minute then chili powder, turmeric, and amchar or garam masala and cook for another minute.
- Stir in the pureed tomatoes and mix well, bring to boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 4 – 6 minutes.
- Raise heat to medium high and add peas and reserved cooking liquid, stir well and bring to a boil. Season with salt and cook for 12 – 15 minutes or until the gravy has thickened and reduced; if you like, mash some of the beans in the pan to help thicken the gravy. For added richness, stir in 2 tablespoons of butter or ghee to melt in the curry.
- Garnish with fresh coriander/cilantro and serve with rice or roti.
NOTES
- You can try making this curry with canned kidney beans but it will not taste the same; the texture and flavour would be different.
- Two cups of dried kidney beans will yield 4 cups when rehydrated.
- For added flavour, you can cook the kidney beans with a bay leaf and 2 crushed green cardamom pods – discard the bay leaf and cardamom after cooking.
- You can substitute ground spices in these quantities: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; 1/4 teaspoon cloves; 1/2 teaspoon fennel; 1 + 1/2 teaspoons cumin.
- While you can use canned pureed tomatoes, I would not recommend it; the canned puree will contain a certain degree of acidity that can disturb the flavour of the curry, the best option is to chop and puree/blend fresh tomatoes and pass the mixture through a sieve to remove the seeds and skin.
