Rajma Curry with Butter Naan

I first had Rajma in a small restaurant in Sanjay Nagar, Bangalore. I just loved the taste. Till then I was not a fan of this bean variety. I had never even attempted to prepare. But we used to Rajma with Chaval. They were just adorable. Although, panner and gobi side dishes were available, I resist cooking for the night and get this for the dinner. This was a small restaurant by the road side and prepared some nice authentic dishes of a exotic flavor.

Rajma is a red kidney bean, and Naan is Indian bread.. A side dish of kidney beans is prepared with spices and then enjoyed with naan or roti or rice. Two different elements cooked separately comes together as a final dish. You can make this one day as a side dish for say Roti's, Naan's, chapathi's, tortillas etc. Since this side dish is even more awesome the next day, if you have leftovers, enjoy them then traditionally with rice.

Rajma Curry
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You need:
1 1/2 cups Rajma (Red Kidney Beans)
2 cups Tomato Puree
6 Green chillies (grind to a fine paste)
2-3 onions finely chopped
1/4 tsp Garam masala
1 tbsp Coriander powder
1/2 tbsp Cumin powder
1/4 tsp Turmeric powder
1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
Chopped Coriander for garnish
2-3 tbsp oil

Soak rajma overnight. Prepare tomato puree and keep aside. Heat oil in a pressure cooker. Add chopped onions and fry till soft. Add Ginger Garlic paste and then green chilli paste. Fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the Cumin powder, Coriander powder and turmeric powder. Add the tomato puree and saute for at-least 20-25 minutes on a low flame. (I know this sounds like a long time, but the longer you saute the richer the flavors) Once everything is fried well, add the chopped tomatoes and soaked, drained rajma, cover with water, add salt, give it a quick stir and close the cooker lid with weight. Increase the heat to high and on 1 whistle reduce the flame to low and cook for 40 minutes.

After its done if gravy is too thick add more water if required and bring to a boil. Garnish with chopped coriander. Serve with fresh cooked rice or even have it with roti, or Naan.

Cooking this way brings a dark rich color to the gravy. I used to boil the Rajma separately and then add it to the masala, gravy tasted good no doubt but sometimes the rajma tasted bland as the flavors wouldn’t have been absorbed enough. When we pressure cook the Rajma along with the masalas, it makes a huge difference in color, taste and texture of the gravy as well as the Rajma. A Punjabi friend taught me to cook this way and since then I’ve stuck to it!