PUNJABI RAJMA
 
 
Serves: 5-6
Ingredients
To boil:
  • 1 cup red kidney beans (rajma), washed and soaked overnight
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 8 green cardamom
  • 3 black cardamom
  • 6-8 cloves
  • 1-2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3.5 cups water
For the masala:
  • 2 small or 1 big onion, grated
  • 1 tbsp ginger paste
  • 1 tbsp garlic paste
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 3 roma tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp cilantro leaves
  • 3-4 green chillies
  • ½ tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp red chilli powder
  • ¼ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 tsp aamchoor powder
  • 1 tbsp rajma masala/ garam masala
  • 1 tbsp kasoori methi, crushed
  • 1 tbsp clarified butter/ghee, optional
Instructions
For the Kidney beans:
  1. Soak the red kidney beans overnight. Drain the water and wash them. In a pressure cooker, add the red kidney beans, 3.5 cups water, bay leaf, cardamom, black cardamom, cloves and cinnamon stick. Pressure cook with 1 tsp salt till the beans are soft. It usually takes 1-2 whistles for me, but depending on how long you soak the beans and your cooker, it might take more whistles.
The slow cooker version:
  1. If you hate cleaning the pressure cooker like I do, I have now started making this in the slow cooker. I am yet to try a version where I dump everything in the slow cooker and let it do all the work, but I do the final part of the cooking in the slow cooker. I do boil the beans with the whole spices on the stove first for 15 minutes to avoid red bean poisoning. Once boiled, I put them with the spice and water in the slow cooker and cook on high with the cooked masala added.
For the masala:
  1. In a blender, puree together the tomatoes, coriander leaves and the green chillies.
  2. In a wok (kadhai), heat 2 tbsp oil. Add the cumin seeds and let sizzle. Add the grated onions and fry till golden brown, about 8 minutes on medium flame. Add the ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder and coriander powder. Sauté for a minute or two on medium flame.
  3. Add the pureed tomato mixture and fry till the oil separates (can take about 15-20 minutes). At this point, you can freeze this masala and use it later.
Putting it all together
  1. Pour the cooked rajma masala in the cooker with the boiled rajma. Mix. Mash some beans with the back of your ladle. Add salt, if necessary. Add the rajma masala/garam masala powder and the amchoor powder, and 1 tbsp ghee (optional). Add the kasoori methi.
  2. Once the masala is poured in with the boiled rajma, you should let cook on medium flame for about 10-15 minutes for all the flavors to be soaked in by the kidney beans.
If using the slow cooker:
  1. Add the rajma masala to the partially boiled beans in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 6 hours.
  2. Garnish with coriander/cilantro leaves. Serve hot with rice and curd.
Recipe by The Novice Housewife at https://novicehousewife.com/2010/09/02/punjabi-rajma/