Curried Rajma (Kidney Beans)

All beans have an unhappy reputation of causing embarrassment after gorging on them. Well you know what I mean. A quick look up suggested what might be happening at the back end. The smelly gas caused by beans "consists mainly of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, is the byproduct of bacteria in the intestine breaking down the complex carbohydrates in the beans". Soy beans topped the list.

Apparently cooking with ginger alleviates the problem to a good extent. Eat beans more often and you body sure will get accustomed to it.

Rajma chawal (Rajma with rice) is a Punjabi delight usually made on a Sunday. It probably is every north indian's delight. I just discovered that a bowl of kidney beans and rice has become a traditional lunch in New Orleans on Mondays. Interesting!

I must confess here, my rajma never gets closer to the one my mom-in-law makes. She hints that she never soaks it. That means thrice the cooking time. I believe it is an indulgence. If you too believe in saving resources, you may soak the beans for a neat 4 hours at least. However if it was an impromptu decision you might try soaking the beans in boiling water in a thermos for 2 hours.

Let's get to the recipe now.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• Rajma - pale brown coloured - 2 cups soaked. (the maroon shaded variety of Rajma takes longer time to cook)
• Ginger - 2 inches
• Green chillies - 3
  
• Onion - 2 Large chopped coarsely for grinding
  
• Tomato - 4 medium or 3 Large (halved and grated to get the pulp)
  
• Chilli powder - 1 tsp
• Coriander leaves - 4 tbsp chopped
• Fresh cream - 2 tbsp
• Oil - 6 tbsp
• Salt as required
  

Method

• Grind Onion, ginger and green chillies together
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker and saute the mixture in high heat, adding 1 tsp salt to it, till it turns a shade brown
• Add the chilli powder and mix well
• Add the tomato pulp and keep stirring for 5 minutes in high heat.
• Add the soaked rajma along with the water used to soak it
• Add the chopped coriander leaves and the cream
• Add enough water to make the mixture thin in consistency (Probably I will measure the amount and update the blog later)
• Pressure cook in high heat for one whistle and then simmer for half an hour.
• Allow the cooker to cool and serve with hot basmati rice