Spicy red kidney beans (Punjabi rajma)

When you open the pantry and you remember its been a while since red kidney beans were last cooked, its time to soak them for the next day lunch or dinner. These nutritious beans mixed with the North Indian spices are a delicacy and instantly bring sparkle in the eyes and smile on the face when the words- Rajma Chawal (Red kidney beans/Rice) vibrate those ear drums. The generous combination of the ginger, garlic, various spices flavoring the bland beans in the soup, smell of cilantro leaves with a spoon of Basmati rice, side of salads, pickle and boondi raita, yummmm!! I am sharing the traditional Punjabi recipe. In Punjab, people use mustard oil to cook most of the recipes, instead I add mustard seeds to bring that mustard flavor while using vegetable oil. You can skip the mustard seeds, its optional, but nothing else is.

Please comment, hit like, if the recipe makes you hungry or reminds you of home cooking, that encourages my effort :)

Ingredients:
1.5 cup of red kidney beans (2 cans of kidney beans)
1 medium onion
3-4 large tomatoes
1-2 green chillies
4-5 garlic cloves
2 tbp ginger paste

Tempering:
1 tsp mustard seeds (optional)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 tsp Asafoetida powder (hing)
2 tsp Punjabi Garam masala
4-5 black pepper corn
Oil for tempering
Salt to taste
Chopped Cilantro for garnishing


Recipe:

1. Soak the dried kidney beans overnight in water. If using canned kidney beans skip this step. In my experience the dry kidney beans taste so much better, so I plan a day ahead to cook the beans. Next day, drain the water and wash them thoroughly 2-3 times in running water. Cook them in slow cooker or in pressure cooker. In pressure cooker it may take about 30 minutes to thoroughly cook them.The beans should melt in the mouth.

2. Dice the tomatoes, onion, ginger and garlic.

3. To the preheated oil, add mustard seeds (optional) and cumin seeds. On spluttering, add pepper corn, asafoetida.

4. Now add onions, saute the onions till golden brown.

5. Add turmeric and red chilly powder.

6. Puree the tomatoes and add the puree to the sauted onions. Mix.

7. Cook the tomatoes, till the water dries and the oil oozes out about 10-12 minutes. Then add the softened cooked kidney beans. Mix, cook for few more minutes so that the spices evenly blend with the beans. Add garam masala. Garnish with cilantro and lemon. Enjoy with rice and roti. The combination of red kidney beans and rice is out of this world as it is called: Rajma-Chawal!!