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Punjabi Rajma (Red Kidney Bean Curry)

Punjabi Rajma (Red Kidney Bean Curry)

Rajma is one of my favorite Indian dishes. It is a curried tomato and kidney bean dish that is popular throughout northern Indian. For those unacquainted with the delights of Indian cuisine, it's an Indian-style vegetarian version of Southwestern-style chili.


Punjabi RajmaPunjabi Rajma (Red Kidney Bean Curry)
Recipe by
Cuisine: Indian
Published on July 18, 2007

Simple, rich, earthy and filling spicy red kidney bean curry

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Ingredients:
  • 1 1/2 cups dried red kidney beans (4 1/2 cups cooked or 3 14 oz cans)
  • 5 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons ghee, butter or oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced or crushed
  • 1-inch piece fresh ginger, minced or grated
  • small handful of fresh green or red chilies, seeded and minced
  • 1 large tomato, diced
  • 2 teaspoons ground coriander
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
  • juice from 1 lemon (1 tablespoon)
  • handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 2 teaspoons of sea salt, or to taste
Instructions:
  • Rinse the kidney beans and soak for 8 hours or overnight in several inches of water. Drain and rinse, then transfer to a large saucepan and cover with 5 cups of fresh water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until tender. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.

  • Punjabi Rajma (Red Kidney Bean Curry)
    Wipe the saucepan clean and add the ghee, butter or oil. Heat over medium heat. When hot, add the onion and stir for 5 minutes or until the onion begins to brown on the edges. Toss in the garlic, ginger and chilies, and stir for 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and spices and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes or until the tomatoes begin to thicken into a sauce. Stir in the cooked kidney beans, lemon juice, half of the parsley, and 1 cup of the reserved cooking liquid from the beans. Reduce the heat to low and continue to simmer until the liquid is reduced — about 10 to 15 minutes.

  • Remove from heat and season with salt. Serve over a bed of fresh cooked rice garnished with the remaining parsley.

Makes 6 to 8 servings

Other rajma recipes you will enjoy:
Lucknow Rajma with Sautéed Chard
Curried Red Kidney Beans with Paneer Cheese

3 comments:

  1. I just tried this and yum yum yum.

    I hate those comments that are all like "I tried the recipe and substituted this and this and this and left out this and added this AND IT SUCKED" but I have to say what I did, because it turned out great: I think maybe the tomato I used wasn't juicy enough so I used a tin of good quality plum tomatoes, and I added some beans (chopped yardlongs i had leftover) to add one of my 5-a-day. But, the basic framework of the recipe is awesome. Thanks!

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  2. Glad you liked the recipe Lalitha and thanks for sharing your variation on the dish.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is nice blog to visit,you have done a good job and your representation very effective.I like punjabi rajma very much.

    ReplyDelete