Rajmah - Chawal, with a whiff of home!

Kidney beans that taste nice and spicy...

Rajmah and rice, with Papad and onion slivers on the side

Home means food, and in Punjab, the northern border state of India, rajmah-chawal means home food. In English, it is called  Kidney beans, because it is kidney shaped. I have many friends who make this, with a dollop of love thrown in, when their children are expected home, from hostel or work in a different city, or even country.

There are varieties of rajmah—from the light brownish, to a variegated variety to the deep maroon coloured beans. And there are shades in between!There are also rajmahs in different sizes, some being a third of the length of the more common variety. The kidney beans grown in Jammu –part of the Jammu and Kashmir state—is believed to be the best.

The protein rich beans, pressure cooked, and cooked some more  in a gravy of onions and tomatoes, some spices and finished off with a generous garnish of chopped coriander, with plain  steamed  Basmati rice is a complete , wholesome meal. For those who want more, it could be a papad, roasted directly on the burner. And perhaps some slices of crisp onion on the side. That description makes me want to wish myself in a roadside dhaba on the Chandigarh-Amritsar highway! Or even somewhere near Banihal pass on the Jammu-Srinagar road.

Here is the simplest way of making it, as would be done in any rural household of Punjab, but using a pressure cooker:

Kidney beans soaking in water

Ingredients

Rajmah-one cup

Onion -1 large

Tomatoes-2 medium sized

Ginger-1 inch piece

Garlic-three or four pods

Cardamom-two

Clove-3

Cinnamon- a 1 inch piece

Bay leaves-2

Vegetable oil-2 teaspoons

Dry fenugreek leaves,crushed(kasoori methi)-1 teaspoon

Powder of roasted coriander seeds and jeera-1 teaspoon heaped

Red chilly powder-one teaspoon

Chopped coriander- a tablespoon, heaped.

Green chillies-3 or 4

(Makes for a generous meal for two)

Cooking Time:  About 40 minutes, not including the soaking time--overnight.

Cooking Method

Wash and soak the kidney beans overnight.  Put them in a pressure cooker, and add water, to ensure there are  about four cups of water in all. Add all the whole spices—cardamom,clove,bay leaves, cinnamon, and pressure cook for about half an hour, without letting the steam escape. To do this, you reduce the flame to minimum the minute you hear the pressure cooker whistle going off.

Tempting and wholesome

While the rajmah is getting cooked, cut the onions and tomatoes roughly. Put them in a blender, along with the ginger and garlic, and puree them together.

In a frying pan, heat the oil, and gently pour the tomato-onion puree, and stir continuously for five minutes. Now add the red chilly powder, the dhania jeera powder and the  kasoori methi, and stir. If it looks like it will stick to the bottom of the frying pan, add a little water, and keep stirring, till the oil leaves the sides.

Add this masala to the pressure cooked rajmah, and let them simmer together for five minutes or so. Add salt to taste. Crush a few of the rajmah beans along the wall of the pressure cooker,with the ladle. This will ensure that the gravy  thickens, and the beans blend together.

Before emptying the cooked rajmah into a serving dish, remove the bayleaves.

Garnish with chopped green chillies and fresh coriander.

Rajmah Chawal @ Home