Punjabi Rajma (Kidney Beans)

Submitted by Shalabhanjika

"This is my version of a recipe from the Hare Krishna website(www.harekrsna.com). This site is a goldmine for Indian vegetarian recipes. I also love the fact that Hare Krishna cooking doesn't use garlic and onions (which I do love), but substitute Hing or asafoetida powder. It's great when you're too lazy to chop/cry while chopping, and hing has its own healthy properties. I believe it is supposed to be an anti-flatulent for one thing. This dish is sort of like an Indian bean chili (an oxymoron for some). I ate it mixed with some basmati rice I cooked in my rice cooker with a small piece of cinnamon stick and a couple of green cardamom pods. My husband ate it with tortilla chips the next day. Some of the elements of the recipe were vague in the original recipe, so use your judgement! The cooking time is just a guess, and depends on your taste."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 2-4

ingredients

• 1 (14 ounce) can cooked red kidney beans
• 1 -3 tablespoon oil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
• 1 chopped red bird's eye chili
• 1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes, no salt added
• 1⁄2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1⁄2 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 1 teaspoon hing
• 1 cup water
• 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• chopped cilantro leaf (to garnish)

directions

1. Rinse and drain kidney beans.
2. Heat the oil on medium to medium high.
3. Add cumin seeds, ginger, and chilies. Sautee until cumin seeds darken, about one minute, or how you like.
4. Add tomatoes with the water from the can. Simmer uncovered until the liquid has reduced quite a bit, again to your preference. The longer you simmer, the tastier it will be!
5. Add the rest of the spices and mix well.
6. Add the kidney beans and mix well.
7. Add the water. Simmer uncovered until the liquid has evaporated to the consistency you like. Feel free to add more water, or add less to begin with.
8. About 15 minutes before you expect it to finished, add the chopped cilantro and stir.
9. Garnish with the rest of the cilantro when you are ready to eat it!

Reviews

[Laura Zimmerman]

Easy and tasty! My kids especially loved this. I made it a little more mild than called for and I was scared of the amount of hing so I halved that. Next time I think I'll try adding the entire amount. This one is going in the permanent file :)

 

[Spice Princess]

This was delicious! I did make a few minor changes -- I cooked my beans from dry, and used the leftover bean cooking liquid in place of the water. For the chili powder I used pure cayenne and increased it to 1 teaspoon. I was afraid that the large amount of hing/asafetida would be overpowering, but after it had simmered for awhile it turned out just perfect. Thanks for a great recipe, I will be making this one again for sure!

 

[zaar junkie]

This is a tasty dish! I wanted to eat within 30 minutes so made a few cuts to the cooking method. I used only 1 Tbsp of oil and quickly fried the spices, added the tomatoes with about a 1/4 cup of water, and hard boiled for a minute or two, then added the other spices (I used whole coriander seed as I didn't feel like grinding it), drained canned kidney beans, then boiled for a few minutes until it thickened. I added the cilantro and cooked it only another couple minutes. It was very flavorful and delicious, and quick! I already had some rice made so dinner came together in about 20-25 minutes. Thanks so much for posting. I will make this one again.

 

[roja khan]

very tasty