Rajma

Today is Raksha Bandhan in India. The festival celebrates the bond of brother and sister and is marked by the sister tying a holy Rakhi thread around her brothers wrist. I wish all readers a happy Rakhi.
Since it is a festival day today I thought of posting an all-time favourite dish of my family in-law in India. Rajma. S. is literally crazy about it and could eat it anytime. When he and his siblings were small it was made every Sunday and served with rice. Since they ate chapatti with daal or vegetables the whole week everybody was very much looking forward to Sunday. The version my mother in-law makes is rather simple and doesn’t use so many spices as the recipe below. I have experimented with different spices and stuck finally to the recipe given.

Ingredients:

- 1 cup red kidney beans
- 3-4 cups water
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 big tomatoes, chopped
- 1 inch piece ginger, grated
- 1-2 green chilli, chopped
- 3-4 black cardamom seeds
- 1 Tsp. Black mustard seeds
- 1 Tsp. Cumin seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 Tsp. Garam masala
- 1 Tsp. Cumin powder
- 1 Tsp. Coriander powder
- ½ Tsp. Turmeric

- red chilli powder to taste
- 2 Tbsp. Coriander leaves, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. Oil
- Salt to taste


Method

Soak kidney beans over night in water. Discard water and wash thoroughly. Pressure cook with 3-4 cups water for about 7-8 whistles. Wait for steam to release.
Grind tomatoes and green chilli into a paste and keep aside.
In a large saucepan heat oil and add mustard seeds and cumin seeds. When they pop, add bay leaves, cardamom seeds and cinnamon stick. Fry for some seconds. Add the onions and fry till translucent. Add the tomato paste, ginger and spice powders. Mix well and cook till oil leaves the sides. Add the kidney beans along with cooking water and salt. Let simmer for some minutes. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with rice.

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