Red Kidney Beans Curry (Rajma)
By Ananda Lila devi
dasi
Ingredients
• 2 C dried red kidney beans
• 7-9 C of water
• 4-5 medium sized tomatoes, peeled
• 1½ -inch ginger piece
• 2 hot green chilies
• 3 Tbsp ghee/oil
• ½ Tsp yellow asafetida powder
• 2 Tsp cumin seeds
• 2 Tsp garam masala
• 2 Tsp chana masala
• 1 Tbsp coriander powder
• 1 Tsp amchur powder (dry mango powder)
• 1 Tsp turmeric powder
• 2¼ Tsp salt
• ¼ C chopped fresh coriander leaves
Preparation
1. Wash the beans and soak them in water for 6 hours. Drain.
In a saucepan,
combine the beans and water. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat
and cook
covered until the beans are soft but not broken. (Alternately
if you are
pressure cooking the beans then use 7 cups of water)
2. Pour the cooked beans through a colander and reserve the
cooking liquid by
placing a bowl underneath the colander.
3. In a small bowl, take 1/3 cup of the cooked beans and mash
them. Keep
aside.
4. Process the tomatoes, ginger and chilies in a blender until
smooth.
5. In a saucepan, heat ghee/oil over moderate high heat. Add
asafetida and
cumin seeds, when they darken a bit, pour the blended
tomatoes. Add all the
spice powders and salt. Reduce the heat to low and cook until
ghee/oil
oozes out from the tomato-spice paste. Add the beans, mashed
beans and
half of the coriander leaves. Pour the reserved cooking liquid
according to
the consistency required for the curry. Cook partially covered
over low heat
for atleast 1 hour so that the beans get cooked nicely in the
tomato sauce.
Serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.
Serves
4-6