Rajma (Red Kidney Beans Curry)

Dried Red Kidney Beans

Rajma or Red kidney beans were rarely made in my house in India. It was a treat made, like, once in 6 months and that too……..with potatoes like a vegetable;) . My grandmother had a grave dislike for kidney beans for its flatulent tendencies. She also believed that its ‘taseer’ was hot. Now, that means that it was one of the foods that would cause excess heat in the body when eaten. The flatulence part of kidney beans cannot be disputed but I really don’t know much about “hot” and “cold” foods :). Anyway, kidney beans are quite a favorite with people from Punjab and Delhi. I believe that it is not that commonly eaten in Uttar Pradesh. I got a request a few days back from Lavanya, who wanted me to tell her how I made Rajma. Thank you for considering my recipe worthy enough to know. Well! this is how I make Rajma,it is mostly liked by all who have had to eat it. Try it out and let me know what you think. This blog is nearing its first anniversary which is BIG for me cause it’s hard to believe that I am still blogging:).

I ate Rajma a lot when I was suffering from Gestational Diabetes. This is one of  the few foods that women who suffer can eat without worrying about the numbers, as it has enough protein and folate AND is also filling:).One can have  2 servings, 1/2 cup each and that would equal approximately 30 g. carbs. At least this paired with 1 thin roti 6″ in diameter along with LOTS of lettuce and cucumber worked very well for me. This is when my lunch was restricted to only 45 g. carbs.  Since, I have gone through the pain of gestational diabetes and am a good candidate for diabetes in the future , I try to eat as much sugar as I can eat now:))…………………….NO, I am careful of my diet and I am sending this recipe to all diabetes conscious people:)  Sangeeth’s  Eat Healthy Fight Diabetes Contest of Art of Cooking Indian food and Raulillo OK’s Blogg Event: Gastronomical adventure 2008 on the occasion of World Diabetes Day on November 14th.

I have learnt to make decent Rajma from my Husband’s  Aunt who makes Rajma quite well. Never really sat and jotted down this recipe from her but I believe that mine turns out quite like hers now:).  The key points in a good rajma recipe is that the kidney beans should be well cooked (one should not need to apply pressure to break the beans (hey, we don’t want a paste either…..somewhere in between) ) and the gravy should not be watery.

The Recipe:

• Red Kidney Beans 1 1/2 cups soaked for at least 4 hours or overnight
• Vegetable oil 1 Tbsp.
• Bay Leaf 1
• Cinnamon stick 2″ piece
• Onion 1 big chopped very fine
• Ginger 2″ piece minced
• Garlic 5-6 cloves minced
• Green Chillies 2 chopped fine (add less for less heat, though this results in medium hot)
• Cumin seeds (Jeera) 2 tsp.
• Asafoetida (Heeng) 1/2 tsp. (optional)
• Turmeric powder (Haldi) 2 tsp.
• Coriander powder (Dhaniya) 2 Tbsp.
• Salt to taste
• Tomato puree/Tomato sauce 1 1/2 cups or about 4 medium sized tomatoes chopped fine
• Water 3 cups
• Garam Masala 1 Tbsp.
• Kasoori Methi 1 Tbsp.
• Cilantro leaves for garnish 1/2 cup

I used to boil the kidney beans prior to adding it to the gravy but now I have learnt that it is not a necessary step. With the help of a pressure cooker, a well soaked kidney beans gets cooked quite well in the gravy itself. Hence all the masalas can be directly fried in the pressure cooker itself. This recipe makes quite a lot of curry, but then who minds rajma leftovers?

Heat oil in the pressure cooker. Add asafoetida (which I add in addition to garlic to reduce the flatulence tendencies of the beans), cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon stick and turmeric powder. Add finely chopped onion, ginger,green chillies and garlic. Fry it well, when this mixture starts to brown, add coriander powder, salt and tomatoes. Fry a little more till this mixture starts to dry out and one can specks of oil on the masala. If you are using fresh tomatoes, the tomatoes should be all mushy at this stage. In case the masala starts sticking to the pan, you can add 2-3 Tbsps. of water to it and stir well. Next add the kidney beans and the water. Close the pressure cooker. Keep the gas on high flame till you can hear the pressure being built up (approximately 2-3 minutes), then reduce the flame to medium low. I tend to cook until I hear 4 whistles (approximately 30 minutes).

When the pressure cooker can be safely opened, open it and check the salt. Add more if needed. If the curry is dry, one can add some warm water to the rajma or add plain water and heat the gravy well again. Now add the Garam masala and Kasoori Methi. Its a good idea to crush the kasoori methi between your palms as you add to the curry. Add fresh cilantro leaves just before serving.

Rajma Chawal (Red kidney beans with Rice) is quite famous and pairs beautifully but the last time I made Naan with it and so the rice had few takers:). In fact, the best quality of rajma is that it can be paired well with almost anything………roti, parantha, tortilla, bread…………:) Save leftovers in the refrigerator. This is ideal for freezing too, lasts a good couple of months in the Freezer and the taste remains the same. And yes, if you are short on kidney beans, by all means, add a potato to this recipe………..I sometimes do that just cause I want my mother’s rajma:)

Enjoy………Rajma

Spicy Garlic Vegetarian Sausage Bread

Can’t wait… Pieces disappearing from behind : Spicy Garlic Vegetarian Sausage Bread

Necessity is the mother of invention and creativity becomes a necessity if resources are limited. This is especially true in my kitchen.

I have to have the plan of dinner in my mind by late afternoon otherwise things start falling apart:) . With a young boy and a baby together, often most other plans end up only being in my mind. Dinner, lunch…….cooking is the first plan I execute cause not only is food important for all of us, cooking is a big stress buster for me. Couple of days back, I went grocery shopping without the dinner cooked at home. Returned home late and with an unplanned impulsive buy…………

Sesame Semolina Bread

Yes, artisan breads are a big weakness for the husband and me. We bought 2 loaves cause we shop at Sam’s Club:) . These breads do not have a lot of shelf life and best consumed the day you buy. One of them could be frozen but something had to be done the other one. So, what did I have at home? Boiled garbanzo beans (for hummus) and I couldn’t see much else. The refrigerator had tomatoes.

So, the freezer came to rescue. People avoiding boca burgers …convert! Out of the freezer came boca burgers and spinach. The daughter and husband had given me 35-40 mins for coming up with something after which they would both be tired of each other and …………so, I had to just start cooking:) .Finally, what I made had us licking our fingers, scratching the aluminum foil the bread was cooked on and……fighting for leftovers the next day.

Here it is …..The Recipe:

• Hearty artisan bread sesame semolina /Italian/French loaf

For the spinach layer:

• Chopped Frozen Spinach 1 cup/Fresh spinach 1 1/2 cups chopped
• Garlic 2 big cloves minced
• Olive oil  1 tsp.
• Salt 1/8 tsp.

For the spicy sausage layer:

• Frozen Boca Burger/ Garden Burger 2 cooked OR Nutrela granules soaked in hot water and drained.
• Olive oil 2 tsp.
• Cumin powder/Jeera powder 1 Tbsp.
• Turmeric 1/2 tsp.
• Dry coriander powder / Dhaniya 2 Tbsp.
• Garam Masala/ Curry powder 2 tsp.
• Chhole masala 1 tsp. (optional)
• Garlic 2 big cloves minced
• Ginger 2″ piece minced
• Tomato (big) 1 chopped small
• Yogurt 1 Tbsp.
• Garbanzo Beans/ Chickpeas 1 cup (soaked in water for 6 hours and boiled or from a can)
• Salt to taste
• Tomatoes 2 cut in slices

For the oil & vinegar :

• Olive oil 1/4 cup
• Balsamic Vinegar 1/4 cup
• Garlic 1 minced
• Sugar 1 tsp.
• Basil 1/2 tsp.
• Oregano 1/4 tsp.

In a saucepan, heat the oil and add 2 cloves minced garlic. Add spinach and saute for a minute on medium heat. When the spinach is wilted, remove from pan and set aside.

Cook the burgers either in the microwave or on a griddle. I made a slit in the burger and cooked for 2 minutes, turned and cooked for 1 minute in the microwave.  Remove from the microwave and cut in very small pieces when cool enough to be handled. Nutrela can be substituted for this though the boca burger tastes great! I have heard there is something called boca sausage too, perhaps that can be substituted too.

Chopped ginger, garlic, boca burger and cooked spinach and garlic

In the same saucepan, heat oil and add cumin seeds powder ,dry coriander powder, turmeric and garam masala. Once these get mixed with oil, add ginger and garlic. The ginger adds a lot of flavor. Next add the chopped tomatoes and yogurt. Mix well and keep stirring on medium heat till the mixture starts to dry out a little. Add garbanzo beans and the chopped boca burger. Add Chhole/ Chana masala at this point. Cover and cook for 5 more minutes on low heat.  Leftover Chhole would also taste good, I think. Mash the garbanzo bean, veggie sausage mixture a little and turn off the gas.

Mix the oil and vinegar ingredients and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cut the bread in half lengthwise and then five slices of each length. It helps to cut the bread in bite size pieces so it becomes easier to eat.

First layer the pieces with the spinach. Next comes the garbanzo sausage layer topped with sliced tomatoes. Lastly top the slices with the oil and vinegar mixture.

Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes till the sides become crisp. Out comes a very delicious bread. If one remotely likes curry, this is going to be a hit! These are very addictive too!!

I should mention the recipe which was the inspiration for this recipe. And that is Papa Felicos Garlic Sausage Bread from http://allrecipes.com/.

Spicy Garlic Vegetarian Sausage Bread

This recipe is off to the wonderful Mother Daughter duo of Equal Opportunity Kitchen for their Tried, Tested and True…Take Two event . Their event has an Organ Donation cause attached to it as well. There is spice in this recipe but its quite a healthy recipe full of protein and fiber and uses olive oil. This event is being judged by Christine Cushing , just the fact  that a professional chef will look at my recipe and photograph is making me jittery. But, anyway, this does please anyone who tastes it.

So, fellow bloggers, if you haven’t posted for this event, hurry up, bring your best recipe out , the deadline’s tomorrow!

Oh, I forgot………I better not, my two year old’s message to the readers is:

ZZZZZ1111         QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQ222222222222

Please go ahead and interpret as you like:) .

Tofu, Chhole Aloo aur Dhaniya ki Dandiyan (Tofu, Chickpeas, potato and Cilantro stems)

Tofu, Chhole Aloo garnished with onions

There are numerous things that I want to post about, but boy! have I been busy!! Yes, my mother left for India a few days back and now its only me with two young kids……………:(. How do people manage twins…………I’d go nuts. On the positive side, my older son does manage to entertain my little one so that I can finish the daily chores. But that’s about it (even that is an achievement some days). One day as I was busy with my younger one, the son wanted me to do something else as well……..and I just couldn’t help saying ” I have only two hands”. Just then, the son remembered of Brahmaji (an Indian deity having 4 arms and 4 heads) His reply was ” You should be like Brahma, then you would have four hands” Now do you think , I could hide my smile.

Fresh Cilantro (Coriander leaves) are the best and most essential garnish in North Indian cuisine. The fresh leaves just really enhance the flavor in spicy curries. In order to keep these leaves fresher longer, I like to remove the leaves from the stems and save them either in a paper bag or the leftover boxes of berries which also have holes to breathe. So, that’s a reuse tip. Honest confession is that my kitchen pantry is full of plastic boxes that came with something else and are saved up to keep something else. I just can’t throw them in trash without thinking of me adding further plastic garbage.I know one day all this will be thrown but at least after being  reused several times. Now, a PHD student’s wife also saves money on containers this way too;).

So, I got 4 bunches of cilantro and saved the leaves. I was left with really tender cilantro stems. Mom suggested I use them and when they were added to the curry, they just made the curry taste so very delicious, I could lick the bowl.

Fresh Cilantro stems and soaked and boiled chickpeas

Its quite a medley but delicious combination.

The Recipe:

• 2 slabs extra firm tofu cut into cubes
• 1 cup soaked and boiled chickpeas
• 1 small potato cut into cubes
• 2 onions chopped very fine
• 1 tomato chopped fine
• 1 tomato cut into cubes
• 6 cloves garlic minced
• 2″ piece of ginger minced
• 2 Tbsp. Yogurt
• salt to taste

• 2 Tsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder (Haldi)
• 2 tsp. red chilli powder
• 2 Tbsp. Coriander powder (Dhaniya)

• 1 tsp. Garam Masala
• 1-1/2 bunches cilantro stems chopped fine

Star of the show: finely chopped cilantro stems

Heat oil in a saucepan and add cumin seeds, turmeric powder, red chili powder and coriander powder. Fry finely chopped onions, ginger and garlic well till they change color to brown.

Add finely chopped tomatoes till they have almost melted in the onions.

Add the yogurt, mix well and fry for 2 more minutes stirring continuously.

Next add the potato, tomato, tofu ,chickpeas and salt. Add 1/2 a cup of water and cover.

When the vegetables have softened enough, check for gravy, add more water if need be.Add Garam masala and cilantro stems.Cover for 5 more minutes till the stems have mixed well in the gravy. This curry is very fragrant on its own. Even the kitchen starts smelling wonderful. Tastes great with paranthas or rice.

Tofu Aloo Chhole with paranthas and Coleslaw

I am sending this recipe to Wandering Chopsticks, guest host of Weekend Herb Blogging which is a creation of Kalyn.

Edit: August 8’08 : I mention in my post that its a good idea to keep the cilantro leaves in a plastic box which has holes to let the leaves breathe. This is a great idea if one has a lot of cilantro………like I did, 4 bunches. Soon, the leaves in the box will dry out and they can be used later. Keeping them in the box saves them from rotting. If there is a very small quantity of cilantro like a bunch which you know will be used in a week or so, it is best to keep the cilantro leaves in a brown paper bag. It will help the leaves from drying out. Cilantro stems are best in the crisper in a plastic bag.