Comforting and vegan, this homestyle Punjabi Rajma is made with basic pantry ingredients and this recipe makes the most comforting bowl of rajma you will ever have!
1largered onion200 grams, very finely chopped using a food processor or pureed
1 & 1/2teaspoonginger-garlic paste
2mediumtomatoes215 grams
1 & 1/2teaspooncoriander powder
1/2teaspooncumin powder
1/4teaspoonKashmiri red chili powderor use regular chili powder to make it spicy
1/4teaspoonfennel powder
1/8-1/4teaspoonturmeric powder
1/4teaspoongaram masala
Instructions
Rinse and soak the kidney beans (rajma) overnight in 4 to 5 cups of water. In the morning, drain the water in which the rajma was soaked and rinse the beans.Add the rinsed and drained beans to a pressure cooker. Add 3 & 1/2 cups of fresh water along with 1/2 teaspoon salt. Close the lid and pressure cook in high heat for 1 to 2 whistles. Once it gets 1-2 whistles, lower the heat to medium-low and let it cook for 30 mins.
Work on the masala while the kidney beans are cooking. To a pan on medium heat and add 1 & 1/2 tablespoon oil. Then add finely grated onions (or pureed onions).
Stir often and cook the onions for 7 to 8 minutes until they turn light golden brown in color and have no raw smell. Then add the ginger-garlic paste and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the pureed tomatoes, and cook the tomatoes for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring often until the tomatoes are soft and done. Then add the coriander powder, cumin powder, Kashmiri red chili powder, fennel powder, turmeric powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Stir and cook the spices for 1 to 2 minutes. The masala is now done, you can remove it in a bowl.
Once the 30 minutes are up, let the pressure from the pressure cooker release naturally. This happens alongside while you make the masala so by the time the masala is done, the rajma has also pressure cooked and the pressure cooker is ready to be opened. Open the pressure cooker, the kidney beans are soft by now.
Now add the prepared masala to the pressure cooker. Stir and add 1/2 to 1 cup more water at this point. Close the lid and pressure cook again on medium heat for a total of 10 minutes. You don't really want a whistle at this point, so don't put the cooker on high heat.
After 10 minutes, turn off heat and let the pressure release naturally. Now, once the pressure has released, open the cooker, and turn on the heat again on low-medium. Let the rajma simmer on low-medium heat for 15 minutes. towards the last 5 minutes, add in the garam masala.
Tastes test and adjust salt as needed, I added 1/4 teaspoon more here. You can also add more water as the rajma is simmering to make it thinner and adjust the consistency as needed. This rajma makes quite thick rajma so keep that in mind. It will also continue to thicken as it cools. After simmering for 15 mins, the rajma is now done. Serve hot with rice!
Notes
Make it spicier by adding green chilies or hot red chili powder to the recipe.
This recipe does make a thick consistency rajma, you can make it a little thinner by adding more water but don't make it super thin.
The kidney beans in this recipe melt-in-your mouth, that's the consistency this rajma has. So, don't expect to bite into firm kidney beans.