Rajma Chawal (Kidney Bean Curry with Rice)

Name: Rajma Chawal (Kidney Bean Curry with Rice)
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: North Indian
Ingredients: 250 g Dried red kidney beans (rajma); 2 Onions, finely chopped; 3 Tomatoes, puréed; 1.5 tbsp Ginger–garlic paste; 1 Green chilli, slit; 1 tsp Cumin seeds; 2 tsp Coriander powder; 0.5 tsp Turmeric; 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder; 1 tsp Garam masala; 3 tbsp Neutral oil; Coriander leaves, chopped; 4 servings Cooked basmati rice; Salt

North India's Sunday-lunch comfort food: red kidney beans stewed soft in an onion-tomato masala until the gravy thickens itself, spooned over plain rice.

Quelle

Rezept von Punjabi home kitchens · 🏺 Traditionell · North Indian (Punjabi) household cooking

Traditional dish — no single author — An ownerless North Indian home dish — red kidney beans in a thick spiced gravy, eaten over rice as 'rajma chawal', as the reference describes. The same reference notes the kidney bean itself is not native to India but arrived from Mexico, which is why a dish this beloved is historically fairly recent. The method below is our own writing.

Hintergrund auf Wikipedia ↗

Zubereitung im Video · 3 Videos

Hebbars Kitchen Aruna Vijay Kunal Kapur

⏱ 90 Min.🍽 4 Portionen🔥 420 kcal🇮🇳 Indien🌶️

VeganVegetarischGlutenfreiLaktosefreiHalal

Zubereitung

Soak the beans overnight in plenty of cold water. Next day drain them, cover with 1 litre of fresh water and boil hard for 10 minutes, then simmer 45–60 minutes until a bean squashes easily.
💡 The first 10 minutes at a hard boil matters: raw and undercooked kidney beans contain a toxin that vigorous boiling destroys. Never cook them from raw in a slow cooker.
Keep the cooking water — it is starchy and lightly flavoured, and it will become the body of the gravy.
Heat the oil in a wide pot, add the cumin seeds and wait for them to sizzle and darken slightly — about 20 seconds. Add the onions and fry 10 minutes over medium heat until deep golden.
Stir in the ginger–garlic paste and green chilli, cook 1 minute, then add the tomato purée with the coriander powder, turmeric and chilli powder. Cook 8–10 minutes until it thickens and oil rims the edge of the pan.
Add the drained beans with about 500 ml of their cooking water. Season with salt and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Mash roughly a quarter of the beans against the side of the pot. Carry on simmering 10 more minutes until the gravy coats a spoon.
💡 This is the whole trick to good rajma: the gravy is thickened by the beans themselves, never by flour or cream.
Stir in the garam masala, turn off the heat and let it sit 5 minutes. Scatter with coriander and serve over rice.

💡 Tipps

Old beans are the usual culprit when rajma refuses to soften after 90 minutes. Beans more than a year old may simply never get there — buy from a shop with turnover.
It is fully vegan as written. Some households finish it with a spoon of butter — good, but no longer vegan.
Rajma chawal is a leftovers dish by design. Day two, with the gravy thicker and the spices settled, is the version people actually crave.