Rajma (Punjabi red kidney beans)
- Portion size: Serves 4-6 as a side dish
- Hands-on time 25 min, simmering time 2 hours, plus overnight soaking
- Difficulty: easy
Chef Atul Kochhar shares his traditinal Punjabi recipe of red kidney beans in a recipe that supports Action Against Hunger.
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Ingredients
- 300g dried red kidney beans
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed oil
- 1 black cardamom pod, bruised
- 2 large onions, very finely chopped
- 1 tsp each garlic paste and ginger paste (see Know-how)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted in a dry pan, then ground in a spice grinder or pestle and mortar
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 200ml passata
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
- ¼ tsp garam masala
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Method
- Soak the kidney beans overnight in plenty of cold water, then drain and rinse. Simmer the beans over a medium heat in 1 litre water with 1 tsp salt until tender (about 11⁄2 hours), then drain and reserve the liquid. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the cardamom pod and onions for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Add the garlic and ginger pastes, then cook until the oil separates from the mixture.
- Add the ground coriander, cumin and turmeric, cook gently for 2 minutes, then add the passata. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add the cooked beans, 500ml of the reserved cooking water, remaining tsp salt and half the chopped coriander.
- Simmer on a low heat for about 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with the garam masala, then simmer for 5 minutes more, adding more bean water if it’s too dry. Serve sprinkled with the rest of the coriander.
Nutrition
- 210kcals Calories
- 3.4g (0.3g saturated) Fat
- 12.3g Protein
- 26.4g (5.3g sugars) Carbs
- 12.5g Fibre
- 1.9g Salt
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