Rajma masala recipe with step by step pictures - Your search for perfect recipe ends here. Let's see the secret for a scrumptious home style Rajma masala.
Rajma masala is an Indian curry with spices in which red kidney beans are slow cooked for a delicious gravy.
Goes well with all Indian flatbreads and cooked rice (Rajma chawal).
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Ingredients
Instructions
Recipe card
Ingredients
Rajma - Red kidney beans
For delicious rajma masala, rajma must be cooked soft and for long time in the gravy to absorb the taste.
There are different types of Rajma available at the groceries. How to choose the right one?
Red kidney bean - Choose Rajma that is reddish in colour not deep red that looks almost black. Because the black one never gets soft cooked how much ever time you cook!
Other than this, there is light coloured rajma with speckles (lines) and dark coloured rajma, similar with speckles. These gets cooked well too.
There is also white rajma called Cannellini beans that I have posted sundal with.
For the curry base, it is onion and tomato cooked along with green chilli and red chilli powder for spice and garam masala, whole spices, ginger garlic paste, coriander powder & fresh leaves for flavors.
Instructions
1. Wash and soak Rajma firstly for 10-12 hours (overnight) and drain the water.
After that, pressure cook for 4-5 whistles, with salt and enough water to immerse the rajma completely.
Then, in a kadai/ pan, heat oil and temper with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and Indian bay leaf.
After that, add the chopped onion. Fry till golden and soft, so that as it blended in the gravy as you simmer later.
3. Add ginger garlic paste and give it a fry for a minute.
Then add chopped tomatoes, slit green chillies. Mix well.
4. Following that, add salt, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and dhaniya powder.
Add kasoori methi crushed in between your hands.
Continue by cooking in medium flame for 5-7 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
5. Finally, add the rajama and the reserved water and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Adjust water if needed.
6. And lastly add cream (optional) and mix well. Simmer for couple of minutes and switch off flame.
Garnish with lots of coriander leaves (I did not add).
Though it goes well with steamed basmati rice or roti, my choice is to have it with rice the best😀.
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5 from 2 votes
Rajma masala recipe
Rajma masala recipe with step by step pictures - Your search for perfect recipe ends here. Let's see the secret for a scrumptious home style Rajma masala.
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 38 minutesminutes
Soaking time 10 hourshours
Author Raks Anand
Servings 4people
Cup measurements
Ingredients
1cupRajmared kidney beans
2Onion
3Tomato
2Green chilli
1teaspoonGinger garlic paste
1teaspoonKasoori methi
1teaspoonRed chilli powder
½teaspoonGaram masala powder
2teaspoonCoriander seeds powderDhaniya powder
3tablespoonCooking cream You can skip if you don't want
Salt
To temper
1tablespoonOil
½inchCinnamon
1Cardamom
1Clove
1Indian bay leaf
Instructions
Wash and soak Rajma firstly for 10-12 hours (overnight) and drain the water.
After that, pressure cook for 4-5 whistles, with salt and enough water to immerse the rajma completely.
Once done, set aside with the water.
Meanwhile, chop onions and tomatoes finely.
Then, in a kadai/ pan, heat oil and temper with cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and Indian bay leaf.
After that, add the chopped onion. Fry till golden.
Add ginger garlic paste and give it a fry for a minute.
Then add chopped tomatoes, slit green chillies. Mix well.
Following that, add salt, red chilli powder, garam masala powder and dhaniya powder.
Add kasoori methi crushed in between your hands.
Continue by cooking in medium flame for 5-7 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
Finally, add the rajama and the reserved water and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Adjust water if needed.
And lastly add cream and mix well. Simmer for couple of minutes and switch off flame.
Garnish with lots of coriander leaves.
Notes
As I said before, choose red rajma or any variety with straeks that gets cooked easily. not the deep red (blackish red).
Cook rajma soft and simmer for long time for tasty curry.
You can try adding a large pinch of cooking soda while pressure cooking, in case of emergency.
Instead of ginger garlic paste, you can use chopped ginger and chopped garlic.
Or chopped ginger alone too works fine. If you want to avoid garlic, use hing/ asafoetida.
Ideally, the soaking period must be 10-12 hours or overnight, as that softens the rajma and helps in getting the perfect texture and flavour. Also, if someone has forgotten to soak them overnight, make sure that they are soaked for 2-4 hours in hot & boiling water.
Add usual spices like red chilli, coriander powder, salt to taste, turmeric, and garam masala. You can also use whole spices like bay leaf, cumin, and cardamom. Add rajma masala for added flavour. Once rajma is cooked, add it to the gravy and cook for 8-10 minutes.
Rājmā [raːdʒmaː] (Hindi: राजमा, Nepali: राजमा, Urdu: راجما), also known as rajmah, rāzmā, or lal lobia, is a vegetarian dish, originating from the Indian subcontinent, consisting of red kidney beans in a thick gravy with many Indian whole spices, and is usually served with rice.
Evidence proves that soluble fibre in rajma lowers bad cholesterol (LDL) and ups the good cholesterol (HDL) by forming a gel-like substance in the stomach and prevents the reabsorption of cholesterol into the body. In addition, rajma is a good source of potassium which dilates blood vessels and lowers blood pressure.
Soaking beans can help improve the texture of the final product once the beans are cooked and reduce the gas produced when the food is being digested. But it isn't necessary to soak them.
The right process should be as elaborate as soaking the rajma, boiling them, rubbing them and then cooking them. It's only after this process that your all-time favourite rajma becomes safe and ensures you don't feel bloated after having them.
Red kidney bean (also known as: common kidney bean, rajma in India, surkh (red) lobia in Pakistan). Light speckled kidney bean (and long shape light speckled kidney bean).
Instead of mashing the cooked beans, you can take about ¼ cup of the cooked beans and grind or blend them with some water to make a fine paste.Add this paste to the curry base and simmer. The resulting rajma masala will have a thick consistency due to the added starch in the sauce.
In some people, beans may cause unpleasant effects, such as bloating, flatulence, and diarrhea ( 13 ). Insoluble fibers called alpha-galactosides are responsible for these effects. They belong to a group of fibers known as FODMAPs, which may exacerbate the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) ( 7 , 59 , 60 ).
In animals, raw rajma might cause various effects like reduced food intake, and depressed growth and it might also cause death. Similarly, kidney beans might have a toxic effect on humans when they are consumed raw or when they are improperly cooked.
"Rajma is moderately high in protein and extremely high in fibre. 30-40% of the carbs present are slow digesting. That's why rajma has one of the lowest glycemic index of all the foods, and is good to include in a diabetic diet," says nutritionist Bhuvan Rastogi.
They should be soaked for eight to ten hours at most. Some say that beans should be only be soaked for 4 hours, but 12 hours is the upper limit. If you soak the beans for longer than 12 hours, you run the risk of the beans losing both their characteristic flavor and texture.
The 10- to 12-hour overnight soak is the easy and always effective method, but you can quick-soak beans by bringing them to the boil for one minute, then covering the pan and letting them sit for one hour. After their soak, you can quickly cook them in a pressure cooker.
First and foremost, properly soaked beans will have expanded to about twice their original size. This swelling indicates that they have absorbed enough water to begin the cooking process. While the exact expansion can vary depending on the type and age of the legume, a noticeable growth in size is a good initial sign.
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