I have been following the `slow cooking` method for rajma after seeing this thread. Now it is coming out well. My DS is not scared of rajma cooked by me anymore. Thanks for all the feed backs. Priya it never occured to me that we can grind cooked rajma for a thicker texture. Shall try it next time.
I am a Rajma addict ))- I can have it any ways; south Indian; North Indian gravy; like sundai/stir fry; Rajma biryani; in soups; toss it over salad. I love mexican foods as it has rajma - I soak overnight; pressure cook rajma in big batch; keep it fridge and use it for 2-3 dishes every week. Rajma masala is a regular every week (I follow chitvish recipe).
It has to soak very well..and put rajma in little warm water not cold water. I generally wait till 10 whistles..may be its too much or it just depends which pressure cooker you are using...but its just perfectly cooks..
This happened to me when I was new to cooking,here in US I found that there are two kinds of beans that look like rajma,one is a red bean and the other is a blackish red bean - both are kidney shape.So its confusing which to buy? The former one is your rajma beans and it can be soaked overnight and cooked for half an hour (5 whistles approx) It turns soft. The other blackish red beans are mainly used in salads,so even after soaking the whole night and cooking for 10 whistles they are al dente which people like in their salads. So next time look for the red variety in your grocery store.Hope this helps.
Whistles depend on the quality of rajma.. Rajma tastes nice when slow cooked. There are some chitra rajma n some very soft rajma, we Punjabis prefer chitra rajma.. as it gives good colour.. usually i slower the cooker after first 2 whistles, n slow cook it for 30-45 mins..
I soak rajma in hot water for about 6 hours usually (for smaller rajmas) For darker and bigger varieties of rajma, overnight soaking is a must. Also, in the pressure cooker, along with rajma, add finely chopped garlic cloves and ginger jullienes and 2 or 3 whole bay leaves. Its adds extra flavour to ur rajma. Recently, i tried adding a tablespoon of Everest Rajma masala. The taste came out very well. :cheers
I got rajma masala by everest and used for making the dish last sunday. But there wasn't much aroma. Maybe I should use more quantity. I am cautious not to use too much garlic. Is that why there is a trace of raw smell in it?(though only I could feel it)
My recipe of rajma....... Soak rajma for 5,6 hours. Cook it in the pressure cooker with a little more water than is needed.After 3,4 whistles reduce the flame and allow to cook for roughly 10,12 minutes. It would be soft and nice. I put in the grinder pieces of couple on onions, two, three tomato pieces, ginger, one or two pods of garlic, a few cashews (10,12) a little water and grind it into paste. Take a couple of spoons of cooked rajma, mash with the backside of a spoon. Heat the kadhai, add three, four spoons of oil. Fry the grinded mixture well till oil leaves, then add garam masala powder, (two spoons), a spoon of dhaniya powder, a little jeera powder, pasted rajma and fry for a lttle more time and then add the extra water from cooked rajma and let it boil for while stirring in between. Nice gravy would be formed. Then add cooked rajma, salt, two three slitted green chillies and chilli powder(according to taste), cook for a while. In the end add adda spoon of butter or ghee. It would give a nice aroma. In the end garnish with coriander leaves. For chana it is the same recipe...but only difference is add a tea bag while cooking and remove the tea bag later. It would give a nice colour to Chana.
