Rajmaराजमा
Video: HomeCookingShow (YouTube)
Rajma is the comfort food of North India — kidney beans slow-cooked in an onion-tomato masala until the gravy turns thick and rust-red and the beans are silky enough to fall apart on the tongue. A dhaba cook would tell you the secret is the onions, and they would be right: twenty minutes of patient frying until they are almost caramelised is what separates a great rajma from a merely decent one. Serve it with steamed rice — rajma chawal — a combination so deeply satisfying it has crossed every regional and generational line in the subcontinent.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
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Ingredients
- ▪Dried kidney beans (rajma / राजमा), soaked overnight1.5 cups
- ▪Onion, finely chopped (pyaz / प्याज)2 large
- ▪Tomato, pureed (tamatar / टमाटर)3 medium
- ▪Ginger-garlic paste (adrak-lehsun)2 tbsp
- ▪Bay leaf (tej patta / तेज पत्ता)2 leaves
- ▪Cumin seeds (jeera / जीरा)1 tsp
- ▪Red chilli powder (lal mirch / लाल मिर्च)1 tsp
- ▪Coriander powder (dhania / धनिया)1.5 tsp
- ▪Garam masala (गरम मसाला)1 tsp
- ▪Kasuri methi, crumbled (dried fenugreek / कसूरी मेथी)1 tsp
- ▪Oil or ghee (tel / तेल)3 tbsp
- ▪Fresh coriander (dhaniya patta / धनिया पत्ता)handful
- ▪Salt (namak / नमक)to taste
- Overnight soaking is the most important instruction in this recipe — it softens the beans evenly and reduces cooking time significantly. If you forgot: cover dried rajma with boiling water, soak 1 hour, then proceed.
- Canned kidney beans work (drain and rinse; add at step 6, use water instead of cooking liquid and simmer 10 minutes less) — the texture is softer but the flavour of a good masala still shines through.
- Kasuri methi is available at all Indian grocers and gives the gravy a distinctive, slightly bitter herbal depth that is very characteristic of dhaba cooking — worth seeking out.
Method
- 1Drain soaked rajma and pressure cook with 3.5 cups fresh water, a pinch of salt, and the bay leaves for 4–5 whistles until completely tender but holding their shape. Reserve all the cooking liquid — it is flavour.
- 2Heat oil in a heavy pot. Add cumin seeds; when they splutter (30 seconds), begin adding onions.
- 3Fry onions over medium-low heat for 18–20 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes, until they are deep golden-brown throughout. This step cannot be rushed — it is the foundation of the dish.
- 4Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for 3 minutes until the raw smell cooks off.
- 5Pour in tomato puree; cook on medium heat until the oil separates from the masala and the sides of the pot look dry, about 10 minutes.
- 6Add red chilli powder and coriander powder; fry 2 minutes. Then add the cooked rajma and 1.5 cups of the reserved cooking liquid. Stir and bring to a boil.
- 7Simmer uncovered for 15–20 minutes, pressing some beans against the side of the pot with the back of a spoon — this releases starch and naturally thickens the gravy without any flour or cream.
- 8Stir in garam masala and kasuri methi; simmer 5 minutes more. Adjust salt.
- 9Finish with fresh coriander. Serve hot over steamed basmati rice.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.