Rajma – Red Kidney Beans

Rajma – Red kidney beans cooked in onions & tomatoes based gravy along with fresh spices, whole & ground dry spices is one of the most comforting Indian dish!

Rajma – Red Kidney Beans is one of the very popular Indian curries! It is widely available at most Indian restaurants within or outside India. Rajma served with JEERA RICE is truly an ultimate comfort meal of all time. Red kidney beans are simply cooked in onions & tomatoes based gravy along with fresh spices, whole & ground dry spices is one of the most comforting Indian dish!

For the ease I always end up using canned dark red kidney beans. However I sometimes do use dry beans, boil them in Instant pot and follow the same exact recipe! I have mentioned instructions on how to boil them in IP as part of recipe notes below along with timing and amount of water! Either way, this simple curry is to give you true comfort without a doubt!!

Garnish it with fresh cilantro and some lime juice. Serve it with JEERA RICE, naan, roti or any flatbread along with some crunchy veggies like raw onions, tomatoes, cucumber and yogurt raita! This one makes a great meal prep item, as it taste lot batter when made ahead!! If you like simple, delicious, comforting meals like this, check out my DAL MAKHANI recipe. It is one of my most loved recipes of all time!!

If you end up making it and liking it, tag me on Instagram @myvegetarianroots. I would love to see your recreation of this goodie!! Happy & Healthy Eating!!

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Rajma – Red Kidney Beans Curry

Rajma – Red kidney beans cooked in onions & tomatoes based gravy along with fresh spices, whole & ground dry spices is one of the most comforting Indian dish!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 5

Equipment

• Instant Pot If using uncooked dry red kidney beans

Ingredients

• 4 cup Boiled Red Kidney Beans 3X 15.5 oz Dark Red Kidney Bean Cans, or 2 cups dry red kidney beans that are soaked for 6-8 hours and boiled with pinch of salt
• 1 medium Yellow Onion Sliced
• 2 Wine Tomatoes Sliced, Large Wine Tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Tomato Paste if tomato paste is not available, use an extra tomato making it total of 3 instead of 2
• 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
• 1 tbsp Grated Ginger
• 1 Serrano Pepper chopped with seeds! Or thai green chili or jalapeno
• 3 tbsp Peanut Oil (any oil with high smoke point works) + 1 tbsp for tempering at the end!
• ½ cup Fresh Chopped Cilantro

Whole Spices

• 2 tsp Cumin Seeds
• 3 Cloves
• 3 Black Peppercorns
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Dry Whole Red Chili/Pepper
• 3 Green Cardamom
• 1 Black Cardamom

Dry Spices

• 1½ tsp Salt
• ½ tsp Garam Masala
• 2 tsp Cumin Coriander Powder Dhana Jiru Powder
• ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
• 1½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder 1 tsp while cooking spices + ½ tsp for tempering at last
• 1½ tsp Rajma Masala

Other ingredients

• 4 cup Water 3 cups if eating right after cooking, 4 cups if making it ahead of time
• 1 tsp Lime Juice optional
• 1 tsp Kasuri Methi
• ½ inch Julienne Ginger
• ¼ Julienne Serrano Pepper thai green chili
• ¼ cup Finely Chopped Fresh Cilantro

Instructions

• Heat oil in heavy bottom pan. Add whole spices – cumin seeds, cloves, black peppercorn, cinnamon stick, bay leaf, whole red chilli pepper, green & black cardamom. Let it cook on low heat for a minute or two until the aroma starts to form and cumin seeds starts to brown.
• Add sliced onions, sliced serrano pepper, grated ginger and minced garlic along with ½ tsp salt and saute until translucent or starts to change color to brownish and raw smell of garlic is gone. Salt helps loosen the water from onions and cooks faster.
• Add sliced tomatoes along with 2 tbsp of tomato paste to the pan and cook until it starts loosing water and starts to become mushy.
• Add all dry spices to the mushy tomatoes, along with 1 tsp of salt. Cook spices along with onions and tomatoes for couple of minutes.
• Add boiled rajma (red kidney beans) to the pot along with 4 cups of water either plain water or water you boiled your beans in (3 cups if eating it right after cooking). Give it a good stir. Use back of the spatula to mush the beans a little. This will help thicken the curry. Do not over mush it though! Please see notes below if you want to boil the beans at home instead of using canned ones.
• Close the lid and simmer/cook it on medium heat for 10-15 minutes. Mixing it few times during this step.
• Carefully open the lid and check the gravy/curry consistency. It should thicken up by now.
• Rub 1 tsp of kasuri methi between your palm and add it to rajma. Mix well.
• Heat 1 tbsp of oil, saute julienne and serrano for few second. Add in ½ tsp of Kashmiri Red Chili Powder and immediately add into rajma. Mix well. Simmer for 2-3 minutes.
• Add fresh chopped cilantro, lime juice (optional) and give it a good stir. Serve it with jeera/cumin rice, naan, roti or any flatbread along with some crunchy veggies like raw onions, tomatoes, cucumber and yogurt raita!

Notes

If using Dry Whole Red Kidney Beans,

You don’t have to soak the red kidney beans ahead of time. If you prefer soaked beans, soak it anywhere from 4 to 8 hours.

• Add washed/soaked rajma (red kidney beans) to the pot along with 4 cups of water (3 cups for soaked beans) along with 1/2 tsp of salt.
• Close the lid and secure the valve. Set it to high pressure. Set the times to 30 minutes for soaked beans and 45 minutes for no soaked beans. Let the pressure release naturally.
• Once the red kidney beans is boiled, follow the above recipe to make the Rajma!