How to Make Rajma – Indian Kidney Bean Curry
Learn how to make rajma – a vegetarian, spicy Indian kidney bean curry topped with fried onions.
- Prep time
- 25 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr 15 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- Rajma:
- 200 g/ 7 oz/ 1 1/8 cups dried red kidney beans (See note 1)
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 cardamom pods
- 2 medium onions
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 thumb-size piece of ginger
- ½ – 1 teaspoon red chili flakes (to taste)
- 4 ripe tomatoes (about 250 g/ 8.8 oz)
- 2 bay leaves
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon garam masala
- 500 ml/ 17 fl. oz/ 2 cups bean stock (or vegetable stock, if using canned beans)
- 3 tablespoons heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- fine sea salt
- Fried onions:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium to large onion
- ½ thumb-size piece of ginger
Instructions
- 1
If using dried beans, soak them overnight in plenty of water. Drain, cover with water again, bring to a boil, boil for 10 minutes, then lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes or longer until the beans are tender. Check after 45 minutes and adjust the cooking time accordingly. Drain the beans, but reserve at least 500 ml/ 2 cups of the cooking water.
- 2
Finely chop the onions, grate the garlic and the ginger. Chop and puree the tomatoes in a small blender or with an immersion blender.
- 3
Heat the oil and the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the cumin seeds and the cardamom pods and stir for one minute
- 4
Add the onions and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until golden, stirring often.
- 5
Add the garlic, ginger, and chili flakes. Stir for about ½ minute.
- 6
Add the pureed tomatoes, bay leaves, turmeric, ground coriander, and garam masala, stir well and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.
- 7
Add the beans and the bean stock (or vegetable stock) and some salt. Simmer without a lid for about 15 minutes or until the rajma is slightly thickened.
- 8
Meanwhile, prepare the fried onions. See below for the recipe.
- 9
Remove about 5 tablespoons of the beans from the curry. Puree them with a fork. Give them back to the rajma curry and stir well. Add the cream and reheat the curry for about 1-2 minutes.
- 10
Adjust the taste with a small amount of fresh lemon juice and more salt. Serve topped with the fried onions and rice.
- 11
Peel and halve the onion, cut the halves into thin slices. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions on medium-high heat for about 4 minutes, stirring often. They should be golden and soft.
- 12
Peel and grate the ginger. When the onions are golden brown, add the ginger and stir for another minute.