Indian Kidney Bean Curry: Rajma Masala

There are various recipes for kidney bean curries in the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, with red kidney beans commonly used, including in Nepal and Bangladesh (light or dark red type), but brown type pinto beans are used in some places. In the Kashmir region, onion and garlic are not always used by everyone, and they also use Kashmiri ground red pepper, which is very red, but not as hot as regular Indian ground red chili powder. This regular hot Indian red chili powder is generally used elsewhere in India (it is very much like cayenne pepper). If you don't have Kashmiri chili powder, you can use 2/3 teaspoon sweet paprika (not the smoked type common in Spain) and 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper as a substitute, but then still add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or other hot red pepper) in the recipe. I know some folks don't like much heat, but actually this isn't a red hot dish that will cause smoke to billow out of your mouth. A fairly common connection in the various recipes is that the beans are cooked and then some are mashed to varying degrees, and this helps to thicken the curry without any other ingredients being added. 

  

The kidney bean curry is almost always served with a nice portion of rice next to it, and then it is referred to as "Rajma Chawal" (kidney beans and rice), but pickled red onions are another good accompaniment.*  

 

By the way, I've found that this is one of those dishes that improves when the leftovers are put in the refrigerator until the next day; so, the curry is great to serve then too.

 

 

Ingredients (4 to 6 servings):

 

2 cans of kidney beans (14.5 to 16 ounces), rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or other neutral oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated or finely chopped

1 small to medium green chili (a jalapeno chili is fine), chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped red onion

1 1/2 cups tomato puree

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or 2/3 teaspoon sweet paprika + 1/3 teaspoon cayenne pepper)

1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or regular Indian chili powder)

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon fenugreek leaves

2 teaspoons salt 

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (also known to some as 'coriander') 

1 cup warm water

 

Add 2 tablespoons oil to a pan or skillet (I use a 10 inch diameter skillet) over medium heat; add the chopped red onion and saute until the onions just start to brown a bit. Add the garlic, ginger and green chili, saute a further 1 or 2 minutes (the onion should be softened and with some brown color to it). Add the tomato puree, ground turmeric, chili powders (Kashmiri or the substitute + cayenne pepper), ground coriander, ground cumin, fenugreek leaves and salt; stir to mix everything together well and cook for about 4 or 5 minutes; then add the water and mix everything together well. Add the kidney beans, stirring well. Let the curry come to a boil, then adjust the heat to maintain a nice steady simmer; cook for 8 to 10 minutes, then use a fork or potato masher and mash the mixture, so that about a third to a half of the beans are mashed to some degree (they don't have to be totally mashed), then mix all together well. Add the chopped cilantro (fresh coriander) and mix in and cook another 1 to 2 minutes. Serve with either rice, pickled onions or naan bread (or chapati/roti bread), or go for it and serve with rice, pickled onions and one of the bread types. 

    

* For how to make easy pickled red onions, here is the link: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2023/03/indian-style-pickled-red-onions.html

  

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Soufflé (also souffle)-The main part of this word is related to "bladder" and to "blow" (to move air), both from the Germanic roots of English, and to "inflate," a word English borrowed directly from Latin. "Souffle" is formed of two parts, with the first part going back to Indo European "upo," meaning "up, up from beneath, up from under." The main part goes back to Indo European "bhle(h)," meaning "to blow." This gave Old Italic "flao" meaning "to blow" (with the  'b' of Indo European rendered as 'f' in Italic), and this gave Latin "flare" with the meanings "to blow, to breathe." These forms gave Latin "sufflare" meaning "to blow up with air, to inflate," and this passed into Old French as "souffler" (initially 'sofler?') meaning "to blow up, to inflate, to blow out (exhale);" thus, the figurative "to whisper." This gave French the noun "soufflé" from the participle form of "souffler" and essentially meaning "that which is puffed up," and used as a culinary term for "a dish with beaten egg whites that are folded into other ingredients, and which then make the dish 'puff up' when baked." English borrowed the word from French, circa 1815.