Rajma

Are you kidney beaning me? Another Dishoom recipe? Why of course, there’s no point choosing to cook a Rajma if you’re not going to choose the best. This warming kidney bean curry is perfect for a quick weekday meal if you’ve had the weekend foresight to make the masala

(Originally published 28/01/2023)

Prep time: 10 minutes (or 1hour 10minutes if you need to make the masala)
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Makes: 2 servings

Ingredients
100g of onion tomato masala made using the recipe here
35ml vegetable oil
5g ginger paste
5g garlic paste
1 cardamom pod
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1tsp ground cumin
1/4tsp chilli powder
15g tomato puree
1g salt
1 400g tin of kidney beans
1/2tsp garam masala
50g tomatoes
Handful of fresh coriander
3cm piece of ginger
25g of butter (omit if you want this vegan!)
Sliced red onion, more ginger and lime wedges to serve

1. Get your Mise en Place in place

The first very crucial step for this recipe is that you have your masala ready and raring to go. If you’re making only this recipe, be-warned that this will add an extra hour or so to the cooking time and the paste is much tastier if it’s been left in the fridge for a couple of days. It’s also helpful to have all of your ingredients ready for this recipe because things move quickly!

2. Ready, set, rajma

Warm 35ml of oil in your pan and once hot, add the ginger and garlic pastes, stirring consistently. Once they’ve had roughly five minutes to get to know each other, add the cardamom pod, bay leaf and cinnamon stick for a further minute to literally and figuratively spice things up.

Next, throw in (carefully, but artfully) the 1tsp ground cumin, 1/4tsp chilli powder, 15g tomato puree and 1g salt. Cook, stirring, for three more minutes until the oil starts to become visible at the edge.

Add the 100g of pre-prepared tomato masala along with the tin of kidney beans including their juices (sorry that those fart juices won’t be washed off this time, especially if you have a long bus journey after eating… But don’t worry the tastiness of the dish is worth those farts).

Simmer for 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened.

While this is thickening, chop up your handful of coriander, 50g of tomatoes and ginger. Cutting the ginger into thin matchsticks but the others into whichever shapes you want, channel your inner Matisse making “The Snail”, and then add these into the pan. Simmer for a few minutes before you add the 25g butter (or omit if you’re vegan) and stir it through until it is melted.

Top with more ginger matchsticks, red onion, coriander or whatever you fancy

Dink and sink!

Food for Thought