Rajma Recipe
Rajma Chawal is one of the most favourite dishes of many people in North India as in my home. Punjabi Rajma recipe will give you a delicious, mouth-watering, thick and creamy curry which is loved with either Plain Rice, Jeera Rice, Onion Rice or Pulao; or with Roti or Naan. Masala Rajma is induced with different flavours and Punjabi Masalas.The quickest and easy dish when you are expecting guests will definitely help you score many words of appreciation. Moreover, it will take 30 minutes to make the dish if you have overnight soaked Rajma.
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Pan
- Bowl to soak
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rajma(Chitre)
For tadka
- 2 tbsp Ghee/ Cooking Oil
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds/ Jeera (Optional)
- 1 Bay Leaf (Optional)
- 2 Onions ( Finely Chopped)
- 3 Tomatoes ( Finely chopped)
- 1 tsp Ginger garlic paste
- 1 Green chilly (Optional)
Dry masalas
- 1 tsp Dhania Powder (Coriander Powder)
- 1 tsp Jeera Powder (Cumin Powder)
- 1 tsp Haldi (Turmeric Powder)
- 1 tsp Red Chilly Powder
- Salt to taste
Other ingredients
- 1 tbsp Chopped coriander leaves
- 1 tsp Kitchen King (Optional)
Instructions
Soaking Rajma
- Take 1 bowl of rajma. Rinse in fresh water and soak it for 6-7 hours.
Boiling Rajma
- Take soaked Rajma in a pressure cooker with around 4 cups of water. Boil it for 15-20 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally, on its own. You can check by pressing a bean. If it is hard, pressure cook for 2-3 whistles.
Preparing Tadka
- Meanwhile, we will prepare tadka for our rajma.
- Firstly, take cooking oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds and bay leaves. Saute till seeds crackle.
- Secondly, add finely chopped onion. Saute till golden brown. Add chopped chilly.
- Next, add chopped tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste. Cook till oil gets separated.
Adding dry masalas
- When oil separates out, now its time to add dry masalas keeping the flame low.
- Add all the masalas mentioned under the heading Dry Masalas (Dhania Powder, Jeera Powder, Haldi, Kashmiri lal mirch and salt).
- Saute till a nice aroma starts coming from it. Turn off the flame and add this tadka in the cooker with boiled rajma.
Cooking rajma
- Finally, add this tadka in the cooker with boiled rajma. Mix well.
- Add 1 or 1 1/2 cup water and close the lid. Allow rajma to cook for at least for 15-20 minutes. Keep the flame low.
- And.. your yummy rajma is ready to serve. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve with plain rice, Jeera rice, onion rice, roti, naan etc.
Notes
Rajma Chawal is one of the most favourite dishes in North India , especially, Punjab. Moreover, most loved dish when you are expecting some guests. You can cook Rajma in two ways : One, in which rajmas are pressure cooked differently and the tadka is cooked in a different pan. Two, which is called One Pot Cooking, in which soaked and rinsed rajma are added to the cooker with tadka and then pressre cook the whole.
Some tips to enhance the taste and flavour:
- First and the most important, always get the good quality rajma. Rajma should not be of old stock as it will take more time to cook rajma.
- Secondly, preferably use desi ghee. It will add more flavour to the gravy.
- Thirdly, you can skip khade masalas like bay leaf etc. These are optional and rajma tastes best anyways.
- Additionally, you can use chopped onion or blended onion(paste). It will change the texture of the gravy.
- And, tadka should be cooked properly till the oil gets separate out, otherwise, taste of raw tomato will spoil the taste and richness of the gravy.
- Lastly, don't add too much water. It will suppress the flavours of masalas and moreover, your curry will not look thick and impressive.