Rajma (The traditional Punjabi way)

Rajma is one of my favorite vegetarian dishes. I have tried it many times but somehow it never turned out as good as my friend Rajneet's recipe. Here is the traditional recipe straight out of Rajneet's Punjabi Kitchen. 

Recipe and photo courtesy Rajneet!!

Method

1. Wash around 2 cups of rajma. Soak it in water (4 times the quantity) and add salt n leave it overnight.

2. Take 2 tsp oil in the pressure cooker.  Add 1tsp cumin seeds and let it crackle.

3. Then add 2-3 medium sized grated onions and fry  till they turn light brown.

4. Add grated garlic (2-3 cloves) and ginger (1 inch piece) and sauté for 2 mins.

5. Now add 2 grated tomatoes and sauté it till the smell of raw tomatoes disappears. (I sometimes use 1 tomato and 2 tsp of tomato puree for the reddish tinge).

6. Now when oil starts leaving the masala, it is the time to add all the spices ( ¼ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp red chilly powder,  1 tsp cumin powder, ½ tsp coriander powder). Add a little bit of salt, since you have already added salt in Rajma. Saute for 2 mins.

7. Add soaked rajma to this masala along with the same water. Pressure cook it on medium flame for around 4 whistles and then on slow flame for about 10mins. Let the pressure release and open the cooker with all the safety precautions.

8. Add 1 tsp of garam masala and cook it for 5 mins. Just cover it lightly. Adjust water if required and also check if the rajma are soft enough. (if not you can cook for more 1-2 whistles, generally it is not required but depends on the quality of rajma)

9. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice/jeera rice/rotis.

There are two varieties of rajma : the dark maroonish ones which don’t soften so easily (exception are of the original ones from jammu) and the other is the light pinkish rajma with dark streaks which are generally preferred in the traditional recipe. I have cooked the pink ones here.