Rajmah (Kidney Beans Curry)

Ingredients: 2 Cups Kidney beans; picked, washed and soaked overnight (or soak 2-3 hrs in warm water). Vegetables: 2 large red onions, chopped. 3 green chilies 2/12 inch peeled ginger 4 garlic cloves 3 medium sized tomatoes, chopped Spices and Seasonings 1 black cardamom ½ inch cinnamon 2 tsp turmeric powder ½ tsp red chilli powder 3 tsp coriander powder ½ tsp cumin powder 2 ½ tsp garam masala 5 tbsp oil 2 Bay leaves 3 tsp salt 2 tsp chopped coriander leaves. Method: Cook kidney beans in a pressure cooker with 4 cups water, 1 black cardamom, ½ inch cinnamon and 3 tsp salt. Kidney beans should be tender but not overcooked. Do not discard the water in which the beans were boiled. Grind green chilies, ginger and garlic coarsely. Heat 4 tbsp oil.. Fry onion for about 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Add ground ginger-garlic-chili mix and stir about 3 minutes. Add cut tomatoes. Fry till the tomatoes become pulpy and mix easily with the rest of the veggies. Let this mix cool down and then grind in a food processor. In ¼ cup water mix turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder and garam masala. Keep this spice mix aside. Heat 1 tbsp oil on medium flame. Add bay leaves and stir. Fry about 30-40 second till you can smell the aroma from the leaves. Lower the flame. Add the spice mix to the heated oil. Constantly stir the spice till oil separates and you don’t get the raw smell of the spices. Add the ground onion tomato mix from the food processor to the spices. Fry for 2-3 minutes. (If you have added water for grinding, fry this mix till all water dries and you get the smell of cooked spices). Add the cooked kidney beans with all the water in which it was boiled. Mix well. Let it simmer about 10 minutes on low flame and stir occasionally. Make sure it does not stick to the bottom of the pan and start burning. Switch off the flame, let the curry cool for some time and garnish with chopped coriander. Serve with steamed rice