Indian Dal Recipes

Rajma Chawal Recipe

Rajma Chawal is the simple yet very delicious Punjabi meal. Here Rajma is cooked in rich and spicy gravy of Onion and Tomatoes, and then served on the bed of Steamed Rice. This Rajma Chawal Recipe is one of the regulars at any Punjabi house.

Simple Rajma Curry and Rajma Masala are easy to make at home. Rajma Chawal is a wholesome meal of Punjabi Cuisine, that can be cooked in lunch or dinner. You can even pack it up for the Lunch Box of your hubby. It is a great meal for Kids School Tiffin too, because it’s a favorite combo of kids. Rajma is rich in iron and protein, and when it is combined with rice, it becomes a great source of carbohydrates. This one is a fabulous Punjabi recipe, can be cooked with some common ingredients along with a great taste.

This Rajma Recipe is a one pot Rajma Curry Recipe, which you can make regularly at home. It is not spicy like the Rajma Masala served in restaurants, in fact it is mildly spiced up and not heavy at all, as no cream is used. Overall this delicious and easy rajma curry is liked by kids and adults.

I would suggest to cook the rajma fully so that they become soft and easy to digest. Remember that, well cooked Kidney Beans (Rajma) are easy to digest. One more important point which I must mention about making rajma recipe is, to soak the rajma overnight so that they take less time to cook in the pressure cooker.

You can read here how to make Steamed Rice and Jeera Rice.

Let’s see how to make this Simple and Easy Rajma Chawal Recipe at home. For complete list of ingredients and step by step instructions, please refer to recipe snippet below.

Rajma Chawal Recipe – Step by Step

Soak Rajma in water for few hours or for overnight, and then pressure cook them with water and some salt and keep aside. Heat about 2 tbsp of Oil in a vessel and stir fry 2 medium sized sliced Onions.

Cook the sliced onion on medium high flame for 2-3 minutes. When onion turns little brown in color, then take it out from the pan and keep aside to cool down. Mix chopped Tomatoes, Garlic, Ginger, Green chilies in a blending jar.Add Fried Onions in the mixture of Tomatoes in a blending jar.Blend altogether to make a smooth puree and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan or vessel and saute cumin seeds, curry leaves, Green Cardamoms, Cinnamon Stick and Star aniseed.Add prepared red puree of Onion and Tomatoes and stir on low flame for few minutes, till oil begins to separate.Add Red Chili Powder, Turmeric Powder, Punjabi Garam Masala Powder, Dry Mango Powder, Kasuri Methi and Salt to taste.

Mix boiled rajma along with some more water. Simmer it for few more minutes. Allow the gravy to thicken a bit.

Garnish Rajma with some fresh finely chopped Coriander Leaves.

Your Rajma is ready to serve on the bed of hot Steamed Rice.

How to make Rajma Chawal Recipe:

Rajma Chawal Recipe

Rating: 51

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Yield: 4 cups

Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories per serving: 320

Fat per serving: 12g

Rajma Chawal Recipe

Rajma Chawal Recipe is famous Punjabi meal. Here Rajma Masala is cooked in rich and spicy gravy of Onion and Tomatoes, and then served over Steamed Rice.

Ingredients

1 and half cup rajma/red kidney beans, soaked overnight
2 medium sized onions, sliced
4 medium sized tomatoes, coarsely chopped
6 cloves of garlic
2 inch piece of ginger
4 green chilies
Few Curry Leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds (whole jeera)
2 green cardamoms
1 inch cinnamon stick
1 star aniseed
½ tsp red chili powder
½ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp punjabi garam masala powder
1/2 tsp dry mango powder/amchur
2 tbsp crushed kasuri methi (dried fenugreek)
6 to 7 cups water
2 tbsp oil or ghee
Salt to taste
Fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped

Instructions

Soak the rajma in water for 8-9 hours or for overnight. Next morning, pressure cook them with water and some salt and keep aside.
Heat about 2 tbsp of oil in a vessel and stir fry 2 medium sized sliced onions. When onion turns little brown in color, then take it out from the pan and keep aside to cool down.
Meanwhile, coarsely chop 4 medium sized tomatoes and put in the blending jar. Also add 6 cloves of garlic, 2 inch piece of ginger, 4 green chilies and fried onion. Blend altogether and make a thick but smooth consistency puree.
Reheat the same vessel again, in which you fried the sliced onion. If you want, you can add some more oil in it.
When the oil is heated properly, add1 tsp cumin seeds and few curry leaves. Allow the seeds to splutter and then add 2 green cardamoms, 1 inch cinnamon stick and 1 star aniseed. You can add bay leaf too. Saute it for a while and then add prepared red puree.
Cook the puree on low flame for 2-3 minutes with lid on, till the nice color comes out of it.
Now add ½ tsp red chili powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp punjabi garam masala powder, 1/2 tsp dry mango powder, 2 tbsp crushed kasuri methi and salt to taste.
Mix it well and cover the vessel. Leave to cook for about 3-4 minutes on simmer, till oil begins to separate and gravy thickens.
Now add boiled rajma and mix well. After adding rajma, if the mixture looks dry, then add more water. Simmer it for some more minutes. Allow the gravy to thicken a bit, it should not be watery. You can also mash a few rajma with the back of the spoon, it will help in thickening the gravy.
Now taste the rajma and if you feel any of the spice or salt is missing, add it now. Stir well and simmer rajma for some seconds.
Finally garnish it with some fine chopped coriander leaves, give a nice stir and serve over steamed rice.

Notes

Make sure that the rajma is soaked well or else it will take a lot of time to cook. For making this recipe, the rajma have to be soft and well cooked. Though I have given the measurements for using water, you may have to check the consistency of the gravy, as rajma are different in different places. Some rajma take a longer time to cook than other varieties. I have faced this issue many times. some times even in spite of cooking the rajma for a good 20 minutes in a pressure cooker, the rajma are not cooked to the fullest. If you do not have a pressure cooker, use big pot to cook the rajma. but it would take a lot of time to cook the rajma in a pot. I have used regular red rajma for the recipe. You can try tinned kidney beans as well. I have never tried anything with tinned beans and would not know how the recipe would taste. I know that while cooking regular rajma, the flavors and aroma of the gravy is absorbed by the rajma, as we are cooking everything together, but not sure if the same would happen for tinned beans too. You need to give a try to it. Rajma gravy should not be watery but should be smooth. If you find that the water is too much after the rajma beans are cooked, then cook it without any lid to evaporate the water. If while cooking the water reduces, then add some hot water.

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Chef Tips:

While serving, take some Steamed Rice or Jeera Rice in the plate or bowl and pour a good amount of this rajma curry over the rice and enjoy.
If you are cooking rajma in a pot or pan, first soak the rajma as usual for 8-9 hours. drain them and rinse them with fresh water. then in a big pot, boil enough water, add rajma and salt, cook covered for about 30 to 40 minutes or more if required. It takes a long time to cook rajma in open vessel than the pressure cooker.