RAJMA-CURRY

At my parents place we have chole masala every other saturday for meals. And sometimes the chole is replaced by rajma.My mom prepares rajma with curds - she got this pahadi(hilly region) recipe from some cookery show on tv .I am not very fond of rajma 'coz i find it too bland for my palate.In what ever way i cook i am not able to infuse the masala into the rajma - the kidney beans always stand apart. One of my friend told me that it has to be cooked for nearly half a day so that the kidney beans absorbs the masala fully. Now i don't have that much of patience and i feel that it is a waste of energy !!( nowdays we all are aware of earth day - how we have to do our every bit to conserve energy for our future generations). So i am doing mine by not cooking the rajma for 12 hrs.
One more reason i cook rajma even though i am not fond of it is - i had tasted this heavenly rajma masala @ some restaurant in north & it was mind blowing( if i remember correctly the name of the restaurant was also "BLOOWING restaurant"). My tongue still lingers with that taste & i am cooking rajma with the hope that one day i can re create that heavenly taste in my kitchen lab. So the quest is still on .........

Now coming to this recipe the rajma curry is just straight forward nothing fancy but it's delicious.
Ingredients:
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Rajma/Kidney beans-->1 cup
Onion--> 2 medium size (chopped)
Tomato--> 2 & 1/2 medium size (chopped)
Garlic-->3 - 4 pods (chopped)
Ginger-->1 " (chopped)
Green chilli-->2 (chopped)
Red chilli powder-->as per taste
Tumeric powder-->1/4 tsp
Corainder powder/Dhania-->2 tsp
Amchoor powder-->pinch
Sugar-->1/2 tsp
Salt-->to taste
Hing/asafoetida-->pinch
Jeera/Cumin-->1 tsp
Ghee-->1 tbsp
Eno fruit salt-->1/2 tsp
Kasoori methi/Dry methi powder-->1 tsp
Milk-->1 tbsp
Whole Garam masala-->(2 elaichi pods/cardamom pods , 3 dalchini/cloves , small piece of
Lavang/Cinnamon)

Method:
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1)Soak rajma/kidney beans overnight in warm water.Next day drain the water and add fresh water.To this add eno fruit salt and little bit of ordinary salt and pressure cook this for 6 whistles
and then lower the flame and allow it to simmer for another 20 mins.
2)Grind together chopped onions,chopped tomatoes,green chillies,garlic,ginger and whole garam masala(2 elaichi pods/cardamom pods , 3 dalchini/cloves , small piece of lavang/cinnamon).
3)Heat a Kadai/Vessel - pour ghee or butter into it.When the ghee is hot enough add Jeera/cumin seeds and Hing/asafoetida and allow it to splutter.
4)Now add the above ground masala and fry till the raw smell is gone and the ghee leaves the sides of the vessel.
5)Now add the dry powders(red chilli powder,tumeric powder,amchoor powder,corainder powder) and fry for few seconds.
6)Add the boiled rajma along with the water.Crush few rajma with the help of spoon/laddle.This gives the thickness to the curry.
7)Add sugar & salt and bring to a rolling boil.
8)Add kasuri methi(crushed with fingers) and milk .Then lower the flame & allow it to simmer for some time say about 7 mins.
9)Remove from gas stove - garnish with chopped corainder leaves and chopped onions & serve it hot with rice ( rajma-chawal) or rotis.

Notes:
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* You can add cream instead of milk to get that rich creamy taste.
* i was running short of corainder leaves so i omitted to garnish the curry but if you want a delicious curry - do garnish it with corainder leaves and chopped onions and squeeze lime juice on top..slurpp