[Video] How to Make Rajma
Mama Meals: How to Make Rajma
Mama Meals: How to Make Rajma
In the latest installment of our video cooking series Mama Meals, where students prepare a dish that reminds them of home—with some long-distance assistance from family members via Zoom—Neytra Subramaniam (Questrom’23) prepares rajma, a popular Indian curry of red kidney beans simmered in a gravy of pureed tomatoes and fragrant spices, like cloves, cinnamon, ground coriander, and tumeric. Neytra’s mother, Bhanu, frequently prepares the dish at home, using a recipe handed down by her mother, whom Neytra calls Ammamma.
Neytra’s mother occasionally sends her care packages of food—including rajma—that remind her of home. “When my mom sends me food,” she says, “it makes me very grateful because I’m not one to often cook, and I love and miss her food when I’m not home.”
In this video, Neytra makes rajma herself—under the watchful eye of her mother, who Zoomed in from her home in Potomac, Md., to offer encouragement and guidance. Even though she was missing one key spice the recipe calls for, Neytra shows how forgiving and adaptable rajma is to make. Canned beans can be substituted for dry beans, which need to be cooked slowly.
Preparation, her mother says, is key.
“A lot of Indian cooking does have quite a range of ingredients. We don’t put a lot of one thing, but we do put a little bit of a lot of different things,” she says. “So it’s good to have all of the ingredients ready, so that you can go in quick succession.”
Rajma
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Serves: 4
- 1 medium red onion
- 16 oz. can of dark red kidney beans
- 14 oz. of canned crushed tomatoes
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp. ginger/garlic paste (find a simple preparation here)
- 2 cloves
- 1 stick of cinnamon, small and broken into shards
- ½ tsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. coriander powder
- ½ tsp. turmeric powder
- 1 tsp. chana masala (or garam masala)
- 1 small bunch of dried methi leaves, crushed (optional)
- ½ tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. salt
- ¼ cup water
Garnish:
- Sliced red onion
- Lemon wedge (optional)
- Sprig of cilantro (optional)
Instructions
Before you start to cook, finely chop one medium red onion. Drain the can of dark red kidney beans and rinse with hot water. Set aside the beans.
In a pot, heat 3 to 4 Tbsp. of cooking oil at medium-high heat. Add cloves and cinnamon. Allow spices to bloom for about 30 seconds. Add chopped onions, and sauté for about 10 minutes until the onions reach a lighter brown color, but are not quite caramelized.
Add the ginger/garlic paste. Sauté for 30 seconds, then add chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and chana (or garam) masala. Allow spices to bloom for about 30 seconds. Add 10 oz. of crushed tomatoes, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add sugar and salt to taste.
Add prepared kidney beans, and stir in 1/4 cup water and crushed methi leaves. Add an additional 4 oz. of crushed tomatoes to thicken the rajma, if needed. Simmer for 10 minutes. Take the dish off the heat and add heavy cream. Make sure that the cream is fully incorporated into the mixture. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.
Serve 3/4 to 1 cup of rajma with rice, roti, or puri. The dish can also be served by itself. Garnish with a few pieces of sliced red onion, a lemon wedge, and a sprig of cilantro.
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