Rajma

[Episure]

The other day I was hankering for some Langhar food and thought I'd cook some Maa ki dal with 25% Rajma, which I soaked together overnight. The next day I didn't use a pressure cooker, instead cooked them Dum ( Slow) for lunch. They turned out quite nice and if I would have added more Cream and Ghee, Bukhara's chefs would have some sleepless nights.

That night I couldnt sleep because I had abdominal distension and severe griping pain.

I learnt the hard way, so avoid cooking such WMDs at low temperature because this is probably the cause Ooooh!.

[Monica Bhide]

Episure -- you are too funny. i think for the benefit of the non Indian speaking eGer (about 90 percent of the site) Tell us what Maa Ki Dal and Raajma are -- please

[tryska]

lectins will get ya every time.

[rajsuman]

Oh no! And slow-cooked is the only way I like them! I've always followed the advice in point #11 and have never had any probs. At least not until now. Now that I know I might, who knows........ ? Did you add ginger to your dal, y'know, to aid the digestive process and all?

Suman

[mongo_jones]

what a coincidence--i cooked rajma last night too; but i used the pressure cooker, thus relieving the pressure on my insides.

that reminds me i owe some people on this site a rajma by pressure cooker recipe. i should get on that.

[Vikram]

Maybe this forum is witnessing rajmasynchronicity (or else we all like it a lot) since a couple of days back I was also cooking rajma, made safely in the pressure cooker and cooked with shalgam (turnips) and LOTS of ginger - the rajma gogji recipe from the Kashmir section of Madhur Jaffrey's Taste of India book. Its one of my favourite recipes which I make as often as there are turnips in the market - they often disappear in the summer, so this was by way of being a farewell to shalgams recipe for this summer. Its a good recipe for those who want to cut the fat since it has none of the cream and butter that Episure is revelling in, and this time I used a corn oil spray and non-stick pan to fry the turnips and the results were excellent.

Vikram

[lidiab]

How much time does it take to cook rajma in a pressure cooker? I normally just use the canned beans for it. Does not loose much in taste, but it is really fast.

[mongo_jones]

How much time does it take to cook rajma in a pressure cooker? I normally just use the canned beans for it. Does not loose much in taste, but it is really fast.

depends on how long (or if) you soak the beans and how fancy your cooker is. the last time i soaked two cups of beans for about 6 hours and then pressure cooked them in my stone-age prestige cooker with some water (as my mother would helpfully say) for about 20 minutes--let the pressure dissipate by itself and voila cooked, yet still firm'ish beans.

and i use no cream, no butter and it is still delicious. recipe to follow after i cook it again and this time measure the water.

[anil]

Rajma and Chawal are the 'soul-food' of the punjs. Among other things, you eat mukke-piaz (raw onion smashed with the fiist) with rajma - While some families put chunks of ginger in the rajma, many have forgotten the importance of ginger in rajma for reasons unknown.