Saturday, December 29, 2007

Red Kidney Beans (Punjabi rajma) Review

3 stars (on a 5 star scale) p. 169 Okay. Significantly different in color--it's lighter--and taste than the traditional chile-like rajmas I've had previously. This rajma smells of ghee, but only tastes of cream. I don't think it's bad, yet I won't cook it again, partially due to my lack of excitement about the taste and partially due to the dish's unhealthiness.

2 comments:

luckyfatima said...

I hope you explore Rajma again beyond Jaffrey's recipe. (I love Jaffrey, by the way.) Your rajma looks more like refried beans, I have never seen it look like that before.

Rajma is hearty and delicious. I have never eaten homecooked rajma that contained cream...as in I have had it cooked by a Nepali and by Punjabis, and by my own recipe...no cream (Kashmiris also have their own version of rajma, you could check that out, too). You should google Punjabi rajma recipes and try one that looks good. It is basically soak the rajma overnight, boil then simmer for about 1 hour, make a melted masala of browned onions, garlic, ginger, then add garam masala and tomatoes, when the tomatoes' water evaporates and the oil rises to the top, pour the tomato masala into the pot of rajma, salt, and allow to simmer for like 30 mins more. Finally add a pinch more of garam masala and serve with rice and/or chappati. So simple and yum!

mark said...

I've tried a few other rajmah recipes and all both looked better (more like a chile) and tasted better.