Rajma

My mother's Rajma is reputed to be the best. I wouldn't really know, because I never had rajma made by anyone else till I went to hostel. And there, we had rajma twice a week. Not any old rajma- a fusion rajma made by Malayali cooks to cater to North and South Indian taste-buds. Add to the fact that the sambar powder didn't really go with the rest of the gravy was the fact that the beans would invariably be insufficiently soaked, and therefore quite bitter. By the time I graduated two years later, I couldn't even think of rajma without wanting to throw up.
All those years as a new bride, the only request I would make to anyone calling me home for dinner was "no rajma PLEASE". And so my mother's rajma remained the only edible rajma I ever tasted.
Gradually, the phobia left me, and I started having rajma again. Not too often, and not too cheerfully, but I could have it without wanting to throw up. And now, I do make it once in awhile.
This version is my own, and I make it often.

250 gms rajma soaked overnight

1 badi elaichi

1 piece cinammon

2 bay leaves

 

3 small onions, chopped

3-6 pods garlic

1 inch piece ginger

2 tomatoes

4 tsp dhania powder

2 tsp jeera powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 tsp kasoori methi

salt to taste

2-3 tbsp cooking oil 

2 tbsp cream

Method:

Cook the soaked rajma with the three whole spices in a pressure cooker for 20 minutes (lower after the first whistle and let it simmer for 20 minutes). Discard the whole spices and keep aside.

Take onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes in a blender, and grind to a fine paste.

Heat the oil, lower the flame, add the paste and the ground spices, and cook on a low flame till the raw smell goes, and the masala starts leaving the sides of the kadhai.

Add the cooked rajma and kasoori methi to the paste. Add about 1 1/2 cups water, and simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the cream, cook for a minute, and take off the fire.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.