Firey Rajma Masala

Beans! Does even the mention of beans put you off?? Kidney beans commonly called as Rajma back home can be tricky.. you will either love it or hate it.. for me I can live on Rajma and rice and not care for finest food :-) I was wondering the other day what do I cook that goes well with a mulled wine (a very christmasy wine flavoured with spices like cinnamon, cloves etc.) and winter warming.. I saw the kidney beans that I was soaking overnight without any plans of actually cooking them.. but when I looked at them I thought why not.. and so rajama and rice it was for dinner.. this version I made is really spicy, if you cannot handle a lot of spice.. suggest cutting down all the spices to half and add extra yogurt or cream while cooking..trust me this curry will not fail you especially if you are down with cold.. can really be a pick me up :-0) This recipe is very swift and simple because you put eveything in a food processor or a mixer and prepare a paste for the base and sit back while it cooks on its own!
Here is the shopping list: Makes comfortably for 3 hungry people :-)

1. A cup and a half of soaked kidney beans or 1 large can of bolied beans, no problem using canned beans at all.
2. 1 large tomato
3. 2 Medium Onions
4. 1 inch long ginger
5. 4 cloves of garlic
6. 2 table spoons yogurt
7. 2 heaped teaspoons garam masala (I used the garam masala I had posted earlier, if you are using a store bought masal pick out a spicy one)
8. 1 heaped teaspoon coriander powder
9. 1 heaped teaspoon cumin powder
10. 1 teaspoon chili powder
11. 1/2 tea spoon tumeric powder
12. 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
13. Fresh handful of coriander leaves for garnish.
14. Pinch of Sugar or Jaggery
15. Salt to taste

Lets get cooking shall we??
Boil or pressure cook the beans if they are soaked. If you are planning use can beans, you can straight tip the beans in the curry paste when the paste is ready.

1. Cut onions and tomato in quarters.
2. Chop the giner and garlic roughly
3. Tip the onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, yogurt, salt, and about half a cup water into the mixer. Grind everything to a fine paste.
4. Take a deep pan with thick bottom so that the paste can cook without getting burnt.
5. Add a table spoon of oil or less if you have a non stick pot. Add the cumin seeds, tumeric powder, coriander powder, chili powder, garam masala, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar or jaggery.
6. Let the spices fry for a min on low flame.
7. Add the paste to the pot and fry it till you see the oil leaving the paste, that's the sign of nicely fried paste.
8. Add the beans to the paste and let them cook in the curry paste for at least 20 mins. Add a little water.. not too much if the gravy looks very thick.
9. Let everything simmer and garnish with coriander leaves when serving.
10. Rajma goes very well with just plain rice, naan  or a regular slice of bread.

Give it a shot.. very simple and keeps well if its only you eating it :-)