Rajma, pressure cooker method (Red Kidney Beans Curry)

Yesterday, two items in two different sections of our newspaper caught my eye, one was in the Business section and the other in the Style Section on the page for kids - Kids Post.

The headline from the former read "Silicon Valley Wants to Stay On the Road to Prosperity" - discussing how lack of investment in science, technology, engineering, math (STEM being the industry jargon) is putting the US at a competitive disadvantage compared to countries like India and China. While the heading from the Kids Post read "Homework Debate -Kids Parents and Teachers Disagree on How Much is too Much" - some parents argue how an hour of homework for a elementary school is considered too much. There in lies the paradox.

Parents and for that matter Kids in India (I know that for a fact) and I bet in China too have no choice about the amount of homework the kids get. In my opinion, the quality of work DD brings home from school is far higher than what I took home. More than what is brought as homework the discipline and planning that is required to get the work done is something that has to be developed early in life and will come very handy when the same kids go to college and decide if STEM will be their thing or something else. Seeing these two articles in the same newspaper got me thinking thats all.

I first heard of Rajma pretty late when I started working on my first job, yup! never heard the word till then. This girl a co-worker announced that she brought Rajma for lunch and a bunch of oohs and aahs followed her. I was curious enough to follow them into the lunch room and get a table close enough to take a peek into her lunch. From the looks of it the curry was worth all the oohs and aahs it got. I did not know the girl well enough to ask for a taste, which I regret it to this day. I knew red kidney beans alright but the dish that goes by the name Rajma was what I had not known. Well it took another 5 years before I actually tasted it. Rajma - the word describes the dish as well as the beans correct? I utilize the pressure cooker to reduce the time it takes to cook the dish.

Rajma
Ingredients
1. 1 Cup of Red Kidney Beans soaked overnight (DO NOT precook the beans)
2. 1/2 Onion chopped fine
3. 1-2 tomatoes chopped fine or run through a food processor
4. 2 tsp grated ginger
5. 6-7 garlic pods chopped
6. 4 green chilies slit
7. 2 tsp of chicken masala (you can use any masala of choice)
8. 1 tsp each of red chili powder and coriander powder
9. 1/2 tsp cumin powder
10. 1/2 tbsp aamchur powder
11. seasonings - curry leaves and mustard seeds
12. 1-2 tsp of oil
13. salt to taste
14. chopped coriander leaves a handful


Method
1. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves when the mustard starts to pop add the onions, garlic and ginger and saute till the onions start to turn translucent.
2. Now add the powders (aamchur, chili, cumin and coriander powder) mix well and add the chopped tomatoes.
3. Wash the soaked beans well in 2-3 changes of water and add to the onion tomato mixture.
4. Now add 2 cups of water, close the pressure cooker and cook for 2 whistles, let it cool.
5. Now add the salt and coriander leaves and let it cook for a few more minutes or till the required consistency is reached.

Rajma is traditionally served over rice but we like to eat them with chapatis.
This will be my entry to My Legume Love Affair Seventh Helping hosted by Srivalli an event started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook