Rosecoco bean rajma

I bought a bag of rosecoco beans sight unseen simply because of their lovely name, a few months back. It never occurred to me to look up the beans anywhere to find out what they were, and it certainly didn’t cross my mind (or even came anywhere within a few light years of my mind, never mind within crossing distance) that I might not like the beans – because a bean or legume that I dislike has not yet been invented.

Yes, there are certain ways of cooking/using beans and legumes that I might dislike (the gooey texture of cooked urad dal by itself, for instance), or certain additions to the cooked beans that I would not eat (anything non-vegetarian, in other words)… but the beans themselves are never at fault. Thus I repeat, I have no fear of meeting a bean and not liking it.



And so it was with the rosecoco beans (= cranberry bean = borlotti bean = saluggia = shell bean = salugia bean = crab eye bean = rosecoco bean = Roman bean = fagiolo romano). Not only did they look pretty, speckled and brown and prettily pinkish (or did I imagine that because of the rose in their name?), but they cooked up beautifully, too.

I have made rajma before, with the dark red kidney beans that are traditionally used for this recipe. This recipe is slightly different, if for nothing else other than I used my beloved slow-roasted tomatoes to make the gravy. I have said this before and I say it again – using oven-roasted tomatoes intensifies beautifully the flavour of any gravy. It’s well worth keeping roasted tomatoes handy. They usually last in my fridge for a week - and maybe could stay good for longer, I don’t know - covered with cling wrap.

I’m sure, as I’ve said before (again!), that you could puree the tomatoes and freeze it in ice-cube trays for convenient future use... but I haven’t done so thus far, because – er, I don’t have ice cube trays. If you’re wondering what we do for drinks, well – I buy ice. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I find the pre-frozen ice cubes convenient, and man, they last for absolutely AGES in a drink. I don’t know what it is about that ice, but the cubes – actually they’re not cubes, they’re beehive shaped, for some strange reason - just don’t melt as quickly. (Please, don’t tell me it’s because the ice has preservatives.)

Anyway, digression apart, here’s the recipe for rosecoco bean rajma, and my mother will vouch for the fact that it was lip-smackingly gorgeous. I love my rajma, I do.


Dry rosecoco beans (left) and soaked overnight (right)

Recipe for: Rosecoco bean rajma



Ingredients:



1 cup rosecoco beans, soaked in water overnight
3 small red onions - two chopped, one minced finely
1/2 cup roasted tomatoes, pureed
1" piece ginger root, sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds
3 dried red chillies
2-3 fresh green chillies, sliced into thin rounds
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp chole masala/garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
2-3 cups water
2-3 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped, for garnish

Method:

1. Grind the two chopped onions along with the ginger root, dried red chillies and cumin seeds



into a fine paste.



Reserve the minced onion.

2. Heat the oil in a small pressure cooker, add the sliced green chillies and turmeric powder.



Fry the chillies for 30-45 seconds on high, stirring it meanwhile.

3. Add the minced onion now and stir it in; cook this for 2-3 minutes or till the onions begin to turn soft.



4. Now add the red onion paste along with coriander powder



and fry the mixture for 4-5 minutes.



5. Now stir in the roasted tomato paste



and add 1/4 cup water.



6. After two minutes, add the soaked beans.



Fry the beans, stirring them into the masala, for 3 minutes or so, stir in the garam masala/chole masala,



then pour in 2-3 cups water.



7. Let the water come to a rolling boil, then close the pressure cooker. Put the weight on the cooker once it's steaming well, then cook it for 2-3 whistles on high heat. Now turn the heat down to low and let the beans pressure-cook for at least 20 minutes. Finally allow the cooker to come up to pressure again and switch it off after a couple of whistles.

Once the cooker can be opened, add salt to taste to the rajma and stir it in well. The beans should be cooked such that they can be easily squashed between two fingers. If the gravy is watery, let the rajma boil on high heat till the excess water evaporates and the gravy is to the desired consistency.

Serve hot, garnished with coriander leaves, along with cumin fried rice.

Kala chana (black chickpeas)

Kala chana is both the name of this variety of chickpeas and of the dish made with them - an economy of words indeed. Although kala chana or black chickpeas (actually they're brown in colour!) are a variety of chickpeas, they look and taste very different from the more common white kind (kabuli chana) that are used to make, among other things, hummous and chole. I personally like them better, because they have a stronger, earthier flavour that is not masked by the masala that is used to make the curry.

These chana can be soaked overnight in water, but 3-4 hours is usually enough to make them grow plump in the water and ready for cooking.



I also like kala chana plain boiled, sauteed in a little oil and tempered with the usual mix of mustard seeds, some dried red chillies, asafoetida powder and urad dal - they make for a tasty, healthy snack with just this tempering, or with the addition of freshly grated coconut for garnish. This dish (called sundal) is usually made as prasadam or holy offering during certain festivals, but I like to make them even otherwise.

Not this time, though... this time it was kala chana curry for my vegetarian sister-in-law, who regularly invites herself over for a home-cooked Indian meal!

Recipe for: Kala chana



Ingredients:

4 tomatoes, de-skinned and chopped finely (To de-skin the tomatoes, make a small shallow cut in the skin, then put the tomatoes in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let rest for 3-4 minutes. Pour out the water and slip off the tomato skins - they will come off easily)



1 cup kala chana, soaked in plenty of water overnight
2 medium onions, chopped fine
1 tsp ginger, grated
4-5 green chillies (or to taste), minced or sliced into fine rounds
2 bay leaves
1" cinnamon stick
2 black cardamom pods, left whole
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 htsp chana or chole masala
or
1/2 tsp garam masala
Salt to taste
2 tsp oil
Fresh coriander, chopped, for garnish
Thinly sliced tomatoes and onion rings for garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Pressure-cook the soaked kala chana with the bay leaves, whole black cardamom pods and cinnamon stick in enough water to cover the chana fully. Do not overcook. (They should hold their shape yet be easy to mash when a little pressure is applied.) Remove the bay leaves, the whole cardamom and cinnamon stick and discard.

2. In a wide pan, heat the oil. Add the grated ginger, the chopped green chillies, the cumin seeds. Fry for 1 minute, then add the chopped onions. Fry till the onions become soft and are beginning to turn slightly brown.



3. Add the chopped tomatoes and the garam masala/chana or chole masala and stir. Add 1/2 cup water and cook till the tomatoes break down and become mushy.

4. Now add the cooked kala chana (reserving 1/4 cup) and salt to taste. Stir well to coat.

5. Add some more water if required, to make a thick gravy, and let the kala chana simmer away for 5 minutes.

6. Mash the reserved 1/4 cup of the chana and add it to the pan. Stir again. This will thicken the chana.

7. Garnish with the tomato slices and onion rings (if using), and scatter the coriander leaves on top.

8. Serve hot with rice, chapatis or puris.