I think I am going insane.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results – Albert Einstein
As mentioned in a number of previous posts, I really want to like Indian food. I’ve made a number of different dishes for the blog (Butter Chicken, Curried Mango Chicken, Red Lentil Curry, Shrimp Tikka with Fresh Mango Chutney, Spicy Dahl), and been to a local Indian restaurant that has been identified as the best Indian food in Cleveland, but it still just hasn’t clicked.
Despite my failures to enjoy the cuisine, I keep trying. Here is another case in point.
It is a great looking dish.
Note to those who have reviled my use of pre-mixed curry powder, there is none in this recipe.
Cooking up the curry.
And some more.
It wasn’t bad, but just didn’t hit my palate in a way that I want it again. I’m sure I’ll try making some more Indian food, if just to continue my insanity.
Red Kidney Bean Curry [Rajmah]
Makes: Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh ginger (I use half this; I’m tepid in the fresh ginger department)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 plum tomato, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 large green chili, chopped (optional)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon ground tumeric
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 8 ounce can of tomato sauce or 8 ounces of one of your choice
- 3 cups boiled red kidney beans or 30 ounces canned red kidney beans, undrained
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley, if you’re cilantro-averse)
Directions:
Heat oil in a deep sauce pan over medium heat for one minute. Add ginger, garlic, onion, green chili, and let sizzle for one minute. Add the tomato sauce, salt and remaining spices and cook for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently. Add the kidney beans with water or canned red kidney beans (undrained) plus one additional cup of water, and tomatoes. Bring it to a boil, then reduce to medium heat and let cook uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Garnish with cilantro.
Serve over rice or with naan. A dollop of plain yougurt on top is heavenly.
Rantings of an Amateur Chef 
This looks delicious! I might prepare this recipe in the near future, I love beans and we always have them on hand. Maybe you should try making something with lamb and naan? Hopefully you’ll find a recipe that you do enjoy and clicks. Indian food is so versatile and tasty. It’s also not suitable to everyone’s tastes though. Good luck!
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instead of chopping the ginger and garlic separately, try mashing it together to make a sort of paste. use equal amounts of both.
always fry the ginger-garlic,cumin seeds and other spices (not the powdered ones though) before so that the flavors are out already, and then put in your onions, and then tomatoes. Try not using the tomato sauce, it blands indian food down, we don’t like doing it.
It looks good, maybe you just need to get the hang of indian cooking 😉 Once you do though, there’s no going back 😛
enjoy!
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I have not been fond of the curry I’ve tried but you have sparked my interest in trying to make my own. Thanks for the inspiration.
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Well it certainly looks good!
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You have a few ingredients missing here… You need ginger, cloves, and cinnamon. You could try the version at http://wp.me/p1tarY-Co. HTH.
More elaborate versions of the recipe use roasted pomegranate seeds and more such ingredients. I will try to post this recipe soon.
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Indian food is amazing! And so fragrant with so many variations! You just need to get yourself to an incredible restaurant and trust us, you will NEVER have those doubts again.
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It’s all in the curry mix…whether your own or prepackaged. Keep trying until you find THE ONE that is the right combination for your exquisite palate!
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Nor me and I’m not a huge fan of Indian cooking either. However, I’m told the secret is to toast the spices in a dry pan first. For what it’s worth. Alternatively, like me, you can give up and get you’re chili kick cooking South American or texmex 🙂
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I believe this is Gluten Free!
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Glad to see you haven’t given up on one of the most wholesome and diverse cuisines known…great rajma recipe and glad to see no curry powder in there:)
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I would start with simple recipes first. Almost no one will agree with me but I feel like recipes that use all four of the following: onion, garlic, ginger and tomato have already fired on all cylinders and all dishes start to taste the same. I would try some vegetables cooked dry with just whole cumin seeds and mustard seeds; or mung dal cooked with just garlic and chilies and salt. In your journey to appreciate Indian food, restaurants should not be the first stop. They (my opinion) commit the crime of every flavor in every dish. Try to corner any Indian you know to cook a home-cooked meal.
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Oh i love Indian food! The best dishes are the vegetarian ones because a lot of India cannot a) afford meat or b) do not eat meat. My favourites are Malai Kofta, Palak Paneer and Paneer Tikka Masala. Yum, yum, yum!
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