Rajma Masala

Where This Goes Wrong

Never skip the soak, and never use the soaking water. Both matter for digestibility and flavour.

Tinned beans work in a hurry: use 2 x 400 g tins, rinsed, and simmer for 15 minutes with 400 ml water.

The beans should be soft enough to mash but still whole. Undercooked rajma is unpleasant and hard to digest.

Cooking Rajma Masala

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1. Drain the soaked beans and boil them in fresh water with a teaspoon of salt for 45 to 60 minutes, or pressure cook for 20 minutes, until they crush easily between finger and thumb. Reserve the cooking liquid.

   Mark done Start 45 min timer

2. Heat the ghee (or neutral oil), add the cumin seeds, bay and black cardamom, and fry 30 seconds until they crackle.

   Mark done

3. Add the onions and fry 12 minutes over medium heat until deep golden brown — this is where the colour of the finished dish comes from.

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4. Add the ginger-garlic paste and green chillies and cook 2 minutes.

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5. Add the chilli powder, coriander, cumin and turmeric, stir for 20 seconds, then pour in the tomato purée.

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6. Cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring regularly, until the masala darkens, thickens and the ghee (or neutral oil) pools at the edges.

   Mark done Start 12 min timer

7. Add the beans with 500 ml of their cooking liquid and the salt. Simmer, partly covered, for 25 minutes.

   Mark done Start 25 min timer

8. Mash about a quarter of the beans against the side of the pot and stir them back in to thicken the gravy.

   Mark done

9. Finish with garam masala, amchur and coriander, swirl in the cream if using, and serve over rice.

   Mark done

Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Ingredient substitutions.

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Why the Method Works

Some of the beans are mashed against the side of the pot and stirred back in, which thickens the gravy with bean starch rather than flour and gives rajma its characteristic body. Cooking the masala until the oil visibly separates is the traditional doneness test and marks the point where the raw tomato flavour has fully cooked out.

After You've Cooked It

Refrigerate up to 4 days and freeze 3 months. It thickens on standing; loosen with hot water when reheating.

Ingredient Swaps

• Dried chilli flakes can stand in for the green chillies. Heat varies a great deal between chillies and between jars, so start with a small pinch and add more to taste.
• If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
• An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

What to Serve Alongside

• Plain steamed basmati rice — rajma chawal is the only correct pairing
• Sliced onion with lemon
• Plain yoghurt

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Chapati (Roti), Gluten-Free Naan, Idiyappam.

Questions and Answers

The Numbers per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

Vegan when made with neutral oil rather than ghee and made without the cream. Dairy-free when made with neutral oil rather than ghee and made without the cream.

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