RECIPE: quick Rajma

[Guest guest]

As those who know me know, I love the hot North Indian bean and

(sometimes) dairy curry called_rajma_, but it takes awhile to make.

Here's a quick, cheap, but good version I've been throwing together

lately instead:

 

Instant Rajma's Gonna Get You

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1 1/2 to 2 cans red beans, drained --

Bengalis use red kidney beans; I like small red beans,

a.k.a Mexican frijoles.

Half a medium-small onion. diced fine

One small yellow squash, diced smallish, optional

Patak's hot curry paste, to taste (see below)

Diced or minced cayennes to taste, lots (see below)

1 can Mexican-style (only!) sliced stewed tomatoes,

juice included

1 cup plain yogurt, Soygurt, sour cream or (best of all)

a 50/50 blend of yogurt and sour cream

A dab of oil

Cooked rice

 

In a littte oil, fry onions and squash till onions are just getting

translucent but not soft. Add tomatoes, chiles and curry paste;

cut up tomatoes a bit with spoon or spatula. Simmer, stirring

occasionally, till liquid is nearly all gone. Add yogurt and beans;

heat through and serve over rice. Serves two for dinner or four

for lunch, and keeps well.

 

NOTES:

Patak's hot red curry paste _rocks_. It's so much better, richer and

more complex than curry powder that it really is worth seeking out.

I get it at Meijer supermarkets, but I've seen it at big Kroger stores,

and of course at Indian groceries.

 

Don't substitute Italian stewed tomatoes for the Mexican ones; the

seasonings are all wrong and will clash. If you substitute the plain

type, add a generous pinch of cumin.

 

This dish is supposed to be fiery even by chilehead standards, so in

addition to the mild warmth from the stewed tomatoes and the

quite decent little mellow zing from the Patak's, I normally put in

a buttload of chopped green cayennes. --recipe by Rain -- PLEASE

don't re-post elsewhere, as it's for the cookbook my brother and

I are putting together, and we genuinely do need the money.

 

Rain

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