Pressure Cooker Punjabi Rajma (Indian Spiced Kidney Beans) Recipe (2024)

Being of Indian origin, I make (stovetop) pressure cooker rajmah several times a month.I just add the beans and water into the pot after the onions and spices have browned, just as you suggested. My opinion: there's no need for the pot-in-pot method for this dish as the author describes. The beans cooking with the spices actually adds to the taste.

Umm being punjabi this being a family and childhood favourite...Add at least 4 tomatoes more. Cook them of course with the onions ginger... And a cup or more of water to get a reasonable sauce or gravy. Some of the beans ( a spoon or two) should be mashed and added back to make a thicker sauce.A spoon ( more too)of butter or clarified butter heated, with added cumin seeds crackling, is an excellent garnish as is chopped cilantro.The spice mix is a personal choice but the above critical.

I made this recipe today and I think the 1 t. of cayenne pepper must be an error. I love spicy and hot food but the 1 t. of cayenne made this dish almost inedible.

Can this "pressure cooker" recipe be converted to us a crock pot? I believe the changes would include length of cooking time and perhaps more liquid?

I cook for people that don't appreciate spicy food as I do and toned the cayenne down to 3/4 tsp. Still a bit spicy for them but they liked it. Results will vary, but I will up the ginger a bit next time and roast the cumin and coriander before grinding.

I have been cooking all kinds of beans (black beans, chick peas, red beans, whole moong beans, navy beans, ...) as follows.1. Saute oil, chopped onions, carrots, celery, tomatoes, mushroooms and spices in the Instant Pot on "saute" until reduced and browned.. Spoon out the vegetable "sauce" in a bowl and set aside.2. Cook Beans with water and salt on high pressure for 30 minutes.3. When pressure is down, stir back the "sauce" in to the pot of beans.Enjoy!

Take a look at the ingredient list on a bottle of Garam Masala. Choose which of the ingredients is ok for you and which is not. Basically other than salt and pepper, there may be coriander, cumin seed, cinnamon, with traces of other, elective stuff.Make up your own "Rebecca Masala"!

I’m Indian and I make rajma in my instant pot all the time. Sauté 2 chopped onions, 1 green chili (slit lengthwise), 1.5 tsp ginger paste, 1.5 tsp garlic paste in IP for 7 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add 3 chopped tomatoes, 1.5 tsp cumin powder, 1.5 tsp coriander powder, 0.5 tsp turmeric powder, chili powder to taste, and 1 cup dry kidney beans, 4 cups water. Turn to pressure cooker, close lid, set to sealing. Cook for 60 minutes. Natural release. Stir in salt, and chopped coriander.

I love Indian food and find the NYT food recipe site good . I would hope for alternate cooking directions for this for those of us who dont have a pressure cooker electric or otherwise.

If you are going to take the onion mix out of the Instant Pot, why not do it in a frying pan on the stove where it is easier with more control over temperature?

The recipe is over-spiced. No need for ginger, cumin and garam-masala. For 1 cup dried beans, use only 1/4 tsp turmeric and 1/2 tsp coriander. But when heating the oil, do add a 2" x1/2" piece of cinnamon and 2 cloves. Peanut oil adds unnecessary flavor. Use 3 tbsp of canola oil instead. And instead of 1 tsp cayenne, use 3 thai green chillies finely diced. Adding 1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro at the end after cooking adds a wonderful aroma

Putting the onion, tomato & spices mix in the Instant Pot with no more liquid than the water in the foil-covered bowl sounds like a recipe for disaster. Will the mix not burn?

Way too much cayenne pepper in the recipe. I am Indian and love spicy food but all you can taste is the heat, which makes for a pretty uninteresting dish.

I learned from myheartbeats.com that kidney beans release protein called 'phytohaemagglutinin' during cooking, this explains the need for cooking them separately. "Happy cooking" as Jacques Pepin says.

Trivet? Pot in pot? Not necessary. Don't seperate the beans from the spiced onion mixture...there's no point to that. I am of Indian origin and have always added the beans to the cooked onion/spices mixture.

After reading the comments, I made some adjustments. We like spice and I took the cayenne to 1/2 tsp and it was plenty hot. I can't imagine what a full tsp would be like! I added 2 cups of water as directed and it was too much--it created a soup. Pouring it over basmati helped, but rajma should be thick. The recipe is repeatable, but needs modifications.

30 minutes didn’t work. My beans were un-mashable. I had to do another 20. I skipped the pot in pot method and reduced the cayenne. My six year old liked it!

Use less cayenne, maybe 1/2 tsp. Use ghee for oil.

Pressure cook beans. Cook onions and etc. in Dutch oven, add beans, and simmer to meld.

Made this as a double batch in 6 qt instant pot for an”Indian food dinner group” of friends. Used 1/2 the cayenne and everyone commented on the spices, but not too hot for most. With pot in a pot I had to add nearly 1 cup of water to the onion mix to get it to pressurize. After some time of trying my cooker just stops trying and counts down the cook time. Next time I will try soaking beans for a couple of hours and just cooking it all together as suggested by several folks.

I really wanted this to work, but I feared that my Instant Pot would register the dreaded “burn” warning and stop cooking (since there was very little liquid in the bottom of the pot), and that is indeed what happened. When I looked at it, it was totally burned on the bottom. And the part that wasn’t burned was crazy spicy hot (and I like hot). If I were to try something similar again, I’d use less cayenne and mix everything together as others have suggested.

there's no need for the pot-in-pot method for this dish. Add at least 4 tomatoes more. Cook them of course with the onions ginger... And a cup or more of water to get a reasonable sauce or gravy.Some of the beans ( a spoon or two) should be mashed and added back to make a thicker sauce.A spoon ( more too)of butter or clarified butter heated, with added cumin seeds crackling, is an excellent garnish as is chopped cilantro.

I've adapted this to the slow cooker with great results. Soak the kidney beans for two days, add 1/4 tsp of baking soda to the mix in the slow cooker to keep them from being too tough (the acid in the tomatoes will prevent them from softening completely). Cook on low for 6 hours. It's imperative to saute the onion, spices, & tomato mixture before you start to cook the beans in it. There's very little depth of flavor otherwise--- just heat. I use tomato paste instead of fresh or crushed tomatoe

Pretty good for vegan. I mixed all together. I doubled. 1.5 cups of rice would be enough for a double. Radically reduced cayenne.

Way too much cayenne! Unpalatable on its own. I mixed with rice, avocado, a yogurt sauce (cucumber,lemon,garlic) and added raisins and pine nuts. Delicious!

This is delicious. As many here have pointed out, the full tsp of cayenne is probably too much for most. I used 1/2 tsp and it was still very spicy, but about right for me. I do double the fresh ginger and garlic with very good results.

We liked the flavors, but at 30 minutes at high pressure and about 20 minutes natural release, beans were still quite crunchy (even with a presoak). Quadrupled the tomatoes.

Didn't have red kidney beans, so I used great northern beans and thought they were a natural for this recipe. The pot-in-pot method was surprising and fun! You'd think the tomatoes, onions and spices on the bottom would scorch after so long on high, but they simmered beautifully and made the kitchen fragrant. Served with home made naan.

I riffed on this some. I used my stovetop pressure cooker. Per Nupur, I added a green chili. I wish I had followed her tip to cook the onions and spices before adding the tomatoes. Following others’ advice, I added the beans to the onion mix. Used a full pound of dried beans and doubled the spices and used a little over 4 cups of water. Made the pickled onions the Tejal Rao uses with her recipe and served with lots of fresh cilantro, raira, the onions and rice. It was GOOD! Will make again!

Made in the slow cooker to huge success. Cooked everything apart from beans on the stovetop first as you would with a curry. Then added soaked beans (boiled for 10-15 minutes) to the slow cooked along with everything else plus the baking soda a commenter mentioned. Cooked on low for 8 hours. Added tarka of cumin seeds as one commenter suggested. The best rajma i've ever made!