Rajma Pulao | Kidney Beans Pulao

Whenever I’m in a dilemma to decide what to cook for dinner and have enough leftovers to pack for lunch next day, I go for a quick one pot meal like pulao. You can make a variety of pulao varying the vegetables, greens, lentils and legumes, so that you don’t get bored. Browse through the different quick and delicious pulao recipes already posted in the blog.

Today’s pulao recipe is a healthy, delicious and protein packed recipe. Kidney beans as you all know is a good source of dietary fibre and also a very good source of proteins for vegetarians. If you have some leftover cooked kidney beans or canned ones, then making this pulao is a breeze. A simple onion tomato raita is enough to complete the meal. Now let’s see how to make this rajma pulao.

Rajma Pulao

Quick pulao with red kidney beans and Indian spices

Print Pin Recipe

Servings 3 – 4

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 cup cooked kidney beans / rajma
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp butter / ghee
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼- inch cinnamon
• 1 clove
• 1 cardamom
• 1 tsp cumin seeds / jeera
• ⅛ tsp fennel seeds / sombu
• 1 medium onion sliced
• 1 tsp ginger -garlic paste
• 1 small tomato pureed
• ¼ tsp turmeric powder
• ¾ tsp red chilly powder
• 1 tsp coriander-cumin powder
• ½ tsp garam masala
• ½ tsp dry mango powder / amchur powder
• 1 tsp kasuri methi / dried fenugreek leaves
• Few coriander sprigs finely chopped
• Salt to taste

Instructions

• Soak the rice for 30 minutes. If using dry kidney beans, soak overnight and pressure cook until soft.
• In a kadai, heat oil and butter. Add bay leaf, cinnamon, cardamom, clove and cumin seeds. Once spices crackle, add onion and fry until soft.
• Add ginger-garlic paste, tomato and fry till soft and mushy. Then add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder, garam masala, amchur powder and kasuri methi.
• Fry for 2-3 minutes, then add kidney beans, salt, coriander leaves, drained rice and mix well. Add 1 ½ cup water and bring to boil.
• Once the rice is  ¾ cooked, reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook until the rice is soft. Remove from heat and gently fluff the rice with fork.

Notes

• You can also use canned kidney beans (1 tin / 400g).
• Adjust spices according to you preference.
• You can also transfer the contents to pressure cooker at the end and pressure cook for 1-2 whistles.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian