Rajma thongba
Friday being the designated ‘vegetarian day’ for my husband, i am always in a quandary about the menu on Fridays. i must be horrible at cooking vegetarian food going by the way my husband offers to eat Maggi noodles on Fridays with a resigned look!
Normally, i cook dal because i am oh-so lazy and a bad, bad wife! This friday, i decided to be nice and rustle up something nice.
i learned this recipe from my father-in-law who cooks this dish really well. It tastes even better with fresh rajma (red kidney) beans that you can get in Manipur this time of the year.
Rajma thongba
Things you need:
1 cup of rajma
1 medium onion -finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic
2 medium tomatoes – finely chopped
1 medium potato – cubed
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste
Oil
The method
If you are using dried rajma beans, then soak them overnight. Pressure cook with about one cup of water along with the cubed potato for two whistles.
In a wok, heat the oil till hot. Add the cumin seeds and when they start spluttering, add the chopped onion and garlic. Fry till limp. Add the chopped tomatoes and fry till mushy. Add the turmeric, coriander and chilly powder and fry for another minute or so. Pour/add/dump (whatever) the cooked rajma beans. Season with salt and simmer till you get the required consistency. You could mash some of the beans and potato to make the gravy creamier.
Serve with rice. We had this with pita bread (recipe coming) and it was delicious!
Cholar dal
i have a love-hate relationship with dal. i have been told i used to bawl my little heart out if there was no dal on the menu when i was a kid and Ema had to go and buy dal from the hotel nearby. Then i grew up a bit and decided not to eat dal till i passed my Matric Exams! And so i did not touch a drop of dal till my results were out. But the damage had already been done and after the many years of estrangement, dal and i i have never really taken off again like old times.
Now, it comes as no surprise that cooking dal has never been my forte. i am always confused by the quantity of dal – i mean, i take two or three handful and it feels like there would not be enough to go around. So i add some more. And after i open the cooker, i see the dal has multiplied in the privacy of the closed cooker and we are left with enough dal to feed to an army. My sister always used to complain on the rare occasion i cooked dal as the dal lasted for days and she had to eat it while i cleverly escaped citing inability to eat leftover dal!
i got the recipe from my dear friend Suravi. i did not have much hope going by my record when it comes to dal. But miracles do happen and the dal turned out good enough to be featured here.
The recipe calls for coconut but it was omitted as there was none.
Cholar dal
Things you need:
Chana dal – as much as you can eat!
1 teaspoon Turmeric powder
1/2 teaspoon Coriander powder
1 inch Ginger
2 dry red chilies
Oil/ghee
1 bay leaf
3-4 green cardamons
Sugar
The method:
Boil the dal in sufficient water till cooked. You could use a pressure cooker. Crush the ginger and make a paste with the coriander powder and turmeric along with a little water. Heat ghee or oil in a wok. When hot , put in the bay leaf, cardamon and red chillies. Add the paste and fry till the water is absorbed. Add the boiled dal and season with salt. You can add a bit of sugar if you want. Simmer till you get the desired consistency. If you use oil to cook the dal, add a touch of ghee at the end to enhance the flavor. You could add freshly scraped coconut if you have it.
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