Rajma (kidney bean curry)

As vegetarian curries go, rajma, or kidney bean curry, is one of the most popular. This simple recipe from Dan Toombs will get you restaurant quality results.

Rajma (kidney bean curry). Credit: Quadrille / Kris Kirkham

• serves

  1-2

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1–2 tbsp canola oil (optional)
• 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) tinned (canned) kidney beans, strained (see Note)
• ½ tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• ½ tsp garam masala
• Salt, to taste
• 2 generous tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro), to garnish
• Cooked rice, to serve

Sauce

• 2 medium onions (approximately 250 g / 9 oz), thinly sliced
• 1 red or orange capsicum (bell pepper), cut in half and seeded
• 3 tsp canola oil or oil spray
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 tsp garlic and ginger paste (see Note)
• 2 green finger chillies
• 70 ml (¼ cup) unseasoned passata
• 125 ml (½ cup) vegetable stock
• ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (more or less to taste)
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 1½ tsp ground cumin
• 1½ tsp ground coriander

Instructions

1. Preheat the air fryer to 200°C (400°F).
2. Place the onions, capsicum, oil and salt in a mixing bowl. If you are on a reduced-calorie diet, squirt the veggies all over with oil spray instead of adding the oil. Mix it all up well. Pour it all into the cooking basket and fry for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Carefully spread the garlic and ginger paste over the veggies for the last 2 minutes of cooking.
3. Pour it all back into the mixing bowl or a blender and add the remaining sauce ingredients. Blend with a stick blender or in the blender until smooth. Set aside.
4. Pour the oil, if using, into a small cake tin or another suitable metal pan that fits inside your air fryer. Heat the oil for a couple of minutes, if using, and then pour in the smooth sauce and cook for 10 minutes. The sauce will begin to brown on top and around the sides. It will be quite hot if you used oil and warm if you didn’t.
5. Add the kidney beans and stir them in. Continue air frying for another 5–10 minutes or until the curry is hot enough to serve.
6. To finish, add the kasoori methi by rubbing it between your fingers over the curry. Add the garam masala and season with salt to taste. Give it all another good stir and garnish with the chopped coriander. Serve with rice or bread.

 

Note

• Here, you use tinned (canned) kidney beans for ease. You could, of course, soak and cook dried kidney beans if you would like to – I actually prefer using dried, as you can add some of the soaking cooking liquid to the curry as well, but that is sometimes one step too many when I just want to cook up a quick rajma.
• To make your own garlic and ginger paste, blend 150 g (5½ oz) roughly chopped garlic and 150 g (5½ oz) roughly chopped with just enough water to make a paste. This makes more than you need for this recipe. The extra will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. It might turn a bit blue or green in the fridge but this is normal. It’s not off! It also freezes well. I recommend freezing it in ice-cube trays in 1–2 tablespoon portions and then storing the cubes in freezer bags.

This is an edited extract from The Curry Guy Air Fryer by Dan Toombs (Quadrille, HB $36.99) Photography by Kris Kirkham.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.