Rajma Pulao and Transitions

Rajma is a comforting dish of red kidney beans, that is usually Sunday supper in North India. There is something nostalgic about soft red kidney beans swimming in a sweet and tangy tomato based sauce, paired with soft snowy Basmati rice. It is of course, very nutritious and a perfectly balanced meal at that. This meal was my Friday supper after the first week of school, which had all of 2 school days. It is a one dish attempt at recreating the comfort of the classic North Indian rice and beans combination. This weekend has been about staying on eggshells and craving comfort. This dish has most of the notes of a classic rice and beans medley with lots of good summer tomatoes to boot. In some ways with its almost golden hues, it is perfect for the almost autumn weather we will are about to have.

All things considered, it does take some getting used to all the new routines and snags. The third grader remains to be a ball of sunshine, and his big relief is that so far he likes his teacher more than his older sis predicted he would. Her third grade year was somewhat difficult and I did not have enough time to focus on the transitions. Deepta’s big transition is moving on to middle school, she is still trying to wake up early enough to make it to school. This week, I am on school drop duty, yes, there is no school bus as middle school is too close to our house. My goal is to be able to drop her and make the early train.

Even while I am so close to planning a blog transition – stay tuned folks – Spice Chronicles is on its way! I seem to be faced with work transitions that I am not necessarily looking forward to. I hate transitions, possibly a result of all the travel that I have had to do as a child. However, essentially I had more of a professional wanderlust, which seems to be something I do not have much time for these days. There is already too much going on with balancing all their myriad lessons and activities.  I am just trying to eke out a living and stay solid through the school years, at least until they both hit middle school.

Well, man proposes and as I like to say, God laughs! We shall find out soon, whether it is a laugh or just a smile. Until, then I shall be loading up on comfort food, watching the eggshells and sleeping. Believe it or not, there is almost a childish reflex somewhere, when I am too worried about things, I end up sleeping more. This weekend I have spent a lot of time in bed, interspersing with being in the kitchen of course.

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Rajma Pulao - Rice with Tomatoes and Red Kidney Beans

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

A comforting one dish creation of rice and red kidney beans, Rajma Pulao is a perfect one-dish meal.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon grated ginger
3 tomatoes
1 cup of cooked red kidney beans
1 teaspoon powdered cumin
1 teaspoon powdered coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup basmati rice (soaked for 15 minutes)
1 stick cinnamon
2 to 3 cloves
2 cardamom pods, bruised
1 lime or lemon
Chopped cilantro to garnish

Instructions

Heat the oil and add in the cumin seeds and wait until they begin to sizzle. Add in the ginger and stir lightly.
Add in the tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes are nice and soft and almost mushy.
Add in the kidney beans and the cumin and coriander powder and mix well. Stir in the salt and the sugar with 1 cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes.
Add in the rice with another cup of water and add in the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom pods. Reduce the heat to medium low and cover and cook for 12 minutes and check to see if the rice needs more water, if needed add in the water and cover and cook for 10 more minutes, until the rice is nice and soft.
Turn off the heat and let the rice rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
Cut the lime or lemon and remove the seeds and squeeze in the juice. Garnish with cilantro and serve with a side of yogurt if desired.Schema/Recipe SEO Data Markup by ZipList Recipe Plugin2.5http://cookinginwestchester.com/2014/09/rajma-pulao-transitions.html

 

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