Food Talk: A makeover for rajma-chawal

Rajma-chawal is a combo dish that is one of the most beloved comfort foods in India. It is delicious, balanced in nutrition and easy to cook. The only problem with it is that familiarity in this case has bred indifference, if not contempt. More often than not, it is likely to be dismissed as a home-style staple. This is not quite true. Ras-misse rajma is a delicacy in Punjab, and in the dhaam of Himachal Pradesh, it occupies a coveted place as madra.

There is a great variety of rajma available in our country, each with a different appearance, texture and flavour. The multi-colour rajma chitral may have been named thus as these may have originally come from the Chitral region in the north-western frontier of undivided India, and some say that its marbled appearance with specks on a mosaic floor may have inspired people to lovingly call it chitral. Then, there is the most prized deep scarlet kidney bean grown in the Jammu region. It needs no embellishment other than salt, red chillies and dollops of ghee to make it irresistible. Rajma is also grown in Munsyari in Kumaon; it is white in colour and nutty in flavour. It is also grown in Harsil in Garhwal.

The present generation is only familiar with kidney beans in a salad or chilli con carne. Only recently, some chefs dared to plate a rajma kebab for the vegetarians. But the classic combination remains rajma-chawal.

Not very long back, we were invited to a wonderful meal at the Oberoi in the Capital for a commemorative lunch at Dhilli by our good friend and the brilliant chef, Vineet Bhatia, who has more Michelin stars under his belt than all other Indian chefs put together.

When we were served what was called rajma-chawal on the menu, we kept looking for the chawal, and Vineet kept smiling mischievously. Finally, when no rice plate was in sight, we dug in. The aloo tikki that we had thought was a garnish on top, crumbled to reveal its real nature — this was the chawal!

Once again, we marvelled at the genius of Vineet, who always remains rooted in Indian soil. There is no fancy fusion or pretentious plating, just the striving to take Indian food to the next level. Ably assisted by his wife Rashima, he has been outdoing himself for years.

The beauty is that you can easily replicate the magic at home. We don’t really know what the maestro did in the kitchen, so we decided to take a shortcut of purloining a Khasi recipe for mini-rice cakes to make life easier for our dear readers. These rice cakes remind us of puttu in Kerala. In neither region is the rajma a red hot favourite, but believe you us, it makes the regional icon a pan-Indian classic. Do try this out as soon as you can!

All-new Rajma Chawal 

Ingredients

Rajma (soaked overnight) 1 cup

Tomato puree 1 cup

Red chilli powder 1 tsp

Salt 1 tsp

Coriander powder 1 tsp

Garam masala 1 tsp

Garlic-ginger paste ½ tsp

Salt To taste

Rice flour 1 cup

Oil ½ cup

Rice papad (Optional) 1

Green coriander sprig (Optional) 1

Method:

Boil rajma with powdered spices, ginger-garlic paste and salt in a pressure cooker till done. Uncover, allow to cool. Heat ghee and pour over it.

Take rice flour in a flat plate, add salt and sprinkle a little warm water 2-3 times and start mixing. You should be able to hold the flour in your fist. When pressed, it should hold shape, and when crumbled, it should crumble well.

Take four small steel katoris, grease these and fill these bowls with the rice flour mixture till half. Cover the bowls with a piece of aluminium foil. Steam/cook for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the steamer, let it cool for two minutes. Ccarefully,un-mould on to a plate.

In a shallow bowl, pour some rajma. Place the aloo tikki lookalike rice cakes on top. Garnish with green chillies and coriander, if using.

For some crunch, crumble some rice papad on it and enjoy!