Recipe: Spicy Indian Kidney Beans aka Rajmah

One of my favorite things about food is that different regions have variations on cuisine. The same is true for Indian food. One of my favorite Indian meals is Rajmah and rice: aka spicy kidney beans served over basmati rice. Unfortunately, I hadn't had a lot of luck finding a good recipe, until I came across Anupy Singla's book, The Indian Slow Cooker.

The following is my recipe for Rajmah, adapted from hers- this recipe makes 10 cups
Ingredients:
3 cups dried red kidney beans. DO NOT used the canned stuff- it will change up the flavor and texture.
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
1 teaspoon ginger paste
2 teaspoons garlic paste
3 finger-hot/serrano chiles (I used 2, and it was really quite spicy. You can omit these if you prefer)
3 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon red chile powder
1 tablespoon salt (you can always add more to taste)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
9 cups water
1/2- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Put everything except the cilantro in a slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 11 hours. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves (if you can find them). Use an immersion blender for 2-3 quick blasts to break up some of the beans. Serve over basmati rice, garnished with cilantro (be generous with the cilantro- it really adds to the flavor.)

ENJOY!