Pressure Cooker Punjabi Rajma (Indian Spiced Kidney Beans)

This just burns! The onion mixture just burns with the separate, trivet method. I was using a stovetop pressure cooker but come on! They should have said something… what a waste

After reading the comments, I made some adjustments. We like spice and I took the cayenne to 1/2 tsp and it was plenty hot. I can't imagine what a full tsp would be like! I added 2 cups of water as directed and it was too much--it created a soup. Pouring it over basmati helped, but rajma should be thick. The recipe is repeatable, but needs modifications.

30 minutes didn’t work. My beans were un-mashable. I had to do another 20. I skipped the pot in pot method and reduced the cayenne. My six year old liked it!

Use less cayenne, maybe 1/2 tsp. Use ghee for oil.

Pressure cook beans. Cook onions and etc. in Dutch oven, add beans, and simmer to meld.

Made this as a double batch in 6 qt instant pot for an”Indian food dinner group” of friends. Used 1/2 the cayenne and everyone commented on the spices, but not too hot for most. With pot in a pot I had to add nearly 1 cup of water to the onion mix to get it to pressurize. After some time of trying my cooker just stops trying and counts down the cook time. Next time I will try soaking beans for a couple of hours and just cooking it all together as suggested by several folks.

I really wanted this to work, but I feared that my Instant Pot would register the dreaded “burn” warning and stop cooking (since there was very little liquid in the bottom of the pot), and that is indeed what happened. When I looked at it, it was totally burned on the bottom. And the part that wasn’t burned was crazy spicy hot (and I like hot). If I were to try something similar again, I’d use less cayenne and mix everything together as others have suggested.

there's no need for the pot-in-pot method for this dish. Add at least 4 tomatoes more. Cook them of course with the onions ginger... And a cup or more of water to get a reasonable sauce or gravy. Some of the beans ( a spoon or two) should be mashed and added back to make a thicker sauce. A spoon ( more too)of butter or clarified butter heated, with added cumin seeds crackling, is an excellent garnish as is chopped cilantro.

I've adapted this to the slow cooker with great results. Soak the kidney beans for two days, add 1/4 tsp of baking soda to the mix in the slow cooker to keep them from being too tough (the acid in the tomatoes will prevent them from softening completely). Cook on low for 6 hours. It's imperative to saute the onion, spices, & tomato mixture before you start to cook the beans in it. There's very little depth of flavor otherwise--- just heat. I use tomato paste instead of fresh or crushed tomatoe

Pretty good for vegan. I mixed all together. I doubled. 1.5 cups of rice would be enough for a double. Radically reduced cayenne.

Way too much cayenne! Unpalatable on its own. I mixed with rice, avocado, a yogurt sauce (cucumber,lemon,garlic) and added raisins and pine nuts. Delicious!

This is delicious. As many here have pointed out, the full tsp of cayenne is probably too much for most. I used 1/2 tsp and it was still very spicy, but about right for me. I do double the fresh ginger and garlic with very good results.

We liked the flavors, but at 30 minutes at high pressure and about 20 minutes natural release, beans were still quite crunchy (even with a presoak). Quadrupled the tomatoes.

Didn't have red kidney beans, so I used great northern beans and thought they were a natural for this recipe. The pot-in-pot method was surprising and fun! You'd think the tomatoes, onions and spices on the bottom would scorch after so long on high, but they simmered beautifully and made the kitchen fragrant. Served with home made naan.

I riffed on this some. I used my stovetop pressure cooker. Per Nupur, I added a green chili. I wish I had followed her tip to cook the onions and spices before adding the tomatoes. Following others’ advice, I added the beans to the onion mix. Used a full pound of dried beans and doubled the spices and used a little over 4 cups of water. Made the pickled onions the Tejal Rao uses with her recipe and served with lots of fresh cilantro, raira, the onions and rice. It was GOOD! Will make again!