A cut and dried fact of a bean is that it has ‘bean’ around! Its journey started some 8000 years ago in Peru, and by the time it reached Punjab, India, it was quickly adopted into its most celebrated bean and grain dish called Rajma Chawal. It is a popular pairing for a good reason; with this combination, it has no trans fats and is rich in vitamins, minerals, protein and fiber. It is very filling and is highly versatile. When the Asian Indians were brought to the Americas by the British, Rajma Chawal travelled with them. Rice and beans continued to migrate from Jamaica, to Haiti, and arrived back in Mexico via New Orleans.
To celebrate this great bean voyage, I wanted to combine Rajma with my favorite American cooking – New Mexican. After all, if you really break the Rajma recipe down, it happens to be a combination of beans, red chile, salsa and copious amount of masala.
This recipe uses pinto beans as opposed to red kidney beans. Pinto beans offer quite a few advantages over red kidney beans in taste, texture and nutrients. I created an authentic New Mexico red chile (to sound authentic, never say red chile sauce, it is just red chile – I was corrected recently) and made a simple tomato puree. The result is simply a delicious festive Rajma that I call ‘Rajma Chile Fiesta.’ Try it for yourself. You can simplify this recipe, by using (New Mexican) red chile powder and buying a canned tomato sauce.
This is a pure vegetarian food, and you can make it vegan by substituting vegetable oil for the butter. It is gluten free.
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Rajma Chile Fiesta
This recipe uses pinto beans as opposed to red kidney beans. This is a pure vegetarian food, and you can make it vegan by substituting vegetable oil for the butter. It is gluten free.It is simply a delicious festive Rajma that I call ‘Rajma Chile Fiesta.’ Try it for yourself. You can simplify this recipe, by using (New Mexican) red chile powder and buying a canned tomato sauce.
Select 7 large dried red chilies. Rinse them thoroughly and take the stems off, but leave the seeds in the chile.
In the instant pot inner pot (IP), add 1.5 cups of water and the red chilies.
On manual high pressure with the vent closed, cook them for 10 minutes.
Once the IP has cooled down, make sure there is no pressure in the cooker and that the (pressure) pin is down. Open the lid.
Using tongs, pick up the cooked red chilies and transfer them to a blender. Add the remaining water from the IP to the blender.
Add onion, ginger and garlic. Blend them thoroughly to a smooth puree.
(Optional) Pour the puree into a fine sieve set over a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to stir and press the puree through the sieve; discard solids.
Set this aside. You can refrigerate it for later use as well.
Part – II – Making Tomato Puree:
Rinse the tomatoes thoroughly. Cut the stem area off the top of the tomato. Cut the tomatoes in half.
Transfer them to a blender. Add half of the mint and all the spices from the Masala Paste. Blend them thoroughly to a smooth puree.
(Optional) Pour the puree into a fine sieve set over a bowl. Use a rubber spatula to stir and press the puree through the sieve to remove the tomato skins, then and discard solids.
Part – III – Cooking the Pinto Beans:
Carefully remove any small stones or bad pinto beans. Rinse the beans thoroughly, then put them in the IP. Add enough water (about 1.5 cup) to cover the pinto beans (water level should be just over the surface of the beans).
Add salt, and 2 tbsp of oil. On manual high pressure with the vent closed, cook them for 40 minutes.
Once the IP has cooled down, make sure there is no pressure in the cooker and that the (pressure) pin is down. Open the lid.
Pour all of the contents into a vessel and set aside.
Part – IV– Putting It All Together:
Add 2 tbsp of oil and cumin seeds into the IP.
Plug in the Instant Pot, press ‘sauté’ and ‘adjust’ to ensure the digital display is on ‘more.’ This is the high setting for sauté.
When you first hear the sound of the cumin seed "sizzling," add butter and the red chile puree from Part I and bring it to a boil. Occasionally stir and leave it for another minute after the first boil.
Add the tomato puree from Part II and bring it a boil. Stir occasionally to ensure uniform mixing. Adjust the heat if necessary. Let it cook for another five minutes.
Add cooked pinto beans from Part III. Turn the IP off.
Close the lid, and with the vent closed, select the ‘Bean/Chili’ option which will cook the beans for 30 minutes under medium pressure.
Once it is cooked, release the pressure by opening the vent.
It is said that if you can cook a good Biryani, you can be a chef at the Nawab’s kitchen! Indeed, it is not for the fainthearted! In my opinion, the ultimate culinary experience is to cook, to smell, and to eat a well-prepared Biryani. Of course, they are not all made equal; the ‘Hyderabadi Dum Biryani’ has always been the uncontested champion of Biryanis. When you cook your Biryani with saffron (without artificial colors), you are preparing a royal food served only in the finest palaces of India! Here is an authentic recipe for Hydrabadi Vegetable Dum Biryani using the Instant Pot. IP is perfect to prepare the dum part, which is the best part of this style of Biryani. It seamlessly infuses the blend of spices and their aromas by slow cooking the rice in near ideal pressure conditions. It is going to take time to prepare this dish right, so do not over commit to prepare too many other dishes. Remember that this dish is designed to be a complete meal, thus many side dishes really are not needed anyway. Simply make a kurma, or raitha or both. Enjoy cooking this meal and Bon Appétit!
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Hyderabadi Vegetable Dhum Biryani
It is said that if you can cook a good Biryani, you can be a chef at the Nawab’s kitchen! Indeed, it is not for the fainthearted! In my opinion, the ultimate culinary experience is to cook, to smell, and to eat a well-prepared Biryani. This is a vegetarian meal and gluten free.
Rinse the rice thoroughly and soak it for at least an hour.
Add a few strands of saffron to a small amount of warm milk and set it aside.
On a non-stick frying pan, add oil and set the stove to med-high. Add 3 cardamom (only the small inner black seeds, and not the pods) to the oil.
Add 3 cloves, 3 small pieces of cinnamon stick, 1 tbsp of cumin seeds and fry until they are lightly brown.
Add green chilies, ginger and garlic and fry them all together for a few seconds.
Add onions and fry them until they become soft. Add salt and butter.
Add all Masala powders. Reduce the heat, then add ½ cup of yogurt, half of the diced mint and half of the diced coriander leaves. (Cooling it down when adding the yogurt ensures that it does not separate.)
Add all the vegetables (carrot, cauliflower, potatoes, and green peas). Adjust heat if needed. Slowly turn them over without making the vegetables fall apart. Cook until the potatoes just become soft. Be careful not to overcook the potatoes - if they overcook, then they will become mushy later in the process.
Ideally at this stage, you should have the vegetables cooked half way through and they are soaked in a thick gravy that is cooked as well. This is the most difficult and important part of the dum recipe for good consistency.
If the curry mix is very dry and all the moisture evaporated, add about 1/2 cup of liquid (puree) yogurt after it has cooled down. Mix gently. Add some fried onion (optional) and set aside.
In a separate large vessel, add 1 tbsp of cumin seed, and 1 tsp of oil. Add 6 cups of water.
In a tea ball, put in 3 cloves, 3 cardamom, 3 cinnamon sticks and a few bay leaves and close it with the lid. Drop the tea ball in the water. Heat the water and bring to a rolling boil. Keep it boiling for a few minutes.
Add the rice. Wait for 3-5 (maximum five) minutes. Do not cook the rice completely (just half way through). The test is that if you take a rice grain, and press it with your fingers, it should break into two halves.
Take the rice out of the container. Strain the rice, and spread it on a on a large plate for it to become dry for a few minutes. Make sure you save at least one cup of this water.
In the inner pot of the Instant Pot (IP), spread a layer of the cooked vegetable gravy mixture (from step #11) evenly at the bottom. Use as much as half of the cooked vegetables and the leave the other half for later. The trick here is to add the liquid part of the vegetable gravy to the bottom. You want more liquid in this layer than the later layers.
Add a layer of the half cooked rice slowly until the vegetable gravy base is covered with rice. Spread the rice uniformly over the cooked base. If the rice is cool enough, use your hand to sprinkle it on. If the rice is very hot, gently spread the rice using a spoon.
To this layer, sprinkle a uniform layer of coriander and mint leaves to cover the rice. Use as much as you like, but if you are not a fan of mint or coriander leaves, you can skip this step as well. Also sprinkle the fried onion (optional) onto this layer.
Note: Do not fill in layers beyond the 4L mark. Remember, rice will still expand a bit.
Repeat the above three steps, i.e., building a layer of vegetable base, then rice and then finally a layer of mint and coriander. Continue to build these layers until all rice and the base are used up. Ensure that the top/final layer is rice.
Sprinkle ½ cup of water over the top layer, preferably the leftover water from the rice preparation step (from step #15). Also, remember the rice and vegetables are only half cooked, so you need some amount of moisture in the pot. For 2.5 cups of rice, you need a total of about one cup of moisture for the rice to cook in.
Sprinkle the saffron milk on the top layer. Add some additional yellow coloring, if needed. Sprinkle some long cut onions and chilies over the top layer.
Close the lid. Close the valve to the 'sealing position' and set to 'slow cook on high' for 30 minutes. This the dum part. The IP may not build enough pressure for the 'floating valve' to pressure position. That is okay.
After 30 minutes, open the lid. Biryani should be done, check the vegetables and the rice. Taste some from the bottom layers. If the rice is not done, add additional minutes.
Mix the rice and serve. Some folks like to serve it without mixing, but I like to mix. Garnish it with onions, green chilies, and cilantro.
