Rajma Chawal or Kidney Beans with Rice.
Every culture has a comfort food. It seems for many guys here it is Rajma-Chawal or Kidney Beans and Rice. Every boy will swear that his mother makes the best Rajma. Even though I am not so fond of eating beans I decided to cook this particular lunch because even I admit I feel nostalgic for this sometimes. Rajma is so popular in India that you can find it on the menu of every small restaurant and even South-Indian chains like “Sagar-Ratna”.
Even though these beans take a long time to cook because they are not sold here in cans and even long longer to digest and they always end up giving me a lot of flatulence. I decided to make cumin rice along with the Rajma. Here in this part of India we do not eat rice everyday and whenever we do eat it, we sort of make a big deal out of it. Basmati is popular though expensive and sometimes people will make a pulao or at least make cumin rice when they are expecting guests. I also made a mixed raita for lunch. Raita is basically a yogurt side dish. I simply added fresh crushed mint leaves and some red chilli powder and black pepper to mine.
Indian people are usually not good at salads and as such the traditional Indian idea of a salad is just vegetables that are cut either finely or in big chunks and put together. The usual seasoning is just lime juice. However I kept up the tradition and did the same here.
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Very nice very nice. I like to make Rajma too, and I make it better than my mother.. lol
Dude, Salad is not an Indian thing, we need not be good at it. Its like saying that the Arabs are not good at making rice noodles, or the Chinese make bad falafel.
Good point, Priyank. I was about to mention the same thing. Chopped up tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, carrots, onions, with some salt+pepper and freshly squeezed lemon juice is the best, and as good – and healthy – as any salad.
@ प्रियांक : I think I would disagree. The Arabs have some noodles
In any case that is what I said Indians are no good at salad.
@ Amit : Perhaps it is “as good” but it does not really taste very refined or exquisite. Food should be about pleasing the senses. In Indian food salad is just an “after thought”. A lot of people think that is because they eat many vegetables but the truth is most vegetables in India are so overly cooked and brutalised that it is better to just not eat them at all.
U r a good cook man,u cook so well for yourself,i just hate to cook for myself.When a need arises i just make a maggie for myself.:)
Arab food is very bland,we indians can’t eat that.Their sweets doesn’t have sweetnees:(
Refined or exquisite taste is subjective.
@ Amit : Well by no accounts is a “salad” just cut up vegetables with lime juice. There is nothing subjective about that. Like I said there are many fine things about Indian food but Salad is not included in one of them. I also think it is sort of understood that taste is a very subjective thing. Only mass produced factory made food can have an “objective” appeals to all sort of character.
where it is available…
@ Thanigai : I cooked it! Invite yourself over for dinner sometime :p