Himachali Rajmah Madra Recepie

This is a guest blog post by Arpit Awasthi. Born in Tikkari Village (Baijnath, Kangra), he had his schooling in Palampur and Dharamshala. 
An IT engineer by profession Arpit is a complete foodie and nurtures his passion for food by discovering and sharing traditional Himachali recipes. He also writes for  “Khabar Now”, a weekly magazine from Himachal.

You can catch more recepies by Arpit on his Facebook page.




Rajmah Madra

Madra is an essential part of the Himachali Dham and a real treat to your tastebuds. The Madra a dish native to Chamba is cooked and enjoyed all over Himachal. Madra is mostly cooked using curd and spices without onion and garlic. 

Here is a recepie to cook Rajma Madra.

Ingredients:
Kidney Beans (Rajmah) boiled - 100 Gms 

Fresh tomato puree - 01 cup 
Cream or hung yoghurt  - ½ cup 
Aamchur (dry mango) powder (for sourness if cream is used) - ½ tsp 
Garam Masala - 01 tsp 
Turmeric powder - 01tsp 
Green chilies as preferred
Red chilies powder - 01tsp 
Cinnamon stick – ½” pc 
Black cardamom - 02 pcs  
Salt to taste
Oil – 02 tsp
Coriander fresh chopped – 01 tbsp

Process: 
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed kadai on a medium flame. Add black cardamom and cinnamon and cook till aromas are released. Stir in the fresh tomato puree and simmer gently for 5-7 minutes. 

Add in the powdered spices and green chili, also the aamchur if using cream later. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Fold in the hung yoghurt or cream and mix well. Cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes. 

Add the boiled rajmah and water as desired. Simmer further to achieve gravy of desired consistency. Adjust seasoning and finish with freshly chopped coriander. Serve hot accompanied by Chapati (traditional Indian flatbread) or steamed rice. 

Tips: 

• Mustard oil or ghee can also be used to cook. 
• Heat the mustard oil and let it smoke. This helps remove some of the pungency and raw flavor of the oil improves.
• Adding salt after the yoghurt has cooked helps the yoghurt from curdling.