Easy Instant Pot recipe for Indian kidney beans curry, Rajma. Make it with dry or canned beans and enjoy this vegan & gluten-free curry with steamed basmati rice.
Prep: If using dry kidney beans, rinse and soak them overnight. Drain them before use. Chop onions and crush ginger-garlic. You can do that by pulsing them together in a mini food processor. Puree tomatoes if using fresh.
Turn the Instant Pot on SAUTE mode, adjust to more. Wait till the display reads 'hot'. Add oil or ghee and cumin seeds.
When the cumin seeds begin to sizzle (a few seconds), add chopped onions, green chilies and crushed ginger and garlic. Saute for 3-5 minutes, till onions soften.
Add crushed tomatoes, salt, turmeric, garam masala, cumin, coriander, cayenne and paprika. Saute for 1 minute.
Add drained and rinsed kidney beans to the pot. Add fresh water and stir to deglaze the pot. Scrape off any brown bits stuck at the bottom. Cancel Saute.
Close the lid and set the valve to sealing position. Cook on Bean/Chili or Pressure Cook mode for 30 minutes.
After the cooking time is done, wait for the pressure to release naturally (NPR). Open the lid after the pin drops and garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve warm with white or brown basmati rice.
Video
Notes
Dry Beans: I prefer to use soaked dry Rajma in this recipe. It makes for the tastiest curry with beans that are creamy on the inside. Dried soaked beans are also relatively easy to digest.
Unsoaked Beans: If using unsoaked beans, simply rinse and drain dried beans and set a cooking time of 55-60 mins on bean/Chili or Pressure Cook mode. Add an extra cup of water as the dried beans will soak up more water to cook.
Canned Beans: If short on time, this recipe can be made in less than 30 minutes using canned Red Kidney beans instead. Simply rinse and drain them and add following recipe directions.
Varying Cook times: The actual cook time varies depending on the size and variety of kidney beans used. For larger varieties (around ¼ inch), increase pressure-cooking time to 40 minutes.
Creamy Thick 'Punjabi-style' Curry: To thicken the consistency of the gravy, I mash a ladle-full of beans with a fork and add them back to the curry.
Pot-in-Pot Meal: If using canned kidney beans, you can cook white basmati rice with it using the PIP method. Similarly, you can cook brown rice along with dried soaked beans, however, the texture of rice will be softer than usual due to the extra few minutes of cooking time.
Note: The nutrition facts below are my estimates and do not include rice. If you are following any diet plan, I recommend cross-checking with your preferred nutrition calculator.