Rajma beans fried rice

Rajma beans!

The first time I heard about them was from my ex-boyfriend who was from Delhi. That was years ago! Am not sure if it was common in Kerala back then coz I wasn't that into food then. But I certainly didn't come across them in my diet at that time.

So recently when I went grocery shopping and came across these little pebble beans, I thought it would serve as a good option to stock up. Obviously it was going to come in handy.

So on that Saturday morning when I decided it was going to be home-made lunch, it was going to be my version of a rajma fried rice :D :D

What I used

1. Vegetable oil: 3 tablespoons
2. Cooked rajma beans: 1.5 cups - retain the stock remaining after cooking the rajma beans
3. Finely diced medium-sized onion: 1
4. Diced carrots (optional): 1
5. Chillies (any chillies): use based on how much of heat needed
6. Garam masala: 1 teaspoon
7. Chilli powder (optional): 1 teaspoon
8. Salt: to taste
9. Jaggery: 1 teaspoon
10. Garlic: 2 cloves
11. Basmati rice: 1.5 cups
12. Cinnamon stick: 1 inch
13. Butter: 1/ tablespoon
14. Curry leaves (optional): 2 sprigs
15. Water: enough to cook the rice - for 1 cup basmati rice, add 2 cups of water. To be on the safe side, check the softness of rice and add water accordingly

How I made it

1. In a pan, heat the butter and 1/2 teaspoon oil and when it's hot, add the washed basmati rice with cinnamon stick and fry the rice. Keep aside
   PS:No need to brown the rice. It is fried enough when the grains are all separated from each other
2. Simultaneously in another pan, heat the remaining oil and splutter some mustard seeds, followed by sauteeing of onion with some chillies and salt
3. When the onions have wilted, add in the carrots and cook with pan covered till carrots are soft
4. Sprinkle in the garam masala, chilli powder and jaggery with the beans and mix everything well
5. Add the curry leaves and fried rice with the rajma stock adding enough water to coer the contents
6. Keep the pan covered and cook till the rice is done
   PS: take care of the amount of water being added as too much water can make the rice gooey. There should only just be enough water for rice to cook fully. For this, check the softness of the rice in between and add water accordingly. It's not as difficult as you might have just felt reading this
7. Keep the contents covered for sometime for everything to mingle well and serve hot... or cold :D Whatever way you feel like :D :D

When I made this, it came out a tad bit too spicy for me. So I had this with some cold yoghurt and it was heaven! 

At least try it once. It's worth it! :D :D