Red Kidney Beans (Rajma)

3 tablespoons canola oil
5 whole cloves
10 black peppercorns
1 (1 inch) piece cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 whole cardamom pod (optional)
2 onion, chopped
6 Roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger root
1 teaspoon powdered red pepper or dried Cajun pepper (optional)
1 1/2 cups drained kidney beans (this is roughly the same as a drained can of beans)*
salt to taste
water
6 sprigs cilantro, minced

[source]

1 tsp whole cloves = 3/4 tsp ground cloves*
1/4 tsp ground cloves = 3 whole cloves*

1 tsp (5 mL) peppercorns = 1 1/2 tsp (7 mL) ground pepper*
1 tsp whole peppercorns = 100 peppercorns

1″ stick cinnamon = 1 tsp ground*

1 cardamom pod = 1/6 tsp ground cardamom*

1 tbsp ground fresh ginger = 1 tsp ground ginger*


I often use two pounds of dry beans in a recipe to make a large amount of food to be eaten throughout the week. I also don’t really like randomly biting into whole cloves or whole peppercorns. Here is the recipe multiplied for 4 1/2 cups of cooked beans (2 lbs dried beans) and ground spices only:

0.5 cup canola oil (or 9 1/2 tbsp)
1.5 tsp ground clove
0.5 tsp ground black pepper
3.5 tsp cinnamon
3 bay leaves
0.5 tsp cardamom (optional)
6 onions, chopped
19 Roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped (~57 oz of tomatoes) 13 cloves garlic, minced
6 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp powdered red pepper or dried Cajun pepper (optional)
4 1/2 cups drained kidney beans
salt to taste
water
3 tsp dried cilantro

Source: my own measurement and hand-counting of 100 peppercorns
1 bunch of cilantro = 93 sprigs of cilantro*
1 bunch fresh cilantro = 1 cup, chopped*
1 1/2 cups cilantro leaves, loose = 1 cilantro bunch*
1 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, chopped = 3g*
19 sprigs cilantro = 0.2 bunches fresh cilantro (using cross-multiplication)
0.2 bunches fresh cilantro = 0.2 cups fresh cilantro, chopped (using cross-multiplication)
0.2 cups fresh cilantro, chopped = 3.2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
3.2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped = 3.2 tsp dried ground cilantro

From Martha Stewart*:

When cooking with fresh and dry herbs, there is a general rule when it comes to the ratio of fresh to dry. Because dried herbs are generally more potent and concentrated than fresh herbs, you’ll need less — typically three times the amount of fresh herbs as dry.

According to various sources on the Internet, a Roma tomato typically weighs ~3 oz. This would mean that one would need about 57 ounces of tomatoes altogether.

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