Rajma, lobia and other beans
Rajma chawal, red kidney beans in a thick, spiced tomato gravy spooned over rice, is the Sunday lunch of countless North Indian households. We sell dried kidney beans from TRS, Heera and… 7 Products
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Rajma, lobia and other beans
Rajma chawal, red kidney beans in a thick, spiced tomato gravy spooned over rice, is the Sunday lunch of countless North Indian households. We sell dried kidney beans from TRS, Heera and Suntat, along with speckled rosecoco beans (rajma chitra) that cook up especially creamy. You'll also find black-eyed beans, called lobia in Pakistan and India, tiny moth beans (matki) for Maharashtrian usal, black beans, and dried yellow peas for a Bengali ghugni.
From Middle Eastern kitchens come tins of ful medames: cooked fava beans from Durra, Chtoura and Boustan, plain, with chilli or with chickpeas. Warm them with olive oil, garlic, lemon and cumin and scoop them up with flatbread for a quick breakfast.
Rajma wants fluffy basmati rice on the side, and more pulses are in dal and lentils.
Cooking beans safely and well
- Soak: kidney beans, rosecoco and lobia need 8–12 hours in plenty of water; moth beans about 4–6 hours.
- Boil hard first: raw kidney beans contain a natural lectin that is only destroyed by proper boiling. After soaking, boil them in fresh water at a rolling boil for at least 10 minutes before turning the heat down, and don't cook them from raw in a slow cooker on low.
- Timing: rajma takes 60–90 minutes in a pan or 20–25 minutes in a pressure cooker; lobia softens in 30–40 minutes.
- Flavour: onion, ginger-garlic paste, tomato and garam masala, plus a knob of butter at the end.
Save time with ginger-garlic paste and a ready masala mix.
Frequently asked questions
What is lobia?
Lobia is the Hindi and Urdu name for black-eyed beans, the cream-coloured beans with a dark spot. They cook faster than kidney beans, taste mild and are made into a tomato-and-onion lobia curry in Pakistan and North India. Red kidney beans are sometimes called surkh lobia.
What's the difference between rajma and rajma chitra?
Both are kidney-type beans. Standard rajma are deep red, while rajma chitra are lighter rosecoco beans speckled with red. Chitra turn softer and creamier as they cook, the dark ones stay a little firmer. Many cooks in Jammu and Punjab prefer the speckled kind.
What are moth beans?
Moth beans, or matki in Hindi and Marathi, are tiny brown beans from India. They're usually sprouted first and cooked into matki usal or the spicy curry for misal pav. Once soaked and sprouted they cook in 15–20 minutes and have a pleasantly earthy taste.
How many dried kidney beans do I need for rajma chawal?
For four people, allow about 250 g of dried rajma, which gives roughly 600 g cooked. Add 300 g of basmati, two onions, three tomatoes and your spices. Leftovers often taste even better once the flavours have settled overnight.