No-Soak Instant Pot Rajma Masala - Curried Red Kidney Beans

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Cooking With Anadi

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Why Make Instant Pot Rajma Masala?

So, why should you use the Instant Pot to make the traditional Rajma Masala? Well, if you’re going to make the traditional stove-top recipe, I recommend you soak your red kidney beans before pressure cooking. Of course, you can get away without soaking, but it will take much longer to get your beans perfectly cooked!

This Instant Pot recipe is an incredible shortcut! Suppose you have an Instant Pot and you’re going to cook your red kidney beans in the Instant Pot. Soaked red kidney beans will take you about 7 minutes to cook in the Instant Pot, while unsoaked beans will take 20 minutes. For more details on cooking the best beans in the Instant Pot, be sure to check out my Cooking Instant Pot Lentils & Beans Complete Guide!

That being said, if you’re in a pickle and didn’t soak your beans and you’re really craving rajma for dinner tonight, then might as well cook the whole dish in the Instant Pot, right? You won’t have to dirty extra dishes, and the active time will be very little. You’ll just need to do a bit of preparation before cooking, and then you dump everything in and let the Instant Pot do the work! Finish it off at the very end of the cooking time, and voila! Your hearty curry is now ready for you to enjoy! And let me tell you that this recipe tastes just like the traditional stove-top method! Who can say no to this? If it’ll save time, dishes, and effort, then I’m all for it!

I’ll let you know that it will take about an hour and a half for your rajma to come together, so you will have to bear that in mind. That’s what happens with your red kidney beans that aren’t soaked! While this seems like a long time, however, you can do lots of things in that time! Here are some ideas for how you can pass the time:

• You could prepare your accompanying side dishes
• Do some chores
• Just sit back and watch TV!

Whatever you choose to do in that time, simply let the Instant Pot do the work here and enjoy minimal clean-up and active time!

Tips for Amazing Rajma Masala

• Completely cook out the whole spices to unlock and enhance flavors in the curry
• Thoroughly cook out the masala because this will be the base of the gravy and create all of the amazing flavors in your rajma. Ensure that the ginger, garlic, and onion puree are entirely cooked through with the rajma masala, deggi mirch and salt.
• After the timer of the Instant Pot has gone off, let the pressure release naturally, which will take about 15 minutes. If you don’t do this, your red kidney beans won’t be soft and fully cooked.
• If you are adjusting the consistency of your gravy by adding extra water, make sure to cook the gravy a bit longer so it can reach the desired thickness.

Tools Needed

• Instant pot
• Food processor
• Measuring cups
• Wooden spoon
• Spatula

Ingredients for Instant Pot Rajma

As I mentioned earlier, the flavor from rajma masala really comes from the red kidney beans! As your curry is cooking with the beans, the beans will release their flavor. That being said, we don’t need many spices for this recipe. The spices we’ll be using are jeera, hing, deggi mirch, and rajma masala. A little of these will go a long way!

Here’s what you’ll need for this Instant Pot Rajma recipe:

• Rajma/red kidney beans
• onion
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Onion
• Tomatoes
• Cinnamon stick
• Whole cloves
• Cumin seeds
• Rajma masala
• Water
• Deggi mirch
• Salt
• Hing
• Ghee/olive oil
• Garam masala
• Cilantro, for garnish

How to Make Instant Pot Rajma Chawal

1. Begin by adding the ginger, garlic, and onion in a food processor with a bit of water. Purée until everything is well combined.
2. Set the Instant Pot to Sauté mode and add ghee or olive oil. When the oil is hot, add hing, cumin seeds, bay leaf, cloves and cinnamon. Cook until whole spices become aromatic.
3. Add onion, ginger, garlic puree, mix well and add rajma masala and deggi mirch. Continue cooking until the mixture is dry and reddish brown. Add a splash of water if the mixture gets too dry and starts to stick.
4. Puree the tomatoes in a food processor. Add the tomato purée, dried red kidney beans, garam masala and salt to taste. Add 2-3 cups of water and mix well.
5. Select Cancel on the Instant Pot and close the lid of the Instant Pot. Set the Instant Pot to Bean & Chili mode and set timer to 50 minutes. Ensure that the valve is set to Sealing mode.
6. Once the timer is over, let the pressure release naturally (about 15 minutes).
7. Adjust for seasoning, and if the consistency of the gravy is too thick, add 1/2 Cup of water at a time to adjust the consistency. Make sure to bring gravy to a simmer for 5-10 minutes to ensure the flavors meld together.
8. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with rice, roti or paratha.

How to Serve Instant Pot Rajma

The “rajma” part of Rajma Chawal is the rice! I usually serve my rajma with Simple Fluffy Basmati Rice. However, if you’re looking to take things up a notch, you could also pair your rajma with Restaurant-Style Jeera Rice. When I’m really looking for a complete and satisfying meal, then I’ll go the extra mile and prepare some Crispy Aloo Bhujia.

I personally never serve my rajma with bread, but here are some breads that you may enjoy your Instant Pot rajma with:

• Homestyle Roti
• Classic Layered Paratha

What’s great about this Instant Pot rajma recipe is that it will take 50 minutes plus the time for the pressure to naturally release (about 15 to 20 minutes) for the curry to completely cook. So that means you can sit back Now that’s the dream combo right there! You could also serve with some yogurt and/or your favorite pickle on the side!

Storing and Freezing Instant Pot Rajma

You can keep cooked rajma masala in the fridge for 3-4 days, or freeze it for up to 6 months. Store remaining portions in an airtight container. Store the rajma masala separate from your rice, and combine together when you’re ready to serve!

Reheating Instant Pot Rajma Chawal

To Reheat From the Refrigerator

In the microwave: Heat uncovered for 2-3 minutes, stirring at 45 second intervals.

Over the stove: Transfer the contents to a pan or pot and bring to a gentle simmer over medium low heat.

To Reheat From the Freezer

In the microwave: Heat uncovered for 2-3 minutes, stirring at 45 second intervals.

Over the stove: Thaw the rajma masala overnight and then transfer the contents to a pan or pot and bring to a gentle simmer over medium low heat.

What Makes This a Punjabi Rajma, and Can You Make It Vegan?

Rajma masala is a North Indian curry, and Punjabi kitchens are where it built its reputation. Kidney beans are not originally from India at all - they came from the Americas - but Punjab adopted them so completely that rajma chawal is now one of the most recognizable home-cooked meals in the country, the sort of thing people describe as tasting like a Sunday. What marks this version as the Punjabi style is the tempering it starts with: hing, cumin seeds, a bay leaf, a whole clove and half an inch of cinnamon stick bloomed in hot fat before a single other thing goes into the pot.

It is vegetarian as written, and vegan the moment you take a swap the ingredient list already offers you - the fat is listed as ghee or olive oil, so pick the olive oil and there is no dairy anywhere in the dish. It is also naturally gluten-free: kidney beans, onion, tomato, ginger, garlic and whole spices, with nothing thickening the gravy except the beans breaking down into it. The one thing worth checking is your packaged rajma masala blend, since spice mixes vary between brands and some carry fillers or anti-caking agents. Read the label if gluten matters in your house.

Sauté Mode, Ginger Garlic Paste and Tomato Puree: Building the Base

Almost everything that makes this curry taste like it simmered all afternoon happens before the lid ever goes on. Sauté mode does the work: ghee or oil in first, then the hing, cumin seeds, bay leaf, clove and cinnamon, cooked only until they turn aromatic. Whole spices need hot fat to release anything at all, and rushing this step is the single most common reason a rajma tastes flat.

Then the aromatics, and here is why you do not need fine chopped onions anywhere in this recipe. Half a medium onion goes into the food processor roughly diced, along with the ginger and garlic and a splash of water, and comes out as a smooth purée - so the knife work is genuinely just quartering an onion. If you keep ginger garlic paste in the fridge, a tablespoon and a half stands in for the fresh ginger and garlic. Cook that purée down with the rajma masala and deggi mirch until the mixture goes dry and reddish brown, adding a splash of water any time it starts to catch. Two medium tomatoes go through the same food processor, and that tomato puree joins the pot with the dried beans, garam masala, salt and 2-3 cups of water. Deggi mirch is doing the job a red chili powder would, but it is ground more for color than for heat, which is why a teaspoon of it does not make the curry hot.

Instant Pot or Stovetop Pressure Cooker, and Why There Is No Baking Soda

Bean & Chili mode, 50 minutes, valve on Sealing, then a natural release that takes about 15 mins on its own. That is the whole cooking stage, and it is what lets you skip soaking. A stovetop pressure cooker gets you to the same place but asks you to stand there counting whistles and guessing, and unsoaked kidney beans are exactly the wrong thing to guess about - undercooked rajma cannot be rescued by simmering it afterwards. The Instant Pot's real contribution here is not speed, it is that 50 minutes is 50 minutes whether you are in the kitchen or not.