Rajma Patties Recipe

     Potato..Breadcrumbs..Rajma..Spices..Yummmmmm !!!! Anything with potato would be yumm, no doubt about that. Had some leftover rajma masala from previous day's dinner. Or rather I should admit that I had wantedly taken a ladle of rajma and reserved it as a leftover :P just to try these rajma patties or rajma cutlets or tikkis or whatever. I was imagining that it would be so delicious.. How can it not be - when you put in two delicious ingredients for a recipe, the outcome is definitely a doubly delicious treat :)
     It was a nice weekend evening and I was keen to try something new to munch on. Luckily, I had the enthusiasm bubbling inside me :P thanks to the breadcrumbs which I had made at home few days back. I was determined that it shouldn't sit anymore in the fridge and so wanted to try this dish to use it up :P  Came out crisp on the outside and soft in the inside. Turned out to be a delectable treat for a quick evening snack..
     We gobbled some with sauce and had the remaining patties sandwiched between breads and finished our dinner. Try these easy to make patties and treat your taste buds !!

Prep Time: 10 mins || Cook Time: 20 mins || Serves: 8 tikkis || Category: Starters/Cutlets/Patties

Ingredients:
1. Rajma masala - leftover (I had some 5-6 tablespoons)
2. Potato - 1 (boiled and mashed)
3. Coriander leaves - finely chopped
4. Green chili - 1 
5. Cumin powder - 2 tsp
6. Amchur powder - 1 tsp
7. Hing - 1 tsp
8. Salt - as required
9. Bread crumbs - 100 gm
10. Oil - for shallow frying

Method:
1. Mash the leftover rajma, potato and mix them together in a bowl along with coriander leaves, salt, cumin powder, hing, amchur powder, green chili.  Sprinkle some breadcrumbs and mix well into a single mass.

2. Divide the mixed rajma potato masala into small portions and flatten them as tikkis. Dust them in breadcrumbs and roll the edges of the tikkis in breadcrumbs to give a complete coating. 

3. Heat 2-3 tbsp of oil in a pan and gently place the tikkis on it. Cook in medium flame for 3-4 mins and turn each tikki to the other side carefully without disturbing the other tikkis. Cook till the sides have turned golden brown. 

Suggestions:

• Instead of leftover rajma masala, you can dedicatedly soak rajma overnight and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles and then mash it and use in the recipe.
• As I used rajma masala, it provided some flavors to the tikki as it already had all the spices and tomato in it.
• If soaking and cooking rajma for this recipe, add in more spices otherwise the patties will taste bland.
• Need not overcook the patties. As the potato and rajma are pre-cooked, it is enough to stop shallow frying with just the sides browned and crisp.
• When combining the ingredients for the patties, if the mixture is loose or a little sticky, adding a good amount of breadcrumbs makes the mixture combine well into a mass.
• These patties can be used as a stuffing for bread sandwich.

Rajma Masala Recipe / Red Kidney Bean Masala

     I greedily buy Rajma :P as though I cook regularly. Stacking Rajma and other pulses in the kitchen for a while, one fine day comes with someone nudging me to use them up, I put a handful of them for soaking overnight. Then if everything goes good (with my laziness talking a lazy nap and forgetting to bother me) the soaked lentil will be cooked and used up on the next day itself. If not, it visits the fridge for a day and then makes its appearance for a dish aaram se !!!
     This time, the soaked Rajma made its appearance without the sitting-in-the-fridge episode :) and we had a yummy Rajma masala to pair up with the chappathi.

Prep Time: overnight rajma soaking & steaming + 10 mins || Cook Time: 25 mins || Serves: 3 || Category: Side-dish for roti/chappathi

Ingredients:
1. Rajma (Red kidney beans) - 100 gm (soaked overnight & pressure cooked for 6-7 whistles)
2. Onion - 1
3. Oil - 2 tbsp
4. Bay leaves - 2
5. Cinnamon - 2 pieces
6. Cumin seeds - 2 tsp
7. Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
8. Turmeric powder - 1 tsp
9. Tomato - 1 large
10. Green chilli - 1 or 2 slit
11. Hing - 2 tsp
12. Kashmiri chilli powder - 2 tsp
13. Coriander powder - 2 tsp
14. Garam masala - 2 tsp
15. Salt - as required
16. Kasoori Methi (dry fenugreek leaves) - 2 tbsp
17. Fresh cream - 3 tbsp

Method:
1. Heat a pan with 2 tbsp of oil. Throw in the bay leaves, cinnamon and cumin seeds and fry them until a nice aroma comes. Then add finely chopped onion and saute for a min. Add ginger garlic paste and turmeric powder and cook until the onion starts becoming translucent.

2.  Add the slit green chilli, chopped tomatoes and give a stir. Saute until the tomatoes start to become mushy. Then add all the powders (Kashmiri chilli, Garam masala, Coriander powder, hing) and stir thoroughly. Cook for about 3-4 mins covered with the lid.

3. Add required amount of salt and then some water for the gravy to get cooked. Cook covered for 2 mins. Then add the pressure cooked rajma and mash a few of them in the gravy.

4. Allow the gravy to boil for 2 mins and let the gravy thicken. Now add fresh cream and kasoori methi crushed in between the palms. Give a quick stir and switch off the flame after a min.

Suggestions:

• It is optional to use fresh cream & kasoori methi.
• Rajma can be replaced with any other kind of soaked lentil.