Rajma Radish With Leaves Spicy Ambat.

Red Bean (Rajma / Tambade Bee) – Radish with Leaves Spicy Ambat ….. An awesome dish that goes well with Hot Steaming Rice or Roti / Parathas ……..

I simply love any Ambat’s ….. That evenly and crisply browned onion seasoning make me go yum yum yum …. So I prepare all sorts of combination in Ambat and relish it with hot steaming rice / red boiled rice. This one is hubby’s fav. As he simply loves Moolangi (Radish). So also is Red bean / Rajma known as Tambadi Bee in Konkani a favourite one in my home. There are two types available one which is popular in Northern India, the dark red variety known as Rajma while the the other light coloured red bean that is famous in the Southern side of India known as Red Bean and tambadi bee in Konkani. Today after giving a lot of thought decided to prepare this unique little bit HatKe (a hindi word meaning a little bit different) Ambat of my own combo. Hubby had brought in a lot of Radish with had lovely tender green leaves with it, However, I was in no mood to prepare sanna khotto or ambado out of the leaves which I usually prepare, as I did not want to toil much in the kitchen for this October heat.

This is not a combination ever done, I have at least never heard of it, So I thought why not prepare the same. As by now all of you must have realized that I love experimenting with my food. Trying different combinations and executing them with lots of enthusiasm gives me a great Joy, not to mention my happiness when the dish turns out excellent. I had already soaked red bean overnight so thought of preparing Ambat out of the same with the addition of radish along with the leaves. So here is another awesome combination of Rajma with Radish and its leaves Spicy Ambat prepared in my very own kitchen. Yumz. I could really not wait till lunch hour to gobble it up with hot rice. 

Soak about 100 gms of red bean / tambadi bee / Light coloured Rajma in plenty of water overnight or for about 8–10 hrs. Rinse well and pressure cook it with enough water to 3 whistles. Remove and keep aside for the pressure to fall on its own. Once the pressure falls down, open the pressure cooker and remove and put the cooked red beans in a broad stainless steel vessel by draining off the cooked water. Retain the cooked water to cook the leaves, do not throw away the cooked water.

Meanwhile peel off the skin of one radish and slice them into 1/8” thickness. Wash and keep them aside. You should have about 15-20 slices of the same. Chop the Leafy part of the radish into small pieces. Do not use the very thick stems if any. Just use thinner stems along with the tender leaves. In all you should have about 3-4 packed cup of the same. Wash and drain off the excess water. 

Now in the same cooker add in the chopped radish leaves along with the retained rajma cooked water. Add more water only if necessary. Pressure cook the leaves to 2 whistles. Let the pressure drop on its own and then open the lid. Add in the cooked radish leaves to the cooked rajma along with the sliced radish and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook of 2-3 mins till the radish slices are just about cooked. Do not overcook the radish pieces, the crunchiness of the radish should be retained a little bit and it should not be cooked too soft. 

Masala to be ground : In a mixer grinder add in 2 cups of freshly grated coconut along with a marble sized tamarind and about 8-10 red kashmiri chillies. Grind this to a very smooth paste with just a little amount of water. Do not add in more water, which will result in a thinner and non smoothy paste. The paste should be very smooth in texture.

Add the ground masala to the simmering rajma ~ radish with leaves and mix well. Add salt to taste and check the gravy consistency. If required you may add in more water. The curry should be medium thick in consistency and not too thin, so watch out when you add in water. You can always add in water later on if necessary too. Bring all the ingredients together to a rolling boil. Once the curry comes to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer for 5 minutes. Remove and keep aside.

For Tempering : Heat ½ cup of oil in a small pan, when hot add in 2 medium sized finely chopped onions and fry them till they turn brown in colour. 

Remove immediately and pour over the curry. Do not over fry the onion, lest they turn blackish which then gives bitter taste. Mix the curry well, cover with a tight lid and leave aside for 10-15 minutes for the onion flavour to get seeped into the curry.

Serve the curry hot with rice or roti. Goes very will with red boiled rice too. This dish can be served with Idly / dosa / appo too, it tastes good. You may add in kokum instead of tamarind if you prefer, in which case add it along with the masala while boiling the curry. So also bimbul or karmbal can be added to the same. Do prepare this curry and enjoy with family and friends. A real yummy dish to be served even when you have parties at home …… after all it’s something different.