i buy dry, hard kidney beans from an indian grocery store. i never buy
the
canned ones, because it has chemicals such as calcium chloride and
other things. also, it's more expensive.

when i make kidney bean curry (called rajma in indian), i soak it
overnight with a little salt and garam masala spice powder. this way,
as the hard rajma beans expand, it absorbs some of the garam masala and
salt.


my problem is that it takes me a very, very long time to make rajma.
in fact, it takes about 5.5 hours IN A PRESSURE COOKER. moreover, i
must use about 8 cups of water to 1 cup of rajma.


is this normal, or is my pressure cooker not working? my pressure
cooker is made by "mantra corporation" (made in india, bought in the
USA).

Brablo wrote:
> i buy dry, hard kidney beans from an indian grocery store. i never buy
> the
> canned ones, because it has chemicals such as calcium chloride and
> other things. also, it's more expensive.
>
> when i make kidney bean curry (called rajma in indian), i soak it
> overnight with a little salt and garam masala spice powder. this way,
> as the hard rajma beans expand, it absorbs some of the garam masala and
> salt.
>
>
> my problem is that it takes me a very, very long time to make rajma.
> in fact, it takes about 5.5 hours IN A PRESSURE COOKER. moreover, i
> must use about 8 cups of water to 1 cup of rajma.
>
>
> is this normal, or is my pressure cooker not working? my pressure
> cooker is made by "mantra corporation" (made in india, bought in the
> USA).

Ditch the salt. It prevents the beans from softening. Also, how much
garam masala are the beans absorbing during the soak? Little or none I
suspect, especially if the beans aren't softening appreciably while
soaking. Ditch it, too.

-bwg

Barry,

Is my pressure-cooking for 5.5 hours normal or abnormal? Do you think
that I have something wrong with my pressure cooker?

Thanks for your great advice.


-bwg wrote:
> Brablo wrote:
> > i buy dry, hard kidney beans from an indian grocery store. i never buy
> > the
> > canned ones, because it has chemicals such as calcium chloride and
> > other things. also, it's more expensive.
> >
> > when i make kidney bean curry (called rajma in indian), i soak it
> > overnight with a little salt and garam masala spice powder. this way,
> > as the hard rajma beans expand, it absorbs some of the garam masala and
> > salt.
> >
> >
> > my problem is that it takes me a very, very long time to make rajma.
> > in fact, it takes about 5.5 hours IN A PRESSURE COOKER. moreover, i
> > must use about 8 cups of water to 1 cup of rajma.
> >
> >
> > is this normal, or is my pressure cooker not working? my pressure
> > cooker is made by "mantra corporation" (made in india, bought in the
> > USA).
>
> Ditch the salt. It prevents the beans from softening. Also, how much
> garam masala are the beans absorbing during the soak? Little or none I
> suspect, especially if the beans aren't softening appreciably while
> soaking. Ditch it, too.
>
> -bwg

Brablo wrote:
> Is my pressure-cooking for 5.5 hours normal or abnormal? Do you think
> that I have something wrong with my pressure cooker?

Skip salt and Masala, after all beans are not meat you need to
marinate.

Job is easy if you have Microwave. In a well covered Oven bowl put them
in sufficient boiling water. With beans and water as tightly as
possible run microwave for a minute.

Now and then run microwave for a minute. After about 5 hours and five
microwave one minute run you will not need to cook in Pressure Cooker.

On 31 Oct 2006 08:57:37 -0800, "Brablo" >
wrote:

>my problem is that it takes me a very, very long time to make rajma.
>in fact, it takes about 5.5 hours IN A PRESSURE COOKER. moreover, i
>must use about 8 cups of water to 1 cup of rajma.

Yikes! Kidneys take me about 10-12 minutes, twice that if they're not
soaked.

Either you've got old beans, or you're adding WAY too much salt.

I'd cook them without the salt, and salt them after cooking.

(I soak them overnight, rinse them, put them in the pressure cooker
with just enough water to cover, add a teaspoon of oil, and cook 10-12
minutes at high pressure.)

serene
--
"I can't decide if I feel more like four ten-year-olds or ten four-year-olds." Laurie Anderson , on turning 40.

http://serenejournal.livejournal.com

Hey man...
Forget about Salt and Masala during soaking of it. Once the beans
expand Pressure cook it for 10 mins or three whitles and off the gas.
Keep it in the cooker for sometime and remove it. That's it.. if you
want a good rajma receipes visit:http://indianfoodstuff.blogspot.com
Brablo wrote:
> i buy dry, hard kidney beans from an indian grocery store. i never buy
> the
> canned ones, because it has chemicals such as calcium chloride and
> other things. also, it's more expensive.
>
> when i make kidney bean curry (called rajma in indian), i soak it
> overnight with a little salt and garam masala spice powder. this way,
> as the hard rajma beans expand, it absorbs some of the garam masala and
> salt.
>
>
> my problem is that it takes me a very, very long time to make rajma.
> in fact, it takes about 5.5 hours IN A PRESSURE COOKER. moreover, i
> must use about 8 cups of water to 1 cup of rajma.
>
>
> is this normal, or is my pressure cooker not working? my pressure
> cooker is made by "mantra corporation" (made in india, bought in the
> USA).

Romanise,

It sounds that this is explosive!!!! also, food won't cook in a
microwave unless the water is exposed to the microwave rays. but since
your method, the food is covered by a container, the rajma mixture
should never heat up much, or this is very inefficient to heat up
things.

also, it sounds very very dangerous.


Romanise wrote:
> Brablo wrote:
> > Is my pressure-cooking for 5.5 hours normal or abnormal? Do you think
> > that I have something wrong with my pressure cooker?
>
> Skip salt and Masala, after all beans are not meat you need to
> marinate.
>
> Job is easy if you have Microwave. In a well covered Oven bowl put them
> in sufficient boiling water. With beans and water as tightly as
> possible run microwave for a minute.
>
> Now and then run microwave for a minute. After about 5 hours and five
> microwave one minute run you will not need to cook in Pressure Cooker.

Brablo wrote:
> Romanise,
>
> It sounds that this is explosive!!!! also, food won't cook in a
> microwave unless the water is exposed to the microwave rays. but since
> your method, the food is covered by a container, the rajma mixture
> should never heat up much, or this is very inefficient to heat up
> things.
>
> also, it sounds very very dangerous.

Are you unfamiliar with microwave?

Pyrex Casseroles work both in all kinds of ovens, in microwave
included.

Lokk at them
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/8607027.htm

If you can see them, we use largest to make our bengan bhurta, takes 12
minutes.

Covering makes cooking faster. .

Dipsee,

If it only takes you a few minutes and it takes me a few hours, this
VERIFIES that there is something wrong with my pressure cooker!

I'm quite angry thinking about this now.

I am sure that it should *NOT* take 5.5 hours to cook rajma, but more
like 30 minutes or so.

Are you sure that you use the "HARD" rajma (hard as stones) that's dry?


Dipsee wrote:
> Hey man...
> Forget about Salt and Masala during soaking of it. Once the beans
> expand Pressure cook it for 10 mins or three whitles and off the gas.
> Keep it in the cooker for sometime and remove it. That's it.. if you
> want a good rajma receipes visit:http://indianfoodstuff.blogspot.com
> Brablo wrote:
> > i buy dry, hard kidney beans from an indian grocery store. i never buy
> > the
> > canned ones, because it has chemicals such as calcium chloride and
> > other things. also, it's more expensive.
> >
> > when i make kidney bean curry (called rajma in indian), i soak it
> > overnight with a little salt and garam masala spice powder. this way,
> > as the hard rajma beans expand, it absorbs some of the garam masala and
> > salt.
> >
> >
> > my problem is that it takes me a very, very long time to make rajma.
> > in fact, it takes about 5.5 hours IN A PRESSURE COOKER. moreover, i
> > must use about 8 cups of water to 1 cup of rajma.
> >
> >
> > is this normal, or is my pressure cooker not working? my pressure
> > cooker is made by "mantra corporation" (made in india, bought in the
> > USA).

Hey

How do you make Bengan Bhurta in these pans... I am quite curious. I
usually end up baking the bengan in oven...

Thanks
A


>
> Are you unfamiliar with microwave?
>
> Pyrex Casseroles work both in all kinds of ovens, in microwave
> included.
>
> Lokk at them
> http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/8607027.htm
>
> If you can see them, we use largest to make our bengan bhurta, takes 12
> minutes.
>
> Covering makes cooking faster. .

wrote:
> Hey
>
> How do you make Bengan Bhurta in these pans... I am quite curious. I
> usually end up baking the bengan in oven...

Microwave is good tool for steaming or boiling a vegitable in its own
moisture. You can cook Potatoes, Carrots, Peas, Cauliflower. Casserole
will let some steam out. For small amount of anything just put them in
clear plastic bag and tie it up. Bag will become baloon.

How long what, one has to experiment.

After Bengan gets boiled in its own water, some variety will not
require you to skin it. Bengan done in choolaa gets bit burnt outside
and may not get cooked in the middle, but as you can eat bengan kacchaa
it does not matter. In India Bhurta gets eaten after cooked in choolaa
by skinning it off and then just mixing salt and mirchi powder in it.

You can cook onion strait in microwave. It gets sweetish, tikhaa taste
totally gone.


> > Are you unfamiliar with microwave?
> >
> > Pyrex Casseroles work both in all kinds of ovens, in microwave
> > included.
> >
> > Lokk at them
> > http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Produc...er/8607027.htm
> >
> > If you can see them, we use largest to make our bengan bhurta, takes 12
> > minutes.
> >
> > Covering makes cooking faster. .

Brablo wrote:
> Dipsee,
>
> If it only takes you a few minutes and it takes me a few hours, this
> VERIFIES that there is something wrong with my pressure cooker!
>
> I'm quite angry thinking about this now.
>
> I am sure that it should *NOT* take 5.5 hours to cook rajma, but more
> like 30 minutes or so.

Have you calculated how much water will vaporize in 5.5 hours at
whatever heat you are putting your cooker?

I would say about 4 litres of water will disappear.


> Are you sure that you use the "HARD" rajma (hard as stones) that's dry?

Romanise,

Your estimate is not that far off. Since I use a very very small
flame, it vaporizes roughly 1 cup (~10 oz.) of water an hour.

I'm going to have to invest in a new pressure cooker. No more Manttra
cookers for me - this is the second one that has failed on me.


Romanise wrote:
> Brablo wrote:
> > Dipsee,
> >
> > If it only takes you a few minutes and it takes me a few hours, this
> > VERIFIES that there is something wrong with my pressure cooker!
> >
> > I'm quite angry thinking about this now.
> >
> > I am sure that it should *NOT* take 5.5 hours to cook rajma, but more
> > like 30 minutes or so.
>
> Have you calculated how much water will vaporize in 5.5 hours at
> whatever heat you are putting your cooker?
>
> I would say about 4 litres of water will disappear.
>
>
> > Are you sure that you use the "HARD" rajma (hard as stones) that's dry?

Brablo wrote:
> Romanise,
>
> Your estimate is not that far off. Since I use a very very small
> flame, it vaporizes roughly 1 cup (~10 oz.) of water an hour.
>
> I'm going to have to invest in a new pressure cooker. No more Manttra
> cookers for me - this is the second one that has failed on me.

Pressure coocker works on principle of buiding up pressure. That is why
they say 'for so many whistles'. If one wants to save fuel and has time
she can stand by the cooker and keep flame just right so the weight on
cooker dances but does not let steam off and give out whistle.

Brablo wrote:
> Is my pressure-cooking for 5.5 hours normal or abnormal? Do you think
> that I have something wrong with my pressure cooker?

Very abnormal!

Beans should not take more than 20 to 30 minutes.

20 is standard for beans from dry if you get the liquid to dry bean
ration right. It's generally 2 parts liquid to 1 part beans. I add a
little extra liquid for pressure cooking, or more if I'm making soup.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

Romanise,

Thanks for your insights and advice. However, cooking under a very
slow flame (just enough where the water simmers) and cooking under a
high flame (where there is a "rolling" boil) has the SAME TEMPERATURE.
The only difference is that water evaporates faster in the second case.
Also, the temperature in both cases is 100 C. In a pressure cooker,
it's about 110 C using low or high flame.



> Pressure coocker works on principle of buiding up pressure. That is why
> they say 'for so many whistles'. If one wants to save fuel and has time
> she can stand by the cooker and keep flame just right so the weight on
> cooker dances but does not let steam off and give out whistle.

Brablo wrote:
> Romanise,
>
> Thanks for your insights and advice. However, cooking under a very
> slow flame (just enough where the water simmers) and cooking under a
> high flame (where there is a "rolling" boil) has the SAME TEMPERATURE.
> The only difference is that water evaporates faster in the second case.
> Also, the temperature in both cases is 100 C. In a pressure cooker,
> it's about 110 C using low or high flame.

All pressure cookers need to be put at high flame untill pressure
builds up that will lift the weight up. only than one can reduce flame
sufficiently to keep the weight dancing. Most people will reduce flame
but will keep sufficiently high so there will be several whistle blasts
befor which they will turn flame off. Even so they will not lift weight
right away, only after about 10 minutes when pressure has dropped.

I suspect you are not much familiar with the use of pressure cooker.

Romanise,

Thanks a lot my friend. I need to re-learn this damn Manttra cooker.
It sucks, and maybe i do as well.

Thanks a lot.

anyways, my rajma is pretty good, even though it took 6 hours.



Romanise wrote:
> Brablo wrote:
> > Romanise,
> >
> > Thanks for your insights and advice. However, cooking under a very
> > slow flame (just enough where the water simmers) and cooking under a
> > high flame (where there is a "rolling" boil) has the SAME TEMPERATURE.
> > The only difference is that water evaporates faster in the second case.
> > Also, the temperature in both cases is 100 C. In a pressure cooker,
> > it's about 110 C using low or high flame.
>
> All pressure cookers need to be put at high flame untill pressure
> builds up that will lift the weight up. only than one can reduce flame
> sufficiently to keep the weight dancing. Most people will reduce flame
> but will keep sufficiently high so there will be several whistle blasts
> befor which they will turn flame off. Even so they will not lift weight
> right away, only after about 10 minutes when pressure has dropped.
>
> I suspect you are not much familiar with the use of pressure cooker.

I cook beans at least once a week in the pressure cooker. The toughest
beans take no more than 45 minutes. I don't soak the beans. Never put
salt or any acidic product in with the beans. It will really slow down
the cooking. Also, pressure cooking tends to kill spice flavors.
Season and flavor the beans after cooking.

It sounds like something ain't working. Nothing should take that long
or use that high a proportion of water. Is the steam only coming out
of the weight? I don't know what pot you have, so I don't know what
regulator assembly it uses, but steam shouldn't be coming out of
anywhere but the regulator. Start the pot on high heat; when the steam
starts coming out of the regulator, or the stem shows the suggested
number of rings, turn the temp to the lowest setting that keeps it
steaming, and cook for about 30 minutes; let down the steam by running
cold water over the pot until all of the steam indicators go down and
the pot will open. DON'T FORCE it open!! Check for doneness. Mash a
bean with your finger. (It'll be really hot - be careful). If it's
soft enough, you're done. If not, put the lid back on and cook a bit
longer - use your judgement - maybe 10-15 minutes more at a time.

Be careful. Things with starch, such as beans, will burn on the
bottom. Too high heat for too long will burn it. On an electric
stove, once it boils, move it to another burner on low to keep it
simmering.

On Oct 31, 11:57 am, "Brablo" > wrote:
> i buy dry, hard kidney beans from an indian grocery store. i never buy
> the
> canned ones, because it has chemicals such as calcium chloride and
> other things. also, it's more expensive.
>
> when i make kidney bean curry (called rajma in indian), i soak it
> overnight with a little salt and garam masala spice powder. this way,
> as the hard rajma beans expand, it absorbs some of the garam masala and
> salt.
>
> my problem is that it takes me a very, very long time to make rajma.
> in fact, it takes about 5.5 hours IN A PRESSURE COOKER. moreover, i
> must use about 8 cups of water to 1 cup of rajma.
>
> is this normal, or is my pressure cooker not working? my pressure
> cooker is made by "mantra corporation" (made in india, bought in the
> USA).

Now I know what I was doing wrong! One local Indian guy on the
Internet gave me a pointer. Instead of pressure cooking at a very low
flame, I pressure cook at a very high flame. When doing so, I only
need to pressure cook for about 45 minutes or so. This, of course,
occurs after I've soaked over-night.

So the key is to have the pressure cooker on top of a HIGH FLAME!