Coming Home to Hot Piping food

Cooking with a crockpot (slow cooker)

It's raining incessantly, and you have had a long day at work and still a lot to do starting with your children's activities and chores to be finished off.    The thought of coming home to a hot and tasty dinner will make it seem as though some kind of cooking genie visited your home while you were out to work.

Next in our series of Handy Dandy Gadgets for the Kitchen is the 'Slow Cooker' or 'Crockpot'. It is a great invention and is perfect for busy families who want to come home to a hot, hearty meal after work without having to spend time preparing it. It just needs some planning ahead, either  waking up a bit earlier or preparing it overnight to throw into your slow cooker to cook while you're at work. Because of the low cooking temperatures, it is safe to leave the slow cooker unattended and if the food cooks longer than required, it generally does not overcook because of the low temperatures being used.

2 cups Rajma ( Red kidney beans)
Salt To taste
1 Pinch Turmeric powder
1 Onions, chopped
5 Garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch Ginger, chopped
3 Green chillies, chopped
3 Tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp Corainder powder
1 tsp Red chilli powder
1/2 tsp Garam masala
2 tbsp Oil

Preparation:

Soak the Rajma/red kidney beans overnight in water and drain them. When you're ready to cook the soaked beans, drain them, rinse them again, and then cover them with fresh water. Rinsing the beans can help reduce their gas-causing properties. Cook the beans until tender. Keep aside. Alternatively you can use canned beans as well. Rinse the beans well.  

• Heat oil in a pan, add ginger, garlic and chillies. Fry until they turn brown.
• Add onions and tomatoes. Cook until masala separates from oil. Add a teaspoon of yoghurt and mix well.  
• Add salt, turmeric powder, a teaspoon of yogurt and mix well.
• Add the slightly cooked rajma, red chilli powder, corainder powder, garam masala and stir.
• Transfer the contents to a slow cooker. Add water to make sure that the mixture never dries out. Cook on high for 3-5 hours, or on low for 7-9 hours, depending on the settings of your slow cooker. Depending on the brand and model of your crockpot (slow cooker) manufaturer, this time will vary. The  extended cooking time allow better distribution of flavors in this recipe 
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•  Garnish rajma with corainder leaves and serve hot with chapatis or rice.
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• Some words of caution: This recipe assumes that you are familiar with the use of a crockpot (slow cooker). If you are not too used to cooking with your cockpot (slow cooker), try out the recipe out a few times when you can supervise it more.