Lucknow Rajma with Sautéed Chard

It's national vegetarian week in the UK and though I don't live in the UK, my kitchen's vegetarian everyday, so I decided to submit this satisfying dish to eat the right stuff, who will be presenting a summary of vegetarian creations from across the world.

Rajma is a curried tomato and kidney bean dish that's strikingly reminiscent of Southwestern-style chilis, but it's all Indian in origin and spicing, and made everywhere across the Indian subcontinent with all kinds of regional variations. It's also one of my favourite Indian dishes, so I'm always on the lookout for new versions to try. And since, oddly enough, only one of the local Indian restaurants actually serves rajma, I just have to make my own! This Lucknow recipe is a spicy hot rajma that I've adapted from Yamuna Devi's Vegetarian Table to compensate for the ridiculous party-sized quantity it suggests and to make it even more fiery — just the way I like it, but feel free to slightly reduce the spices or to leave out the chili pepper. What makes this rajma unique is the addition of sautéd chard to a dish that's typically made without vegetables. Make sure you use the stems of the chard as well.

Lucknow Rajma with Sautéed Chard

1 cup dried red kidney beans
2 tablespoons ghee, or a mixture of olive oil and butter
1/2 teaspoon ajwain seeds
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon asafoetida
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated or minced
2 large tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup parsley or cilantro, chopped
salt to taste
1 lb. swiss chard, stems included, sliced into strips

Soak the beans overnight in water with a little yoghurt whey or lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cover, cooking for 1 1/2 hours or until the beans are soft. Drain, and save 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the ghee or oil and butter in a large saucepan over low heat. When hot, add the ajwain seeds, garam masala, chili powder, asafoetida and ginger. Stir constantly to prevent the seasonings from sticking to the bottom of the pan and cook for 5 minutes.

Add half the tomatoes and turn up the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is thick and the oil separates from the tomatoes.

Add the other half of the tomatoes, and cook for five minutes. Stir in the beans and the 1/2 cup of cooking liquid and reduce the heat, letting the mixture simmer.

In the meantime, heat the other tablespoon of ghee or oil and butter in a large frying pan or wok over medium heat. When hot, pour in the chopped chard and stir fry for about 10 minutes until the leaves are wilted.

Just before adding the chard, stir in the parsley or cilantro into the bean mixture and season according to taste with salt, about 1 1/2 teaspoons. When the beans are salted to your taste, stir in the chard.

Serve hot over a bed of white basmati rice, with an optional dollop of yoghurt. Serves four.