You be a North Indian or not, you HAVE to love Rajma Chawal! A steaming hot bowl of steamed rice, topped with piping hot rajma masala – one spoon and your taste palates will explode with excitement!! Team it up with a quirky new side dish I found, and your regular green salad, to have an excellent meal plan on your hands.
Let’s check out what do we have today –
30 Minute Meal Plan:
- Rajma Masala
- Brussels Sprouts sautéed in butter
- Cucumber & Tomatoes Salad
- Steamed Rice
- Phulkas (optional)
Brussels Sprouts recipe
The Brussels sprouts recipe is something I came across while browsing across the internet for something else, and I loved it. Interestingly, the name is apparently a misnomer. These are not sprouted, or germinated like our other sprouts, and accordingly to Wikipedia, they did not originate in Brussels either!! So, how did they get the name “Brussels Sprouts”? Interesting, isn’t it?
Well, the recipe goes as follows – Parboil 250grams of Brussels sprouts in salted water for 3 minutes. Dunk them immediately in chilled water. Drain, slit them vertically into halves. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the parboiled halves. Mix well. Heat a tablespoon of butter in a non-stick pan. Sauté the halves on medium-high flame for 4 minutes. Serve. (Courtesy: www.steamingpot.com)
Meal planning
Ok, so what you can do is this. While the Rajma and chawal are cooking in the cooker, get the salad, Brussels sprouts dish as well as the phulkas ready, simultaneously. Of course, rajma chawal is the main dish, so the phulkas are entirely optional, and should only be made in case you just cannot have only rice in your meal. Without the phulkas, you can get the other two items ready within 7-8 minutes. Then, start on the rajma masala.
Recipe for Rajma Masala: Rajma-Masala-Sanjeev-Kapoor
By the time the cooker cools down, you will be ready with the gravy mix. Then add the rajma beans and the cooking liquor and cook again for 5-7 minutes. While this is cooking, you can clear away your surface, and start serving on the table.
Save time while cooking
Admittedly, even with this, you will need 35-40 minutes to finish off everything. So, it doesn’t become a 30 minute meal plan. So, what can you do? There are some simple tricks to ensure you save on maximum time possible while cooking.
Tip#1: Make tomato puree for about 1 kg or ½ kg tomatoes, as per your requirement and store in the fridge. This should be done on a weekly basis.
Tip#2: Many of you must already do it, but just to repeat, make ginger-garlic paste, and store it in the fridge on a weekly basis.
Tip#3: You can put chopped onions in an airtight container, and use as required. Select a steel base container with an airtight lid to store it, so the container won’t smell later. Steel base is easy to clean.
With all these above, I’m pretty sure, you will be able to finish the meal in 30 minutes… please do try to do it!
So, ladies, what do you think? Think it’s manageable? Do let us know if you like the meal plan… Send us pictures, or post feedback in the comments section below. We would love to hear back from you!!
Happy Cooking, gals!
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