Rajma

Rinse the beans and soak them in three times their volume of cold water for 8–12 hours.

Soaking takes a long time, so start the night before. To skip it, use 2 cans of kidney beans: rinse them and add straight to the sauce instead of the boiled beans.

Drain, cover the beans with fresh water by 5 cm and bring to a boil. Boil hard for the first 10 minutes, then lower the heat and simmer until tender. Don't add salt.

Raw kidney beans contain a toxin that's only destroyed by a hard boil. Never start them on low heat or slow-cook them from raw.

While the beans cook, finely chop the onions, garlic, ginger and chili.

Heat the oil in a deep pan, fry the cumin seeds for 30 seconds, add the onions and cook until golden brown. Add the garlic, ginger and chili and fry for another minute.

Add the tomatoes, coriander and salt, crush the tomatoes with a spoon and cook until the oil starts to separate at the edges.

Drain the beans, reserving a cup of the cooking liquid. Add them to the sauce with the liquid, mash a few beans with a spoon to thicken, cover and simmer over low heat.

Stir in the garam masala, sprinkle with chopped cilantro and serve with rice. Done!