The 15-Minute Indian Recipe That Rescues Midweek Dinners
If midweek dinners are currently sitting somewhere between repetitive and uninspiring, this is the gentle reset you need. Indian food is often associated with slow cooking, long ingredient lists and hours spent hovering over the hob, but 15 Minute Indian by chef Anjula Devi flips that idea on its head.
This quick rajma, a comforting kidney bean curry, is a perfect example: deeply spiced, naturally plant-based and ready in just 15 minutes. Quick, comforting and full of flavour, it is exactly the kind of midweek hero recipe that earns a permanent place in the rotation. Serve it with rice, chapatis or even toasted bread, whatever the evening allows.
QUICK RAJMA (KIDNEY BEAN CURRY)
Serves 4 | Preparation time 3 minutes | Cooking time 11 minutes
INGREDIENTS
2 x 400g tins kidney beans
2 green chillies, or to taste
2 tbsp ghee or oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ginger paste
2 tsp garlic paste
3 tbsp shop-bought fried onions
4 Kashmiri chillies, or to taste
1 x 400g tin cherry tomatoes
1 tsp ground turmeric
chilli powder, to taste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
fine sea salt, to taste
handful of fresh coriander
1 tsp garam masala
To serve (optional)
toasted bread, rice or chapatis
METHOD
Fill and boil the kettle.
Drain and rinse the kidney beans, then slit the green chillies lengthways.
Place a wok on a medium heat and add the following ingredients in this order: 100ml hot kettle water, ghee or oil, cumin seeds, kidney beans, ginger paste, garlic paste, fried onions, Kashmiri chillies, green chillies, cherry tomatoes, turmeric and chilli powder to taste.
Cover with a lid and cook for 6 minutes.
Remove the lid, then add the ground cumin, ground coriander and salt to taste. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Chop the fresh coriander.
Switch off the heat, stir through the coriander and garam masala, and serve immediately.
15 Minute Indian by Anjula Devi
Created for busy cooks who still want proper flavour, the book is built around the belief that Indian food should be accessible, flexible and genuinely doable on a weeknight.
With more than 90 one-pan recipes spanning legumes, vegetables, fish, potatoes and breads, everything is designed to come together in 15 minutes flat, with minimal prep and no compromise on taste.