Red kidney bean curry

My oldest daughter is a vegetarian and very health-conscious.  She's one of these folks who diligently reads ingredient labels and avoid all bad stuff such as high fructose corn syrup.  That's great for a college-bound kid, except that she doesn't cook.

So I am always trying to come up with new ideas for vegetarian meals so that she doesn't eat yogurt or bread with cheese all the time. This morning I made a red kidney bean curry, inspired by last Sunday's church dinner, at which my wonderful friend Jill made chicken curry, yellow dal, and brown basmati rice for 125 people. Rajma is a north Indian comfort food.  I tried to replicate the traditional taste using what I had on hand. Alas I did not have fresh ginger and had to use ground ginger, but it still came out pretty well.  Here is the recipe:

Red Kidney Bean Curry (Rajma)

1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2-3 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger (or chopped fresh ginger, about 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1-15.5 oz can of red kidney beans (light or dark)
1-6 oz can of tomato paste
2 cups water

Using a medium-sized saucepan, saute the chopped onion and garlic (and fresh ginger if using fresh ginger) in the olive oil.  Add ground spices, then the canned beans, then the tomato paste and water.  Bring to a boil and turn to low heat.  Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Watch the heat because the bottom of the pan would burn with the tomato paste if the liquid is allow to burn up too quickly.