I was introduced to ‘Kadhi’ over an Indian party here in Utrecht. I never heard about it before. However to my surprise I found that it is quite a well known and popular preparation particularly over North and West of India.

Kadhi is a spicy dish with gravy (generally thick) made of gram flour or ‘besan’ and sour yogurt, in which tasty vegetable fritters or “pakoras” are immersed. The gravy consistency varies according to the regional preferences.

I was quite impressed by its taste and  made up my mind to give it a try at my own kitchen. I went through few recipes in youtube and decided to follow one which I am sharing with you. This is a recipe of Kadhi in Punjabi style with lot of spices and thick gravy. Traditionally fenugreek leaf pakoras are used in Punjabi kadhi. As I didn’t find it, I made an alternative one with spinach. Spinach pakoras came out really well and I realised that they can even be served as a very good tea time snacks as well. Without spending more words lets check the recipe.

Ingredients to serve 4-5 :

For Pakora/Vegetable Fritters :

1. Chopped spinach – 1 large cup
2. Gram flour/besan – 3-4 tbspoon (heaped)
3. Carom seed/ajwain – 1 teaspoon
4. Chopped onion – 1 (small)
5. Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
6. Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
7. Baking soda – 1/8 teaspoon
8. Salt to taste
9. Oil for frying

For Kadhi :

1. Yogurt – 1½ cup (approx. 250 gm.)
2. Gram flour/besan – 4 tbspoon (heaped)
3. Lime juice – 1 tbspoon (optional)
4. Ginger-garlic-green chilli paste – 1 tbspoon (heaped)
5. Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
6. Red chilli powder – ½ teaspoon
7. Salt to taste
8. Water – 1 litter
9. Cloves – 5-6
10. Black peppercorn – 10 – 12
11. Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
12. Fenugreek seed – ½ teaspoon
13. Pinch of asafoetida
14. Chopped garlic – 1 tbspoon
15. Dried red chilli – 3-4
16. Sliced onion – 1 (medium)
17. Potato (cut into small cubes) – 1 (medium)
18. Oil – 2 tbspoon

Procedure :

For Pakora/Vegetable Fritters :

Mix all the ingredients mentioned for “pakora”, except oil, in a bowl. Add water, if needed, to make a soft mixture, don’t make it a runny one. (I hardly added any water)

Heat sufficient oil in a kadai over medium heat. Drop small portions of the spinach mixture in hot oil and fry till they turn golden brown in colour. Transfer them on paper towel to absorb excess oil and then keep aside.

For Kadhi :

Combine the ingredients 1-7 in a large bowl. Add little water, whisk well and make a lump-free batter. Then dilute the batter by adding the remaining water in 2 portions.

Heat oil a deep non-stick pan over medium heat. Add cloves, peppercorns, cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds, saute for a minute.

Then add asafoetida, dry red chilli and chopped ginger and saute for a while.

Then add sliced onion and fry till they get translucent.

Add cubed potato and saute for 5 minutes.

Whisk the yogurt mixture and pour to the pan.

Stir to mix and cook for 16-18 minutes on medium flame, stirring frequently so that no lumps can be formed.

Put the gas off as the potato gets cooked (it should not be mushy) and a silky shine is visible from the homogeneous mixture of yogurt and gram flour.

Place “pakora” in a serving dish and pour the hot “kadhi” on top.

Serve hot with steamed rice or roti.

Note :

1. The yogurt I got is little sour in taste, so I added lime juice. If you get a sour yogurt then there is no need to add lime juice.
2. The oil should be moderately hot for the pakora to get cooked through. Don’t fry them in very hot oil.
3. Feel free to add water to the ‘kadhi’ if it seems very thick while cooking.
4. Without following my way, you can also add the vegetable fritters/pakoras to the ‘kadhi’ at the end and cook for couple minutes more, then serve with rice or roti.
5. The ‘kadhi’ should be cooked well, there shouldn’t be any raw flavour of gram flour.
6. Adding potato cubes is completely optional.
7. Thickness of ‘kadhi’ depends completely up to your choice.