Punjabi Kadhi was a Sunday lunch favorite at my home growing up. A perfect pairing with a pile of steamed Basmati rice, along with a tall glass of sweet Lassi, to induce the perfect food coma for that heavenly afternoon nap. Even now the taste and aroma of Kadhi always brings back sweet memories! Enough reminiscing for me, and let me get down to the details of the dish.
Punjabi Kadhi is a yogurt based sauce, thickened with gram flour (besan) and flavored with a number of spices. The list of spices that are added to it is long, and it is recommended to add them all to get the full flavor. Each ingredient and spice adds in a layer of flavor, but if you don’t have them all, add as many as you can. The sauce itself is quite light, and the fritters (pakoras) make it a more substantial meal. I personally don’t add pakoras every time I cook Kadhi, sometimes I just add potatoes and other times I just enjoy the plain Kadhi.
Ingredients
For the Sauce
1/4 tsp Turmeric Powder
1/2 tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
1 tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1/4 cup Gram flour (Besan)
1.5 cups Yogurt (preferably, slightly sour yogurt)
1 small Onion (sliced)
1/2 tbsp Ginger (chopped)
1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
1/8 tsp Asafetida (Hing)
Green chillies (add to taste)
1 Potato cut into approximately 1/2″ cubes (optional)
Curry leaves
3-4 Dried Red Chillies (optional)
Salt (to taste)
2 tbsp Oil
For the Fritters (Pakoras)
1/2 cup Onions (coarsely diced)
Green chillies (add to taste)
1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
3/4 tsp Carom Seeds
1 cup Gram flour (Besan)
Pinch Baking Soda
Salt
Oil for frying
1/2-3/4 cup Water (as needed)
Cooking
Fritters (Pakoras)
Step 1
Add all the ingredients for the fritters in a bowl, add a little water and mix well. Keep mixing and gradually add water, not in a continuous stream, but a little at a time. The mixture should be thick and not watery. If it gets too runny, you can add some more gram flour.
Step 2
Heat oil in a pan on medium heat to a good frying temperature. To test if the oil is hot enough, add a drop of the batter to the oil. It should start sizzling and come up to the surface immediately. Using a spoon (or your hands), add little balls of the mixture to the oil. Add as many balls that fit without overcrowding them. Turn the fritters at least once in the oil so that both sides fry evenly. When they turn golden brown, they’re done.
Step 3
Remove the fritters and set them onto paper towels to remove the excess oil.
Sauce
Step 1
In a bowl, add the Yogurt, Gram Flour, Turmeric, Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, Ginger-Garlic Paste, Salt, and 2 cups of water. Whisk until you get a homogenous mixture, and add another 2 cups of water into the bowl and mix it in. Mix the batter well so that there are no lumps of gram flour.
Step 2
Heat oil in a pan, add the Cumin Seeds, Mustard Seeds, Fenugreek Seeds, Green Chillies , Asafetida, Cloves, and Curry leaves.
Step 3
When the seeds start to sizzle, add the chopped Ginger and cook it for about a minute. Add the sliced Onions and cook until they turn translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
Step 4
Add the potatoes and let them fry for a minute.
Step 5
Whisk the Yogurt-Gram Flour batter one more time and add it to the pan. Stir continuously so that the Gram Flour doesn’t form lumps while it is cooking, and to prevent the yogurt from curdling. Bring the sauce to a boil and continue stirring.
Step 6
You need to cook for a total of about 25 minutes, until the sauce is smooth, thick and runny. Check if the potatoes are cooked, if not, cook for a few more minutes, still stirring, until they can easily be pierced with a fork.
When serving, add the fritters into the sauce or the sauce. Punjabi Kadhi is best enjoyed with steamy Basmati Rice.
Kadhi on! Oops, Curry on. 🙂
- For the Sauce
- ¼ tsp Turmeric Powder
- ½ tsp Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Mustard Seeds
- ½ tsp Fenugreek Seeds
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds
- ¼ cup Gram flour (Besan)
- 1.5 cups Yogurt (preferably, slightly sour yogurt)
- 1 small Onion (sliced)
- ½ tbsp Ginger (chopped)
- 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
- ⅛ tsp Asafetida (Hing)
- Green chillies (add to taste)
- 1 Potato cut into approximately ½″ cubes (optional)
- Curry leaves
- 3-4 Dried Red Chillies (optional)
- Salt (to taste)
- 2 tbsp Oil
- For the Fritters (Pakoras)
- ½ cup Onions (coarsely diced)
- Green chillies (add to taste)
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- ¾ tsp Carom Seeds
- 1 cup Gram flour (Besan)
- Pinch Baking Soda
- Salt
- Oil for frying
- ½-3/4 cup Water (as needed)
- Add all the ingredients for the fritters in a bowl, add a little water and mix well. Keep mixing and gradually add water, not in a continuous stream, but a little at a time. The mixture should be thick and not watery. If it gets too runny, you can add some more gram flour.
- Heat oil in a pan on medium heat to a good frying temperature. To test if the oil is hot enough, add a drop of the batter to the oil. It should start sizzling and come up to the surface immediately. Using a spoon (or your hands), add little balls of the mixture to the oil. Add as many balls that fit without overcrowding them. Turn the fritters at least once in the oil so that both sides fry evenly. When they turn golden brown, they’re done.
- Remove the fritters and set them onto paper towels to remove the excess oil.
- In a bowl, add the Yogurt, Gram Flour, Turmeric, Kashmiri Red Chili Powder, Ginger-Garlic Paste, Salt, and 2 cups of water. Whisk until you get a homogenous mixture, and add another 2 cups of water into the bowl and mix it in. Mix the batter well so that there are no lumps of gram flour.
- Heat oil in a pan, add the Cumin Seeds, Mustard Seeds, Fenugreek Seeds, Green Chillies , Asafetida, Cloves, and Curry leaves.
- When the seeds start to sizzle, add the chopped Ginger and cook it for about a minute. Add the sliced Onions and cook until they turn translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
- Add the potatoes and let them fry for a minute.
- Whisk the Yogurt-Gram Flour batter one more time and add it to the pan. Stir continuously so that the Gram Flour doesn’t form lumps while it is cooking, and to prevent the yogurt from curdling. Bring the sauce to a boil and continue stirring.
- You need to cook for a total of about 25 minutes, until the sauce is smooth, thick and runny. Check if the potatoes are cooked, if not, cook for a few more minutes, still stirring, until they can easily be pierced with a fork.
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Like the way you put this complex kadhi recipe in a simple manner. Thanks for taking my request! Its my pick for the weekend. Also, I am excited to see how it turns out adding curry leaves and mustard seeds in it.
Thanks! Please let me know how it turns out. I’m also working on the Jalebi recipe and hope to post it soon…