Kadhi Recipe | Punjabi Kadhi Pakora Recipe
Punjabi Kadhi pakora is a mouthwatering Indian dish that combines creamy, tangy kadhi (a spiced yogurt-based gravy) with crispy deep-fried pakoras (gram flour fritters). If you’re a fan of spicy, comforting food, this recipe is perfect for you. Follow these steps to create a flavorful kadhi pakora recipe at home.
About Punjabi Kadhi Pakora Recipe
The word “Kadhi” in Hindi means a thick, slow-cooked yogurt sauce. “Pakora” refers to fritters made from chickpea flour. In this recipe, the fritters are made with a flavorful batter containing onions, chickpea flour, and spices.
In North and Western Indian cooking, there are different ways to make kadhi, with varying spices and herbs. However, they all use chickpea flour to thicken the yogurt sauce.
Chickpea flour is made from skinned black chickpeas and has a nutty taste. The yogurt used for kadhi is sour, giving the dish a tangy, spicy, and creamy flavor.
Each state and region in India has its own style of making dahi besan kadhi, like Maharashtrian Kadhi, Rajasthani Kadhi, Gujarati Kadhi, and Sindhi Kadhi.
Punjabi Kadhi is unique compared to other variations. It’s thicker and creamier, with different herbs and spices. The onion pakora adds texture and balances the creamy yogurt sauce.
I often prepare Kadhi pakora, but I couldn’t take step-by-step photos, which is why it took me a while to share this Punjabi kadhi recipe.
We enjoy kadhi, with or without pakora. When we serve Punjabi kadhi pakora Recipe with steamed rice or jeera rice, we call it “kadhi chawal,” where “chawal” means rice in Hindi.
You can also have kadhi with roti, but we prefer it with rice. Kadhi Chawal and Rajma Chawal are popular and cherished dishes in Punjabi households.
How to make Kadhi Pakora
This post is all about making Kadhi Pakora, and it’s packed with lots of pictures to help you follow along easily. I’ll start by showing you how to make the curd mixture, then we’ll move on to making the onion pakoras, and finally, we’ll put it all together to make the delicious Kadhi Pakora. Let’s get cooking!
Make Curd Slurry
In a bowl, whisk together 1 cup curd and ¼ cup besan until smooth. Add 3 cups of water gradually to make a thin consistency mixture. Ensure there are no lumps. Set aside.
Make Kadhi
Heat ½ tablespoons oil or ghee in a deep pan. Add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon methi seeds (Fenugreek seeds) and 1 broken dried red chili.
Once they begin to sizzle, add the chopped onions and green chilies to the pan.
Saute the onions and green chilies on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions turn transparent and start to lose their raw flavor. This usually takes about 5-7 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low and add finely chopped or grated ginger and garlic to the pan. Saute for about a minute until they become aromatic, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
Once the ginger and garlic are fragrant, stir in the red chili powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, and garam masala.
Continue to cook the spices for another minute, stirring continuously, until they release their flavors and blend well with the onions, ginger, and garlic.
Pour the curd-besan mixture into the pan. Stir continuously to prevent lumps from forming.
Bring it to a boil and then simmer for 25-30 minutes until the kadhi thickens and oils starts floating on top. Keep stirring occasionally after every 5-8 minutes.
Once the kadhi is cooked and the flavors have melded together, taste it and adjust the seasoning by adding salt according to your preference.
At this stage, the kadhi should be thickened to a creamy consistency, but not overly thick. Remember that it will thicken further as it cools down. It’s important to maintain some moisture in the kadhi so that the pakoras can absorb it and soften. If you find that the kadhi is too thick, you can add some hot water to thin it out to the desired consistency.
Once you’ve adjusted the consistency, let the kadhi simmer for a few more minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Then, your kadhi will be ready to serve with the pakoras.
How to make pakoras
In a mixing bowl, combine sliced onions, chopped green chilies, grated ginger (if using), besan, corn starch (if using), ajwain, red chili powder, garam masala, baking soda, salt & coriander leaves.
Gradually add water to the mixture, stirring continuously, until you achieve a thick batter consistency. The batter should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Taste test and adjust salt if needed.
Heat oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. To check if the oil is hot enough, drop a small amount of batter into the oil; if it sizzles and rises to the surface, the oil is ready.
Once the oil is hot, use a spoon or your hands to drop small portions of the batter into the oil. Fry the pakoras in batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pan.
Fry the pakoras until they turn golden brown and crispy on all sides, flipping them occasionally for even cooking. This usually takes about 4-5 minutes per batch.
Once the pakoras are cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove them from the oil and transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels to drain any excess oil.
Repeat the frying process with the remaining batter until all the pakoras are cooked.
Your crispy and flavorful pakoras are now ready to be added to the kadhi!
Temper kadhi pakora
Heat ghee or oil in a small pan over medium heat. Once the ghee or oil is hot, add cumin seeds and dried red chilies.
Allow the seeds to crackle and splutter, which will release their aromatic flavors. This usually takes about 30 seconds to a minute.
If you have curry leaves, you can add them to the tempering at this stage. Curry leaves lend a subtle aroma and flavor to the tempering.
Fry the tempering ingredients for another 30 seconds to a minute, stirring continuously to prevent burning.
Turn off the heat and add red chili powder and hing (asafoetida)
Finalize punjabi kadhi pakora
Add crispy pakoras to the simmering kadhi and let them soak up the delicious flavors.
Garnish with coriander leaves.
Add tempering to kadhi and serve it hot with roti, naan or rice.
Kadhi Recipe | Punjabi Kadhi Pakora
Ingredients
For curd slurry
- 1.5 cups sour curd
- 3 cusp water or add as required
- ½ tsp turmeric ground turmeric
- ½ tsp garam masala
- 1 pinch hing (Asafoetida)
- 1 tsp salt adjust as per taste
- 8 tbsp besan (gram flour)
For onion pakora
- 1 cup thinly sliced onions or 2 medium to large onions
- 1 cup besan (gram flour)
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp ajwain (carrom seeds)
- ¾ tsp salt adjust as per taste
- ¼ cup water or add as requiired
- oil for shallow frying or deep frying
For kadhi
- ⅓ cup chopped onions 1 small to medium onion
- 1 tbsp chopped ginger
- 1 tbsp chopped garlic
- 8 to 10 Methra (fenugreek seeds )
- 2 green chillies chopped
- 2 dry red chillies broken and seeds removed
- 1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
- 1 pinch hing (asafoetida)
- 1 sprig curry patta (curry leaves)
- 2 tbsp mustard oil or any neutral oil
Instructions
Making curd slurry
- In a bowl, put the sour yogurt and stir it really well until it's nice and smooth.
- Mix gram flour, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder, and salt into the whisked curd. Give it a good stir to blend everything.
- Now, add 3 cups of water and stir some more. Keep stirring until the mixture becomes smooth without any lumps. If you see any lumps, use a whisk, spatula, or your fingers to break them apart. Put this mixture aside for later.
- If you decide to use a blender, be careful not to blend it for too long. If you do, you'll end up with butter instead of the smooth curd mixture you want.
Making pakora for kadhi
- Put gram flour in a bowl.
- Add carom seeds, red chili powder, garam masala powder, and salt.
- Put in 1 cup of thinly sliced onions.
- Mix everything well and cover it for 30 minutes. During this time, the onions will release their water.
- Depending on how wet it gets, add some water to make a thick batter. I added ¼ cup of water.
- Heat some oil in a pan for frying.
- Once the oil is hot enough, carefully drop spoonfuls of the pakora batter into the oil.
- Cook them until one side is partly done, then flip and cook the other side.
- Fry until the pakoras are crispy and golden.
- Take them out of the oil and let them drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
- Fry the pakoras in batches like this. Once they're all done, set them aside.
Making kadhi
- In a different pot or pan, warm up some mustard oil. Be sure to use a big pot with a wide base so that the kadhi doesn't spill over when it boils.
- Put in cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds, and asafoetida. Let the cumin seeds pop and the fenugreek seeds change color. Cook on low heat to avoid burning these spices.
- Add chopped onions and stir-fry for 3 minutes on low to medium-low heat.
- Next, add chopped ginger, chopped garlic, and chopped green chilies. Stir-fry for a minute.
- Now, add curry leaves and dry red chilies (split and with seeds removed). Stir-fry for a minute on low heat.
- After that, pour in the curd mixture. Stir it really well.
- Turn up the heat to medium and bring the kadhi to a boil. Keep stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. It will take around 14 to 16 minutes for the kadhi to cook.
- Once it's boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for an additional 6 to 7 minutes. The kadhi will thicken. If it gets too thick, you can add some hot water.
Making kadhi pakora
- Put the onion pakora into the kadhi and give it a gentle stir.
- Cover it with a lid and let the onion pakora soak in the mixture for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Lastly, sprinkle some garam masala powder on top.
- You can enjoy the kadhi pakora with steamed rice or cumin rice. You can also eat it with roti or paratha.
Notes
- For the kadhi recipe, you should use full-fat sour curd or sour yogurt made from whole milk. If the curd isn't sour, the kadhi won't have a tangy taste, but it will still be delicious. To make the curd sour, leave it at room temperature for a few hours. Another option is to add ½ to 1 teaspoon of amchur powder (dry mango powder) or a little lemon juice when the dish is ready to give it that sour flavor.
- If you can, try using mustard oil to fry your onion pakoras and make the kadhi. Mustard oil has a strong and sharp taste that adds lots of flavor. But if you don't have mustard oil, you can use a plain oil like sunflower oil instead.
- You can try making pakoras in the oven instead of frying them. Just preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Mix 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil into the batter, but don't make it too runny or too thick. Then, bake the pakoras until they become crispy and turn a nice golden color.
- Don't forget to use curry leaves in your kadhi pakora recipe, because they add a special flavor. But if you don't have any, it's okay to leave them out.
- Use high-quality gram flour, also known as besan. You can also substitute it with chickpea flour if you don't have gram flour.
- You can make the onion pakora ahead of time and keep them ready.
- When making kadhi pakora, it's important to use a big pot with a wide bottom. The kadhi bubbles and might spill over if you cook it in a small pot.
- To make the pakoras softer, you can put more water in the batter. But be careful! If you put the pakoras in the kadhi too early, they'll become too soft and mushy, and some people don't like that. If you want the pakoras to be a bit harder, you can add only a little or no water to the batter.
