Punjabi kadhi recipe or Kadhi pakora recipe - deep fried gram flour (besan) and onion fritters are simmered in spiced, sour yogurt gravy. Best served with plain rice.
To get the best taste, pakora should simmer in kadhi for some time, So it soaks up some gravy and flavors, will become soft. This kadhi should be thick and creamy with soft pakora in it.
For making kadhi pakora, I have used homemade yogurt. The yogurt or curd has to be sour, otherwise kadhi won’t taste that good. To make yogurt sour, Remove the required amount from the fridge and let it stand at room temperature for 3-4 hours.
I have been planning to post this kadhi pakora recipe for a while but things get busy and it was lying in my draft. But recently one of the readers has requested this recipe, so it is best time to share it here. I do make different kadhis recipe at home, but Gujarati kadhi is staple as it is very simple and quick to make. Also I grew up eating it. But Punjabi kadhi has two different elements - kadhi and pakora. Thus it is little time consuming but not hard to make.
The first time I made kadhi pakora from the cookbook The Dhabas Of Amritsar
and it was fabulous. Then I read the recipe in another book 1000 Great Indian Recipes
It has addition of tadka with ghee and red chili powder. When I made second time, I made tempering. It was more flavorful and delicious compared to previous one. So Sharing here the second version.
While making pakora, you can see I have added onion which is very basic way to make it. You can do variations by adding methi or spinach alone or along with onions.
the tempering of clarified butter and chili powder is must to get the best flavor of kadhi.
Addition of coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds add nice aroma and flavors to the dish, so do not skip it.
Check out more Punjabi recipes
Baingan bharta // Chole bhature // Aloo paratha // Dal makhani
How to make punjabi kadhi pakora recipe:
1) Start making by pakora first. Take besan, soda, onion, green chili, ginger and salt in a bowl.
2) Mix well.
3) Add water and make thick batter. Meanwhile heat the oil for deep frying on medium heat.
4) Once oil is hot drop spoonful of batter into oil. You can use your hand or spoon.
5) Fry till it becomes golden brown. Keep moving them so it gets cooked and browned evenly.
6) Remove it to a paper towel lined plate and keep it aside.
7) Now we will start making Kadhi. Take yogurt, besan, salt and turmeric powder in a bowl.
8) Whisk well so there are no lumps of besan. You can use hand blender instead of wire whisk.
9) Add little water at a time
10) and keep whisking to make lump free batter.
11) Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
12) Then add coriander seeds and methi seeds. Let them fry for few seconds. You will get nice aroma of it.
13) Then dried red chili. NOTE: many readers have commented that curry leaves are actually not added in punjabi kadhi. Since I have read this recipe from a cookbook, and similar to that recipe I have added curry leaves. But you can skip this.
14) Mix in prepared yogurt-besan mixture.
15) Bring it to a boil and let it simmer on low-medium heat. It will start to thicken up.
16) For tempering or tadka, on another stove heat the ghee in a small pan on medium heat. Once hot turn off the stove, add red chili powder
17) and immediately add tadka to the simmering kadhi.
18) Stir it well.
19) Add fried pakora and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes so pakora gets soft and soak up flavors.
20) If kadhi gets too thick then add some water to make desire consistency.
Kadhi is ready to serve. kadhi pakora chawal is very popular combo.
Serving suggestions: Serve this punjabi kadhi pakora with basmati rice or jeera rice and salad or papad on side. It can be served with roti or paratha with side of vegetable dish.
Punjabi Kadhi Pakora Recipe
Ingredients
For pakora:
- ¼ cup Besan (gram flour)
- a pinch Baking soda
- ¼ cup Red onion finely chopped
- 1 small Green chili finely chopped
- ¼ inch Ginger grated or paste
- Salt to taste
- 3 tablespoons Water
- Oil for deep frying pakora
For Punjabi kadhi:
- ¾ cup Plain yogurt (dahi or curd), Sour
- 1 tablespoon Besan (gram flour)
- Salt to taste
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 ½ cups Water
- 1 tablespoon Oil mustard oil
- ¼ teaspoon Cumin seeds
- ⅛ teaspoon Coriander seeds (sabut dhaniya)
- ⅛ teaspoon Fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
- 1 Dried red chilies
- a pinch Hing (Asafoetida)
For Tempering:
- 1 ½ teaspoons Ghee (Clarified butter)
- ½ to 1 teaspoon Red chili powder
Instructions
Making pakora:
- Mix besan, baking soda, onion, green chili, ginger and salt in a bowl.
- Add water and make thick batter.
- Meanwhile heat the oil for deep frying on medium heat.
- Once oil is hot drop spoonful of batter into hot oil. You can use your hand or spoon.
- Fry till it becomes golden brown. Keep moving them so it gets cooked and browned evenly.
- Remove it to a paper towel lined plate and keep it aside.
Making punjabi kadhi pakora:
- Mix yogurt, besan, salt and turmeric powder in a bowl. Make sure there are no lumps of besan. You can use hand blender or wire whisk.
- Add little water at a time and keep whisking to make lump free batter.
- Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot add cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
- Then add coriander seeds and methi seeds. Let them fry for few seconds. You will get nice aroma of it.
- Then add dried red chili.
- Mix in prepared yogurt-besan mixture. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer on low-medium heat. It will start to thicken up.
Making tempering:
- While it is simmering, on another stove heat the ghee in a small pan on medium heat.
- Once hot turn off the stove, add red chili powder and immediately add tadka to the simmering kadhi.
- Stir it well.
- Add fried pakora and let it simmer for 5-7 minutes so pakora gets soft and soak up flavors.
- If kadhi gets too thick then add some water to make desire consistency.
Paulai
Please add curry leaves when you are tempering the spices. It's a key element to the dish along with the mustard seed. I prefer to add a little ginger paste and finely chopped onion. But that's optional.
Kanan
Yes I like to add curry leaves in my tempering. You can see in step photos I have added.
Never tried with onions, will try sometime.