Pakora Curry Dahi Besan Curry Recipes

KADHI RECIPE (PUNJABI KADHI PAKORA)

Steps:

• In a bowl take the sour curd and whisk it well till smooth
• Add gram flour, red chilli powder, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt to the whisked curd.
• Stir and mix everything again.
• Add 3 cups water and stir again.
• Stir very well to make a smooth mixture without lumps. If there are lumps, then break them with a wired whisk or a spatula or with your fingers. Set the curd slurry aside.
• You can use a blender to make this mixture, but make sure you don't over do it. You will get butter instead of a smooth blended curd.
• Take the gram flour in a bowl and add carom seeds, red chili powder, garam masala powder and salt.
• Add 1 cup thinly sliced onions.
• Mix everything well and set aside covered for 30 minutes.
• This will allow the onions to release their water in the mixture. Depending on the water content in the onions, the mixture will become very moist or just about moist.
• Then accordingly add water as required to make a thick batter. I added ¼ cup water.
• Heat oil for deep frying in a pan or kadai. Let the oil become medium hot. Then with a spoon carefully drop the pakora batter in the oil.
• When the pakora are partly cooked, then turn over and fry the other side.
• Fry till the pakora are crisp and golden.
• Remove the fried pakora and place them on a kitchen paper towel so that extra oil is absorbed. Fry the pakora in batches this way. When done set all of them aside.
• In another pan or kadai, heat mustard oil. Make sure to use a large bottomed pot so that while boiling, the kadhi does not spill.
• Add the cumin seeds, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida. Allow the cumin seeds to crackle and the fenugreek seeds to change their color. Fry on a low flame, so that these spices do not get burnt.
• Add chopped onions. Stir and sauté for 3 minutes on a low to medium-low heat.
• Then add chopped ginger, chopped garlic and chopped green chillies. Stir and sauté for a minute.
• Now add curry leaves, dry red chilies (halved or broken and seeds removed). Stir and sauté for a minute on a low flame.
• Then add the curd slurry.
• Stir very well.
• Increase the flame to medium and bring the kadhi to a boil. Keep on stirring often so that the bottom does not get browned. Time taken to cook kadhi will be around 14 to 16 minutes.
• After the kadhi has come to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for more 6 to 7 minutes. The kadhi will thicken.
• If the kadhi becomes too thick, then add some hot water.
• Now add the onion pakora to the kadhi and stir gently.
• Cover with a lid and let the onion pakora be soaked in it for 8 to 10 minutes.
• Lastly sprinkle some garam masala powder.
• Serve kadhi pakora with steamed rice or cumin rice, topped with few teaspoonfuls of ghee. You could also have kadhi with roti or paratha.

PUNJABI KADHI PAKORA

Steps:

• To a large bowl, add 1/2 cup besan (55 grams) and 1.5 cups (360 grams) yogurt. Make sure the yogurt is at room temperature.Whisk until besan and yogurt are well combined.
• Add 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder and 1 teaspoon coriander powder and whisk until you have a lump free mixture.
• Add 6 cups water (around 1.4 liters of water) and mix until it's all mixed together. Set aside.
• In a large and deep pan, add 2 tablespoons of mustard oil on medium-high heat. You can use any oil but mustard oil gives it a nice flavor.
• Once the oil is hot (make sure oil is heated through else mustard oil gives a raw taste), add the methi seeds and cumin seeds. Let them splutter and then add hing.
• Add the sliced onion along with chopped green chili and cook for 2 minutes.Then add the chopped ginger and garlic and cook for another 1 minute or so until the ginger and garlic start changing color.
• Add the prepared besan-yogurt mixture into the pan. Now with heat on medium-high, stir continuously until the kadhi comes to a boil.Stir continuously until the kadhi comes to a boil, then lower the heat to low-medium and let it cook for around 30 minutes. Keep stirring it in between.
• Add salt after the kadhi has been cooking for 15 minutes or so. While the kadhi is cooking, make the pakora.
• To a large bowl, add 1 cup besan (110 grams), along with 1 cup sliced onion, 1 chopped green chili, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, 1/4 teaspoon turmeric, 1/8 teaspoon red chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, 1/4 teaspoon ajwain and 1/2 teaspoon salt.Add 2 tablespoons yogurt and mix.
• t should not be very runny but not super thick either. I added around 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons water.
• Add 2 pinch of baking soda and mix the batter for a minute using your hands. This will make the pakoras nice and soft. Meanwhile heat oil (around 2 cups) in a kadai on medium heat to fry the pakoras.
• Once the oil is hot, mix the batter again for a minute using your hands and then start dropping the batter into the hot oil.I take handful of batter using my thumb and four fingers and drop is straight into hot oil, you may use a spoon.
• Let it cook and turn golden brown from one side and then flip and cook the other side. Make sure to cook on medium-low heat so that the pakoras cook nicely from inside too.Cook until pakoras are golden brown from both sides. Drain on a paper towel.
• After 30 minutes or so, kadhi would have considerably thickened and completely cooked. Add cilantro. You can little extra water here if kadhi looks too thick to you. Add the pakora and transfer kadhi into a serving pan.
• Heat ghee in a small pan on medium heat. Once ghee is hot, add 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds and generous pinch of ajwain. Add 2-3 dried red chilies (you can break them for extra heat).Once seeds crackle, add 1/2 teaspoon kashmiri red chili powder and turn off the heat immediately.
• Pour tadka over kadhi, garnish with more cilantro and serve punjabi kadhi pakora with rice!

PITHLA (BESAN CURRY)

Steps:

• In a bowl add the 1-1/2 cups of water slowly to besan to make a smooth batter (batter should be consistency of pancake batter or dosa batter).
• Open the heat on medium high, oil should be moderately hot, when you add the cumin seeds to oil seeds should crack right of way.
• Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, asafetida, turmeric, and chili powder to oil, stir and turn off the heat.
• Add the besan batter and open the heat to medium heat. Keep whipping the batter and batter will start thickening. Add salt and keep adding the water slowly and keep mixing about 2-1/2 cups of water. After Pithla comes to boil besan will start splattering. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and let it simmer for about 5 to 8 minutes.
• Pithla will become thick, add chopped cilantro and mango powder mix and let it cook for 2 more minutes. Pithla should be quite thick in consistency that's why sometimes I will call Pithla Besa ki Sabji.
• Pithla is served hot before serving, traditionally Pithla is served garnished with hot ghee (clarified butter). And sprinkle of red chili powder. If you are vegan skip ghee, clarified butter.

PUNJABI PAKORAS

Steps:

• Place the ingredients in the first part of the list into a bowl. You may want to sieve the flour. You can use ground coriander but I used seeds then crush them in a pestle and mortar. This takes about 5 mins but is totally worth the effort.
• Add cold water to the the bowl and mix thoroughly with your hands until you have a batter that resembles the consistency of a thick milkshake. I stick the bowl under a low running tap and gradually build up the batter.
• Next add the ingredients in the second part of the list to the bowl and mix together well. Leave these to rest while you heat up the oil.
• Keep the heat at a medium heat and test it's ready with a little drop of the batter. It should immediately start cooking if the oil is at the right temperature.
• With a tablespoon, take a serving of the batter and vegetables and drop into the hot oil. It should hold together and start bubbling away. Continue to drop more servings into the oil until it gets crowded.
• After a minute, start to turn over the pakoras loosely in the order you dropped them in. After about 5 mins they should be golden brown on both sides. Take one out to test. They should be cooked throughout and not gooey inside once ready.
• Placing them onto some kitchen paper when ready helps removes excess oil. They'll stay hot for quite a while so you can cook the entire batch before serving.
• Serve on their own or with tamarind sauce. Perfect with a cup of tea! Delicious when cold too.

PUNJABI PAKORA CURRY

Steps:

• Make pakoras:.
• Mix pakora ingredients (besan, cumin seeds, onions, green chilli, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, red chilli powder, fennel seed, and salt) in a bowl until smooth. Add enough water to make a very thick batter.
• Fry mixture by tablespoonfuls in hot oil until golden and crispy, then drain on paper toweling. Keep warm in low oven.
• Prepare the kadai sauce:.
• Blend yogurt, 4 cups water, pinch of turmeric powder, salt, pinch of red chilli powder, and besan. It should look like a buttermilk lassi mixture with besan in it.
• Keep it aside for half an hour before starting to make kadi.
• For the Remainder of the Kadai:
• Pour mustard oil in a big pan (or wok) and heat it until it gets hot. Add cumin seeds mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds, cloves and let them pop.
• Add curry leaves and dry red chilli to the frying mixture.
• Add onions and fry until golden brown.
• Add the garlic, and ginger to it and fry for 3 minutes, watching that it should not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• Add chopped tomatoes and fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Add tamarind paste to the pan and let it come to the boil for 4-5 minutes.
• Add turmeric powder , garam masala, red chilli powder, salt and fry until oil starts floating on the top and it gives out dark reddish brownish color.
• Add the kadi sauce mixture.
• Gently stir the curry, as it will start sticking to the bottom. Keep it on medium heat first, and let it come to a boil. Keep watching it and stirring. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, then lower the heat and let it cook on low flame for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Stir for another 5 minutes and check if its thick enough and looks dark yellow. Again stir it for 5 minutes and sprinkle dry fenugreek leaves on it and let it boil for another 2 minutes and than add the pakoras in the kadi.
• Boil more for 3 minutes and don't stir too much as the pakora can break apart.
• For garnishing, sprinkle cilantro and serve hot with rice.

PAKORA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 120C/100C fan/ gas 1/2. Make a paste by blitzing the chilli, ginger and tomato together, then set aside.
• Mix the gram flour with the spices. Add all the prepared vegetables and toss in the mix. Slowly add 150ml water until the batter coats the vegetables - they should be well coated, but not swimming in it.
• Add the tomato mixture and get your hands in there, mixing well until everything is incorporated. Add a little lemon juice and seasoning.
• Heat the oil to 180C. Take a handful of the mix and squeeze it into a loose little ball, to ensure the vegetables stick to each other when lowered in the oil. Use a spoon to carefully drop the ball into the oil.
• Fry for about 4 mins until golden and crispy, then taste to test for seasoning and consistency. You may also need to add a little water or gram our to the mixture at this point if your tester ball didn't hold together. Repeat, frying the remaining mixture in batches.
• Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm in the oven as you go. Serve immediately with chutney.