Punjabi Kadhi Pakora Recipes

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!

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.

PAKORA FOR PUNJABI KADHI

Steps:

• Heat a generous amount of vegetable oil in a heavy saucepan or a deep fryer.
• Combine water, flour, onion, salt, chili powder, and baking soda in a bowl to make a thick batter.
• Place 1 teaspoon batter in the hot oil and deep-fry until browned all around, about 3 minutes. Line a plate with paper towels and drain pakoras there.
• Place the pakoras in the Punjabi Kadi.