Contrasting flavours can be just as interesting as complimenting ones…
Ever so fluffy and buttery chickpea flour (gram flour) pakora dumplings, submerged in a creamy, tangy and spicy yogurt sauce, taste remarkably good with a warm bowl of boiled rice…
Today’s curry is the famous….Pakora Kadhi (pronounced as kard – hi)… (translated as Chickpea/gram flour fritters Curry).
One of my mum’s classic curry recipes, Mr Q and the whole family’s favourite. It is my go-to-meal anytime I am looking for a meat free crowd pleaser.
Mind you, there are many regional variations of Kadhi but the ingredients used to make it in all the versions are more or less the same – North indian kadhi, Panjabi Kadhi, Gujrati kadhi with or without dumplings Kadhi, baked or fried dumplings Kadhi, thick or runny sauce Kadhi and many more..
One thing is similar in all those Kadhis…they are all incredibly tasty, quick to cook and healthy!
See the detailed video and a printable recipe card of my version, below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSWZCbqAhyc]
PAKORA KADHI
Ingredients
Yogurt Sauce
- 1/4 Cup chickpea / gram flour Besan
- 1 Cup thick / greek yogurt
- 3 Cup Water
- 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds Methi Dana
- 1 tsp curry leaves
- 1/2 Onion chopped
- 1 tsp fresh chilli paste
- 1/2 tsp Paprika Powder
- 2 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 pinch dry chilli flakes
- 3-4 Cloves of Garlic, paste
- 2 tsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp Salt or to taste
- 2-3 tsp lemon/lime juice or to taste
Pakoras (Fritters)
- 1 medium Sliced Onion
- 1 tbsp yogurt
- 1 tsp Salt or to taste
- 1 tbsp baking soda
- 1 clove Garlic, paste
- 1/2 tsp ginger, paste
- 1/2 tsp fresh Chilli paste
- 1 pinch cumin seed, dry roasted and crushed kalhara zeera
- 1 tbsp chilli sauce or sriracha
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 Cup chickpea flour /Gram Flour Besan
- 1 cup oil for frying
Tempering and Garnish
- 2 tbsp Oil/ghee /clarified butter
- 1/4 small onion sliced
- 1/2 tsp curry leaves
- 1/4 tsp Mustard Seeds (optional)
- 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 green Chillies (optional)
- 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves finely chopped
Instructions
Yogurt Sauce:
- Mix the chickpea/gram flour, yogurt, salt and water to a smooth paste.
- Heat the oil in a large, deep pan on medium heat, add fenugreek seeds, curry leaves, onions, fresh chilli paste, paprika, turmeric, dry red chilli flakes and ginger garlic paste. stir fry for few seconds
- Add the flour and yoghurt mixture to the pan with the lemon juice. Stir continuously to avoid lumps, add water gradually and bring to a boil. (see video)
- Simmer over a low heat till it is thickens a bit. Stir occasionally
Pakora:
- While the Sauce cooking away on a low heat, mix well the Pakora batter in a bowl by adding onions, yogurt, salt, soda, ginger garlic paste, crushed cumin, fresh chilli paste, sriracha turmeric and gram/chickpea flour into a smooth fluffy batter with enough water to form a thick dropping consistency.
- In a frying pan, heat 1 cup of oil on a medium flame.
- Add few teaspoonful of the pakora mixture. Fry the pakora in batches (see video)
- When the pakoras fluff up, and the base turn golden-brown, turn them over and brown on the other side.
- When pakoras golden from both side, give them a press in the oil with the frying spoon and scoop them out from the oil and drop them into the kadhi (yogurt sauce). Repeat this procedure with the rest of the mixture. let the kadhi cook with the pakora for few more minutes, stir once or twice.
Tempering
- Heat the oil/ clarified butter/ghee, in a small frying pan, fry the onions for few seconds, add cumin, curry leaves, chilli flakes and paprika, once paprika added quickly pour over the kadhi, add coriander and green chillies to garnish.
- Transfer the hot kadhi into a serving dish and serve with Boiled rice.
Enjoy
Sadi
❤️
