Kadhi

Kadhi is a delicacy which I have often devoured to my heart’s content. It is also one of the few recipes that I found daunting due to its rich flavour and dissimilarity from other lentil curries (dal) that we regularly eat.

Kadhi feels like a warm hug on a Saturday afternoon which is much needed, especially in the current quarantined times. Below’s the recipe for a serving size of 6.

Ingredients:

Mustard oil

1 tsp black mustard seeds (rai)

2 dried red chillies

2 green chillies

1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi-dana)

1/2 tsp Asoefetida (Hing)

2 cups gram flour (besan)

1 cup curd

5 cups water

1 large onion

Salt

Turmeric powder

Red chilli powder

Coriander powder (dhania)

Recipe:

Mix curd and water in a large bowl. Use a ratio of 1:5. To it, add 1 and a half cup of besan. Use a blender to make a smooth mix and avoid any clumps.

For the pakode: take half a cup of besan and add salt, turmeric powder. You can also add green chillies and onion but it’s optional. Keep aside.

Take a large pot and add mustard oil. After heating it sufficiently, add crushed hing, methi-dana, open a dried red chilli, green chillies and rai.

Stir for 5-10 seconds and add onions to the mix and saute till golden brown.

Add the curd, water and besan mixture to the sauted masala and keep stirring.

Add the masala powders – salt, turmeric, red chilli and coriander and continue to stir. Let the mixture cook while stirring intermittently. Do keep stirring and mixing the kadhi to prevent boiling over.

Meanwhile for pakode: heat a deep pot and add mustard oil for frying the pakode. Once the temperature is high, reduce the flame to medium before dropping the besan mix into the oil. It requires skill and patience, you can trying using a teaspoon instead of fingers. Drop equal sizes and ensure they don’t stick to each other. Toss and fry for around 5 minutes before taking it out.

Add pakode to the kadhi and cover halfway with a lid and boil for another 20 minutes.

You can add tadka before serving. It adds a beautiful, rich colour and flavour to the dish and makes it wholesome. Heat ghee in a tadka spoon/ladle and turn off the heat once it’s hot. Add a cut dried red chilli / or powder and some dhania powder and wait for the red colour to immerse in the ghee. Pour it on kadhi for a garnish.