Punjabi Kadhi Pakora

One of my friends suggested me to have kadhi...why I didn’t ask...and why on earth did I choose Punjabi kadhi of all the kadhis in India...I have no idea...but I will say this...that if you have not eaten kadhi till now, it’s time that you should give this a try. I am so much in love with it...I might make it again!!

The only scary part of making kadhi is adding the yogurt mix...because you literally don’t know where you can go wrong which will split the yogurt. It happened with me so many times that now I literally stop cooking for 2 minutes before adding the yogurt. That kind of helps.

Besides you get to eat those spongy tasty pakoras with kadhi as well. And it’s just wonderful!!

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora / Punjabi Style Gram Flour Curry with Deep Fried Gram Flour Dumplings

Serves 6

Ingredients:

For the Dumplings:

1 cup of gram flour / besan

1 inch ginger – grated

2 green chillies – finely chopped

½ tsp turmeric powder

½ tsp red chilli powder

A pinch of carom seeds

Enough oil to deep fry

For the curry:

2 medium onions – sliced

½ cups of gram flour / besan

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp red chilli powder

1 tsp garam masala powder

1 cup of thick yogurt

2 dry red chillies

1 inch ginger – grated

2 green chillies – chopped

3 garlic cloves – minced

A big pinch of hing / asafoetida

1 tsp cumin seeds

3 green cardamoms

3 cloves

1 medium cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp methi / fenugreek seeds

2-3 tbsp mustard oil

Method:

Prepare the pakora:

In a big bowl take the gram flour and enough water to make a smooth paste of medium thick consistency. The consistency should be thick enough to drop firm round dollops of besan.

Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, carom seeds and salt.

Start whipping the besan with your hand or an wired whisk until it becomes fluffy and airy and when dropped from a height it should create ribbons like whipped cream.

Add ginger and green chillies to the batter.

Heat enough oil to deep fry in a kadai and drop medium large dollops of the batter in it.

Switch the flame to low and fry until the pakoras are nicely golden brown from the outside.

Prepare a bowl of cold water and as soon as you take out the pakoras you drop them in that cold water. Wait until the pakoras sinks in and then take them out and keep in a separate bowl.

Make the curry:

Whisk the curry until it is smooth and non-lumpy.

Add in the gram flour, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt and a little garam masala powder.

Add 2 cups of water into that mixture and mix until everything is perfectly incorporated. Keep this mixture aside.

Heat the oil in a kadai and fry the onions until golden brown. Once they are nicely golden brown take them out of the kadai and place them on a kitchen towel.

Add the cumin seeds, methi / fenugreek seeds, green cardamoms, cinnamon stick, cloves, bay leaves, dry red chillies and hing / asafoetida to the remaining oil and sauté for some seconds.

Add the ginger, garlic and chopped green chillies to them and fry until the garlic starts to change colour.

Now add the yogurt and besan mixture. Switch your flame to the lowest before adding the mixture or otherwise the yogurt can split.

Keep the flame on low and start stirring the yogurt mixture. This will take a while. Stirring is essential as it will prevent the besan from sticking to the bottom of the kadai and hence making it brown. If the curry tends to become thick add a cup of water more. You will know the besan is cooked because it will impart its nice aroma. More or less this should take somewhat 15-20 minutes of cooking on low to medium flame.

Once the curry is prepares, taste and adjust the seasonings.

Finally finish off with the golden-brown kept aside onions, chopped coriander leaves and some final sprinkle of garam masala powder.

Add the pakoras just before serving or they will become soggy.

Serve with plain steamed rice and enjoy!!