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Kadhi

PSA for non-desis: This is “Kadhi” not a generic “curry”

We take a spiced mix of potato & onion, then add to it curd/yogurt & besan(gram flour) and cook it for a long time (30 minutes). This makes a thick curry which goes well with rice. But can also be had with the carb of your choice.

Most people enjoy this as Kadhi-Pakora. Where Pakora means some vegetable fritters. I avoiding the fritters and substitute it with potatoes. I prefer potatoes because I would rather use my budget of fried food on samosas, vegetable chop or kachoris.

You can have it with basmati rice or jeera rice which will taste good. But consider pairing this kadhi with Quinoa which gives a brilliant nutty flavour.

kadhi-prepared

Mise En Place

Curd mix

  1. Take half a cup besan(gram flour), sieve preferably so that it doesn’t have lumps.
  2. Add in two cups of curd and whisk it until it is a fine mixture. There should be nolumps of curd or besan. If your whisk cannot eliminate them then it’s time to use your hands. Get in there and get rid of all lumps. Doing this step patiently helps.
  3. Add in 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp turmeric powder & 0.5 tsp chilly powder.
  4. Add in 3 tbsp of freshly grounded coriander seeds. Use a mortal and pestle to do this but a mixer-grinder should also work. Take care that we want coarse grind not fine powder.
  5. Add in ginger-garlic crushed in the same mortal & pestle. Use 6-7 cloves of garlic and 1-1.5 inches of ginger.
  6. Mix them up again.
  7. Add in 4-5 cups of water to make its consistency runny-wattery. Don’t worry about thickness here.

curd-mix

Spiced mix

  1. Chop two green chillies. (Most recipies won’t use green chillies and will use more of red chillies, It’s my personal choice here and as I love the taste of green chillies in this).
  2. Slice one onion.
  3. Chop two potatoes in the french fry shape and put them in water.
  4. Keep ready: 1/2 tsp Methi Seeds, 1 tsp Cumin Seeds & 2 red chillies for tempering.

veggies-prepped

Process

  1. Heat up a Kadhai and add 1 tbsp of ghee.
  2. Let it heat and add methi seeds and cumin seeds. Fry for 15s. The cumin should be cooked (and not burnt).
  3. Add in two red chillies and cook for 10-15 seconds then finally the green chillies. Let them cook enough that their flavour is infused in the ghee.
  4. Add in the onions and some asafoetida. Stir around in high flame for 3m.
  5. Add in the potatoes. Cook on high for 1-2m. Then for another 2m on low flame.
  6. Onions should not get browned, only translucent. Don’t worry about the potatoes being cooked, there is still a lot of time left.

  1. Add in a small pinch of salt, half tsp turmeric, red chilly, coriander pwd each. And cook for a minute. The rawness of spices should go away.
  2. Add in the curd mix.
  3. On high heat cook this while continuously stirring around. Stirring means not vigorously but gently in horizontal movements, ensuring that there is movement and nothing is getting stuck to the bottom of the kadhai.
  4. Once the mix starts boiling, turn the stove to simmer and cover it.
  5. Set a timer for 25-30 minutes and stir it every 4-5 minutes or so.
  6. With time the Kadhi will turn from runny to thick, hence why you should ensure that the curd mix is wattery when you started cooking it.
  7. Finally crush some kasuri methi and mix it in.

Ingredients

  1. Spices
    • Coriander Seeds (half cup ~ 10-12g)
    • Coriander Powder
    • Fenugreek Seeds
    • Cumin
    • Red Chillies
    • Asafoetida
    • Salt
    • Kasuri Methi
  2. Vegetables
    • Potatoes
    • Onion
  3. Other
    • Curd/Yogurt
    • Gram Flour (Besan)

ground-coriander