Punjabi Kadhi Pakora / Gram Flour Fritters In Yogurt Gravy

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora is a North Indian delicacy in which crispy gram flour fritters (besan pakora)are simmered in a thick yogurt curry. This yogurt and gram flour based curry is often paired with steamed rice and termed as kadhi chawal which is a soulful comfort meal for Indians. Punjabi kadhi pakora is thick and creamy in texture and spicy and sour in taste. This kadhi gets its characteristic taste from the flavorful tempering, in this recipe the kadhi is tempered twice, first with mustard oil and later with ghee.

Every state in India has its own version of this humble dish - Kadhi. In Maharashtra and Gujarat, the Kadhi is thin in consistency and sweet and sour in texture as against the thick, spicy and sour Punjabi Kadhi. In Chattisgarh , black gram non-fried dumplings are cooked in the Dubki Kadhi. Punjabi Kadhi Pakora is popular throughout India. Kadhi chawal is a favourite combo in any restaurant menu. In North India, it is served as a street food. My son is very fond of this Punjabi Kadhi pakora and i often end up making kadhi chawal for our lunch. Though I temper it twice only occasionally. Tempering the kadhi twice does add to the flavor and makes the kadhi more appealing and glamorous. I have very fond memories of eating kadhi chawal with my friends in Poanta Sahib. One of our friends, Radha Bhabhi would often host a kadhi chawal party at her house and i have followed her recipe here.

Making Punjabi Kadhi at home is easy. You require thick sour curd to make this kadhi. To get the authentic taste, do not skip the use of mustard oil in this kadhi. Though you may skip the final ghee tempering. Ideally the fritters are made using gram flour, spices and onions. You may add veggies like spinach and potato as well for variation. This kadhi can be made ahead of time, just make sure you add the fritters to the kadhi a few minutes before serving. As the fritters will get soggy if cooked in the kadhi for a long time. The key to crispy light fritters without adding cooking soda, is to beat the fritter batter very well or else the fritters tun hard and dense. This Punjabi kadhi pakora taste best with steamed rice, though you may serve it with chapati as well.  So without further ado, let's get started.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients for kadhi:

• 1 cup sour curd
• 1/4 cup gram flour /besan
• 1 1/2 tablespoon mustard oil
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds / methi dana
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds / jeera
• Fat pinch of asafoetida / hing
• 2 green chilies, finely chopped
• 2 red chilies broken
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
• Salt to taste

Ingredients for Onion fritter

• 1/2 cup gram flour/ besan
• 1 onion , sliced
• 1 teaspoon red chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon carom seeds / ajwain
• Salt to taste
• Oil for frying

Ingredients for final Ghee tempering

• 1 tablespoon ghee
• 2 dried red chilies 
• Few curry leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds

Method for Onion Fritters

1. In a mixing bowl, take  the gram flour. Add sliced onion, red chili powder , carom seeds and salt to it. Mix well using hands and leave the mix aside for a while.                             

                           

   2. Now add little water at a time and make a batter with it. Beat the batter well either with your hands a or using a wire whisk. This will make the fritters light and crisp. 

                            

   3. Now take 1 tablespoon batter and dip into a wok with heated oil. Deep fry all the fritters until golden brown and cooked well from all sides. Remove the fritters with slotted spoon and keep on an absorbent paper lined plate.

                            

                             

                                

Method for making Kadhi:

1. Take 1 cup thick sour curd in a bowl and beat it well. Add gram flour, turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt to it. 

2. Add about 2 1/2 water to it and mix everything properly taking care there are no lumps in it. Keep aside.

3. Heat mustard oil in a pan. Once it smokes, lower the flame and add cumin seeds followed by fenu greek seeds and asafoetida.

4. Next add chopped green chilies and onions. Saute for about a minute . Now add curry leaves and broken red chili. Fry for few seconds before stirring in the curd besan mixture.

 5. Cook the kadhi on medium flame for about 15 to 20 minutes or until it is cooked well and thickens. Lastly add the fritters / pakoras to hot kadhi. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes.

6. Meanwhile prepare the last ghee tempering. Heat ghee in a small kadhai. Add mustard seeds to it. Once the seeds splutter, add curry leaves followed by crushed coriander seeds and dried red chilies. Pour this tempering over the prepared kadhi pakora.

  7. Put off the flame and serve the delicious kadhi pakora with steamed rice.

 Recipe Notes:

• Tempering the kadhi twice is purely optional.
• For authentic taste, do not replace mustard oil tempering with other cooking oil.
• Use sour curd to make this Punjabi Kadhi.
• You may add veggies like spinach and potatoes to the fritters for variation.
• Beat the fritter batter very well to get light crisp fritters.
• Add the fritters to the kadhi just before serving. Allow the fritters to simmer in the hot kadhi for 5 minutes before serving.

This recipe is a part of the A-Z recipe Challenge Group of which I am a member . The group is an initiative by my friends and fellow bloggers, Vidya Narayan and Jolly Makkar. Members of this group post every alternate months the food recipes with a key ingredients with a particular alphabet. For this month G is the alphabet and i choose the key ingredient to be Gram Flour.

                                          

If you ever try this recipe, do share your feedback with us in the comment section below.

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For more kadhi recipes, check out the following links from this blog

• Maharashtrian Kadhi

                                

• Dubki Kadhi - Chattisgarh Cuisine