Punjabi Kadhi Recipe

4.73 from 69 votes

punjabi kadhi is a popular north indian recipe of punjabi kadhi pakora. fried onion pakoras in a creamy & sour yogurt sauce.

Prep Time40 mins

Cook Time30 mins

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: main course

Cuisine: north indian

Servings:

Calories: 394kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

1.5 cups full fat sour curd or khatta dahi or yogurt or 375 gram sour curd
3 cups water or add as required
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
½ teaspoon garam masala powder
1 generous pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 to 1.5 teaspoon salt or add as required
8 tablespoon besan or about 40 grams of besan
mustard oil or sunflower oil or any oil for shallow frying or deep frying pakoras

1 cup tightly packed thinly sliced onions or 2 medium to large onions or 150 grams
1 cup besan (gram flour)
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon garam masala powder
½ teaspoon ajwain (carom seeds)
⅔ to ¾ teaspoon salt or add as required
¼ cup water or add as required

in a bowl take 1.5 cups sour curd or about 375 grams of curd. whisk it well till smooth
add 8 tbsp gram flour, ½ tsp red chilli powder, ½ tsp turmeric powder, ½ tsp garam masala powder and 1 tsp salt to the whisked curd.
stir and mix everything again.
add 3 cups water and stir again.
stir very well to make a smooth mixture without lumps. if there are lumps, then break them with a wired whisk or a spatula or with your fingers. keep the curd mixture aside.
you can use a blender to make this mixture, but make sure you don’t over do it. you will get butter instead of a smooth blended curd.

take the 1 cup gram flour/besan in a bowl and add ½ tsp ajwain/carom seeds, ½ tsp red chili powder, ½ tsp garam masala powder and ⅔ tsp salt or as required.
add 1 cup thinly sliced onions.
mix everything well and keep aside covered for 30 minutes.
this will allow the onions to release their water in the mixture. depending on the water content in the onions, the mixture will become very moist or just about moist.
then accordingly add water as required to make a thick batter. i added ¼ cup water.
heat oil for deep frying in a pan or kadai. with a spoon or with your hands drop the pakora batter in the oil.
when the pakoras are partly cooked, then turn over and fry the other side.
fry till the pakoras are crisp and golden.
remove the fried pakoras and place them on a kitchen paper towel so that extra oil is absorbed. fry the pakoras in batches this way. when done keep all of them aside.

in another pan or kadai, heat 2 tbsp mustard oil. make sure to use a large bottomed pot so that while boiling, the kadhi does not spill.
add the 1 tsp cumin seeds, 8 to 10 methi seeds and a generous pinch of asafoetida. allow the cumin seeds to crackle and the methi seeds to change their color. fry on a low flame, so that these spices do not get burnt.
add ⅓ cup chopped onion. stir and saute for 3 minutes on a low flame.
then add 1 tbsp chopped ginger/adrak, ¾ to 1 tbsp chopped garlic and 2 green chillies, chopped. stir and saute for a minute.
now add 8 to 10 curry leaves, 2 dry red chilies (halved or broken). stir and saute for a minute on a low flame.
then add the curd mixture.
stir very well.
increase the flame to medium and bring the kadhi to a boil. keep on stirring often so that the bottom does not get browned. time taken to cook the kadhi will be around 14 to 16 minutes.
after the kadhi has come to a boil, then lower the flame and simmer the kadhi for more 6 to 7 minutes. the kadhi will thicken.
if the kadhi becomes too thick, then add some hot water.
now add the onion pakoras in the kadhi. stir gently.
cover with a lid and let the onion pakoras be soaked in the kadhi for 8 to 10 minutes.
lastly sprinkle some garam masala powder on the punjabi kadhi.
serve the punjabi kadhi pakora with steamed rice or cumin rice, topped with few teaspoonfuls of ghee. you could also have kadhi with rotis or parathas. however the combo of kadhi chawal is very popular and taste very good.