Onion Pakora Kadhi

Kadhi is like a warm sweater on a cold day. Traditionally Kadhi is served with chawal or cooked rice. A typical North Indian cuisine, it is the ultimate comfort food- a kind of spicy (what Indian food isn’t?) yogurt soup thickened with chick pea or gram flour. Bright yellow and red colors using turmeric and red chili lends its quintessential flavor and visual. Using fenugreek, asafetida and carom seeds also aids in digestion especially because this is otherwise a spicy dish. The trick is to make the sauce not too thin or too thick as that completely ruins the taste. My Mum used to make this a lot growing up as it was one of my sister’s favorite things. It’s funny my Mum used to make so many dishes that I never appreciated then but think back so fondly now. She made food according to what each of us liked and always with a smile on her face. It makes me nostalgic thinking about it. At the time I never really understood what effort went into making a stuffed Paratha or Biriyani. Now that I cook myself, I appreciate it so much more. This is one of those recipes that can be done in a hurry. Kadhi itself doesn’t take long to make and you’re practically raiding your pantry and fridge for the ingredients anyway. It’s best eaten fresh and remember to add the pakora just when you’re ready. This recipe has 2 parts- first making the onion pakora, and second, the kadhi itself.

Onion Pakora: 

Ingredients:

• 2 onions sliced
• 1 cup besan (chick pea flour)
• ¼ cup rice flour
• Green chilies 2 finely chopped
• Red chili powder 1 tbsp
• Coriander (dhania) leaves 2 tbsp
• Salt
• Turmeric 1 tbsp
• Asafetida (hing) 1 tsp
• Ginger 1 tbsp
• Carom (ajwain seeds) 1 tbsp
• Oil for shallow frying

Method: 
Mix everything together adding a little water. Make into balls and shallow fry. 

Kadhi:

Ingredients:

• Chick pea (besan) flour ¼ cup 
• Plain yogurt 1 cup 
• Water- 3 cups 
• Oil 2 tbsp divided 
• Green chilies 2-3 slit 
• Salt 
• Shallots: 4-5 chopped 
• Cumin powder- 1 tbsp 
• Coriander powder- 1 tbsp 
• Red chili powder- 1 tbsp 
• Peppercorn- ½ tsp 
• Whole Red chilies- 4-5 (see Notes)
• Ginger 2 tsp chopped 
• Garlic 1 tbsp finely chopped 
• Carom (ajwain) seeds 1 tbsp
• Fenugreek (methi) seeds- ¼ tsp 
• Asafetida (hing)- a pinch 
• Cloves- 2-3 
• Mustard seeds 1 tsp 
• Curry leaves- small handful 
• Cumin seeds- 1 tbsp 
• Paprika- 1 tbsp 

Method:

Notes: if you don’t like the dish too spicy, feel free to use less of the chilies or omit completely if cooking for children.