Punjabi Kadhi Pakoras : Kadhi Kadhi???

Kadhi Kadhi ?? : Kadhi in Marathi language means "When"....And this was exactly my state of mind... I wanted to have "Kadhi" since a long time ( It's a thick gravy made out of thinning curd with water, and adding chickpea flour to it ). This is a very popular dish in North India ( it is said that this is a must-have dish in proceedings of a marraige !!!) In Gujrat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, this is a popular dish too but the preparation varies from place to place. In North India, thick gravy is made and pakoras ( fried dumplings ) are added. In Gujrat and Rajasthan, jaggery is added in the preparation and hence the taste is little sweet. Also the consistency is thin compared to the one made in North. It is soup-like consistency and served with rice.

It had been ages i had Kadhi... This is one dish which i didn't know how to make and thought it to be very dificult ( always afraid i wont get the consistency right ). Also not many Restaurants offer this dish, and if they do they don't have the right taste! I enjoyed Kadhi 6 months back when i had gone to the Jaipur city of Rajasthan. That was a nice typical Kadhi served in a thali ( without the pakoras ). Here is what the Thali ( Plate ) looked like at Suraj Restaurant :

But i wanted to have the Kadhi- Gole ( As is known in Maharashtra, gole means GOL- round... so the gole's are round balls dumplings of gram flour ) and as my mom cooked it... I still haven't got a chance to cook or eat it... When i went home in Diwali festival, i had demanded to my mother that i wanted to eat Kadhi- Gole, but she mentioned that Kadhi is not prepared during festival or auspicious occasions. I still don't know the reason for it... Maybe it's superstition that onions and garlic was not eaten during festivals in earlier days. Or maybe Kadhi is known as a dish that is made when no one wants to cook, its that easy!! And during festives, a lot of dishes are supposed to be prepared and eaten....well, if any of you find the real reason behind this, please let me know....

So, recently i saw a post on a Food Forum by a friend Ranii Kaur about Palak Pakoras in Palak Kadhi cooked in typical Punjabi style !!! I had Palak in my fridge anyway and decided to give it a try. I took the pakora recipe from her and made the Kadhi in traditional way as my mother makes it :)) And it turned out super delicious....Served with rice, peanut chutney ( recipe uploaded earlier ) and Kelyachi koshimbir ( Traditional salad recipe of banana ), this tasted heavenly and made our tummy's full :))))

Well, i got to know, that this recipe was taught by her mother, to Ranii. So lets dedicate this article to Ranii's mother... special Thanks to her !!!!

Ingredients :

For Pakoras :

Palak ( Spinach) - 1/2 cup ( Remove the stems, wash and chop finely )

Besan ( Gram flour ) - 3/4 cup

Garlic - 1-2 ( crushed  or grated )

Salt - to taste

Red chilli powder - 1 tsp ( Or you can add green chillies and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Adjust according to taste )

Hing ( Asofoetida ) - a pinch

Onions - 1 ( finely chopped or u can grate too. Adding onions is optional )

Ajwain - 1/2 tsp ( optional but i love to add this to pakoras )

Oil - to fry to pakoras

For Kadhi :

Yogurt ( Dahi ) - 1 cup

Besan ( Gram Flour ) -1/4 cup

Turmeric powder - 1 tsp

Fenugreek seeds ( Methi ) - 1/2 tsp

Oil - 1 tbsp

Spinach - 1 cup ( washed and finely chopped )

Dried red chillies - 2

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp

Ginger - 1 inch ( Grated )

Onion - 1 small ( chopped ) Optional.

Salt - to taste

Recipe :

Mix all the pakora ingredients together in a bowl ( except the oil ). Heat oil in a kadhai and when the oil is hot enough, add small tea spoonful or round balls of the pakora batter and fry till golden brown. Remove the pakoras on a Kitchen tissue to drain out excess oil. Keep them aside.

Take the yogurt in a bowl and whisk it well... Add besan to it and mix well so that no lumps are formed. Now add about 3 cups of water to this...Always remember the ratio of curd:water is 1:3.

Add turmeric powder and keep aside.

Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds. When they splutter, add fenugreek seeds and red chillies ( break them into 2 ). Fry for half a minute and then add ginger. When it starts to turn brown, add the onions and fry for about a minute more. Now add the palak and fry on high flame till all the water oozes out from palak ( just for about 1-2 minutes and keep stirring continuosly otherwise it will burn ).

Now add the yogurt mixture to this, let it come to boil...then put the flame to low and let it simmer for 10-15 mins... keep stirring in between.

Lastly, add the red chilli powder... stir well and then add the fried pakoras to this.

Let it simmer ( uncovered ) for another 5-10 minutes. 

Yummy Kadhi -pakoras in Punjabi style are ready... And addition of palak makes it healthy too :)

Happy Cooking :)

Peanut Chutney : Rekha's special

As is the saying in the film Ratatouille, "Anybody can cook"... I have come up with a new saying, "Recipes come from anywhere". This is really true! Women who work as domestic help ( commonly known as Maids in India) have a special place in our lives...I think all Indian married women can relate to this statement. We feel the world has gone upside down when she doesn't come for a day or if she doesn't finish the work on time ! Thankfully, i share a very good rapport with my domestic help and vice versa. Rekha - She is this ever smiling female, keeps cracking jokes and yes, does all the work to perfection ! 

Just one day when she saw i had kept Peanuts on my kitchen platform, she mentioned , "Didi ( Elder sister - that's what they call here to young women and "Aunties" to elder women...Yes, that does state that i am still young :) Anyways, jokes apart...) even i made peanut chutney yesterday". Curious to know, how her version of chutney was, i asked her the recipe and she did mention it to me in detail. And as excited i am to try new recipes always, i made it the same day and had them with plain Parathas ! It was super yummy....

So here comes an easy recipe from a remote village in Rajasthan near Jaipur ( she mentioned that they make different kinds of chutneys in her village and have it with bajra rotis. So i am going to make some more chutney recipes soon :)

Ingredients :

Peanut powder - 1 cup ( Dry roast the peanuts, remove its skin and grind it to a powder in mixer )

Garlic - 8 pieces

Ginger - 1 inch piece

Green chillies - 3 ( or according to taste)

Onions - 1 medium chopped finely

Jeera - 1 tsp

Salt to taste

Red chilli powder ( 1/2 tsp if you need it more spicy )

Oil - 1 tbsp

Recipe :

You can make this recipe in 2 ways... Either make a paste of onions, green chillies, ginger and garlic or chop all of them finely. Either ways it tastes good.

I made a paste of green chillies, ginger, garlic and half of the chopped onions. Don't add water. If its not smooth paste, it's fine or even better ! Let it be coarse.

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pan. Add jeera and when it sputters, add the remaining onions. Fry for a minute. Then add the paste. Fry for another 2-3 mins. Add the peanut powder, salt and red chilli powder if you want. Mix well and fry for another minute. Remove from heat. It becomes like a one thick ball.

Peanut chutney is ready!!!

You can store it in air tight container in a fridge.

Happy Cooking :)