Punjabi Kadhi Pakora

This Punjabi kadhi is the recipe I learnt from my husband's maternal aunt. She was a school teacher in Patiala and whenever she cooked kadhi she had to carry 'dabbas' for all her colleagues. The smoothness of Kadhi and the softness of round pakoras was simply unmatched. She had a little secret of making soft and melting pakoras which I learnt over the years. Today I am going to share that little secret with all of you. Do try it once and I am sure you will love to cook the same way over and over again. 

Kadhi chawal is a favorite Punjabi dish. It is made in every household with or without pakodas. But believe me mouth melting pakadas in creamy kadhi are just heavenly.

This recipe has two parts. First we make pakoras and then we make kadhi separately. After that we mix both and cook for another ten minutes to let Pakoras be soaked in curry and be moist from inside too. So what are we waiting for to let us get started. 

We need:

For  Pakoras:

• 1 Cup Besan ( Gram flour) 

• 1 medium Potato Chopped 

• 1 medium Onion Chopped

• 2 Chillies Chopped

• ½ Tsp Turmeric Powder

• 1 Tsp Red Chilli Powder

• ⅔ Tsp Salt

• 1 Tsp Carom Seeds ( Ajwain) 

• Oil for frying. 

For Kadhi :

• 250 gm Sour Curd. / 1 Litre of Butter Milk ( lassi) either of the two. 

• 3 Tbsp Gram flour ( Besan) 

• 1Tsp Turmeric Powder ( Haldi) 

• 1 Tsp Red Chilli powder

• 1 Tsp Dhania Powder

• 1 Tsp Salt

• 1 Tsp Mustard Seeds

• 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds

• ½ Methi Seeds

• 1 Tbsp Ginger grated

• 2 green chillies chopped

• 1 Tbsp Dried Methi Leaves

• 2 Tbsp Cooking Oil

For Tempering:

• 1 Tbsp Oil

• 1 Tbsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder. 

Here We go:

1. Take Besan in a bowl and add ½ cup of water to it. Start mixing it. Make sure there are no lumps. Beat the batter in circular motion till it is light in colour. It will take 5 min approximately. 

   

2. Mix Haldi powder, salt, red chilli powder and ajwain into it. Add chopped onions, potato and green chilli to it. Mix everything thoroughly. 

   
   

3. Meanwhile heat oil in a kadhai. Here comes the secret to the soft Pakoras. Add 2 Tbsp of hot oil to the Pakora batter. Mix it thoroughly. The batter should be of dropping consistency. 

   

4. Reduce the flame to low and Take a little batter in your finger tips and drop it in oil one by one. Now increase the flame to medium and fry all the Pakoras to a golden brown. Don't brown them. Take them out and keep aside. 

   
   

5. Take a mixer jar and put curd / lassi in it. Add besan and churn it in mixer jar till curd and besan are mixed well and there are no lumps. If using curd then add 1litre of water also. If using lassi add 250 ml of water. Keep aside. 

   

6. Heat oil in a Kadhai. Add jeera, mustard seeds and methi dana to it. When it starts cracking add all the dry Spice powder. Keep the temp at the lowest as to avoid burning the spice powders. 

   
   

7. Immediately at add lassi & besan mixture. Also add grated Ginger and green chilli. Keep stirring for two minutes on medium flame. When it starts boiling turn the flame to low. Let it simmer for 20 minutes. Don't cover the pan otherwise the kadhi will spill over. 

   
   

8. After 20 minutes when the kadhi forms a smooth consistency add Pakoras to it.  Let it simmer for another 5 min on low flame. After 5 min add kasuri methi and remove from flame. 

   

9. Heat desi ghee in a pan. Add Kashmiri chilli powder to it. Put this tempering on kadhi and serve hot with rice, roti and parantha.

   
   
   

Tips :

Add boiling hot oil in Basen to get a soft consistency of pakoras. 

Fry Pakoras on medium heat otherwise they will not get cooked from inside.