Punjabi Kadhi Pakora is classic Indian comfort food recipe. This wholesome and hearty dinner gravy recipe is gluten free. Kadhi is creamy soup like curry, full of complex flavors , pleasantly tangy and richly satisfying.
Velvety smooth chickpea flour and yogurt batter is simmered with quintessential Indian spices to make kadhi. Pakodas ( pakora ) are savory vegetable fritters. Pakoras are added to kadhi mixture to make wholesome and comforting kadhi pakora.
Learn how to make Best Punjabi Kadhi Recipe using stove top as well as in electric pressure cooker like InstantPot . And we also made this recipe guilt free by pan frying pakoras in very little oil instead of deep frying.
This pakoda kadhi recipe is epitomy of classic comfort food. And surprisingly it's only served during home cooked dinners.. you don't find this dish in restaurant menus that often.
Kadhi pakoda is two step recipe. Making pakoras and making kadhi. Pakoras are then dunked into kadhi, given special garnish of oil tempering to make unbelievably delicious meal.
Even though the word kadhi sounds close to curry, the literally meaning of it quiet different. Kadhi is derived from word "kadhna" which means slowly simmered. Thus the classic recipe involves slow simmering it for extended period of time. We are showing easy and less tedious way to get similar results !
VARIATIONS OF KADHI RECIPES ACROSS INDIA
Punjabi Kadhi Pakora recipe is all-time favorite food in many north-Indian homes. This curry is thick, full of spices and often served along with dipped pakodas.
Maharashtrian Kadhi is therapeutic yogurt curry. It uses only ginger and turmeric as main flavors. It is very thin and often used in healing common cough and cold during winter months.
Gujarati kadhi is sweeter in taste. It is often thick and served with boondi.
Karnatka and other Southern regions have similar dish called Tamali. It primarily uses buttermilk and raw garlic.
RECIPE INSPIRATION
This recipe is based on my dear friend Sonia's mother home cooking. Aunty was an unbelievable cook and she loved feeding all of our group of friends lip smacking yummy meals.
I am using most of her ingredients to bring you that unparalleled taste. However, in my efforts to make classic food easy to make, I am including short cuts and tricks for time savings and efficiency in cooking.
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE PUNJABI KADHI PAKORA RECIPE
Kadhi - Yogurt and chickpea flour are the main ingredients. Adding a teaspoon of sugar brings in a sweet taste.
Spices - For oil tempering, use cumin and mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and curry leaves. Ground turmeric and cayenne pepper for the flavors along with minced ginger and garlic. We use kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) for authentic curry aroma. We keep it mildly spicy but feel free add green chilis to kick the spices another notch.
For pakoras - I like onions and baby spinach leaves in my besan (gram flour) batter along with carrom seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain (carrom seeds), red chili powder and pinch of baking soda and salt.
HOW TO MAKE PUNJABI KADHI IN INSTANT POT?
Make Yogurt mixture - in a large mixing bowl, add yogurt and chickpea flour (besan) and sugar. Add 1 cup water and whisk the batter to smooth paste like consistency.
Start IP sauté mode. add oil. When oil heats up add fenugreek seeds. Let them crackle. Add cumin and mustard seeds and curry leaves. Let the curry leaves sizzle. Add the yogurt mixture, ground turmeric and cayenne pepper. Stir for a minute. Cancel SAUTE .
Add remaining water and mix everything well. Select SOUP mode. Choose Less ( + - buttons) choose - and til it goes to less . ( you have to do it quickly) .. choose 15 mins. Keep the float valve on VENTING side ( so no pressure builds during cooking)
When InstantPot goes to KEEP WARM mode after it's done cooking, wait 5 minutes. Open then lid.
Add pakora, salt, chopped cilantro. Select SAUTE mode back. Let it simmer for another 5 mins for 1 quick boil. Stir frequently. Cancel SAUTE.
In the meantime, make additional tadka. Heat up the ghee / oil in small fry pan. Add chopped garlic and let it fry till golden brown. Turn off the heat. Add whole coriander seeds and whole red chilies and give it a good stir.
Pour the sizzling tadka over the kadhi . Crush some kasuri methi on your palm and sprinkle it over the curry. Gently stir so everything mixes well. Serve hot !
HOW TO MAKE NO FRY PAKORAS
In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except oil. Mix everything well. Add water and make a pancake consistency batter.
Heat ebelskiever/paniyaram or appe pan on medium heat. Add couple drops of oil or use oil spray to coat each cavity.
Add about a tablespoon of batter in each cavity. Cover the lid and cook for 3-5 minutes low heat.
Add a few more drops of oil on the pakoras and flip them. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove them from the pan. Set aside.
Pakoras are done when golden brown on all sides. Make sure to cook it on low heat so they cook evenly without staying limpy inside.
SERVING SUGGESTIONS
Kadhi pakora served with steamed basmati rice is match made in heaven. "Kadhi Chawal" as is fondly called, has been epitomy of Punjabi comfort food , similar to Dal - Chawal and Rajma Chawal.
Similar to other dinner curries, you can also serve it with roti, naan or paratha. It can also be served with Makki ki roti along with baingan bharta for scrumptious dinner.
PREP AHEAD AND STORING OPTIONS
If you’d like to prepare this recipe in advance, prepare and keep the kadhi and pakoras separate. Add the pakoras to the kadhi about an hour before serving. This will keep them fresh and give them time to absorb some of the kadhi without being limpy.
Kadhi thickens over time , so add little water and thin it out before reheating.
You can refrigerate the kadhi and pakoda separately for 2-3 days. However once you mix them up , don't store them for longer duration.
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📖 Recipe
Punjabi Kadhi Pakora Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain sour yogurt
- ½ cup chickpea flour besan
- 5 cups water
- 1 tablespoon ghee or oil
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds- Methi Seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 6-7 curry leaves : optional
- ¾ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper - Adjust to taste
- 1 teaspoon raw sugar
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi- dried fenugreek leaves
- Salt per taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro for garnish
Onion-Spinach Pakoras (Fritters)
- 1 cup Besan chickpea flour
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon carrom seeds -ajwain
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon Red chili powder - adjust per spice tolerance
- ½ cup water adjust for pancake batter-like consistency
- 1 medium onion chopped or sliced thin
- 1 cup Baby Spinach chopped
- Sea salt per taste
- 2 tablespoons light oil or oil mist spray for pan-frying
For Garnishing Tadka / Oil Tempering
- 1 Teaspoon Ghee or Oil
- ½ teaspoon whole coriander seeds
- 4-5 garlic cloves- roughly chopped
- 2-3 Whole Red Chilis
Equipments / Kitchen tools used
- Instantpot
- Appe Pan
- Wire Whisk
Instructions
To MAKE KADHI IN INSTANT POT
- Make yogurt mixture - In a large mixing bowl, add yogurt and besan and sugar. Add 1 cup water and whisk the batter to smooth paste like consistency.
- Start IP SAUTE mode. add ghee / oil. When it heats up add fenugreek seeds. Let them crackle. Add cumin and mustard seeds, minced ginger and curry leaves. Let the curry leaves sizzle.
- Add the yogurt mixture, ground turmeric and cayenne pepper. Stir for a minute. Cancel SAUTE . Add remaining water and mix everything well.
- Select SOUP mode. Choose Less ( + - buttons) choose - and til it goes to less . ( you have to do it quickly) Choose 15 mins. Keep the float valve on VENTING side ( so no pressure builds during cooking)
- When Instant Pot goes to KEEP WARM mode after it's done cooking, wait 5 minutes. Open then lid.
To make No-Fry Pakoras :
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients listed for pakoda except oil. Mix everything well. Add water and make a pancake consistency batter.
- Heat ebelskiever/paniyaram or appe pan on medium heat. Add couple drops of oil or use oil spray to coat each cavity.
- Add about a tablespoon of batter in each cavity. Cover the lid and cook for 3-5 minutes low heat. Add a few more drops of oil or couple oil mists on the pakoras and flip them. Cook for another 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove them from the pan. Set aside.
- Pakoras are done when golden brown on all sides. Make sure to cook it on low heat so they cook evenly without staying limpy inside.
MAKE GARNISHING TADKA / OIL TEMPERING :
- Heat up the ghee / oil in small fry pan. Add chopped garlic and let it fry till golden brown. Turn off the heat. Add whole coriander seeds and whole red chilies and give it a good stir.
HOW TO SERVE :
- Add pakora in the Kadhi mixture. Add salt, chopped cilantro. Select SAUTE mode back. Let it simmer for another 5 mins for 1 quick boil. Stir frequently. Cancel SAUTE.
- Pour the sizzling tadka over the kadhi . Crush some kasuri methi on your palm and sprinkle it over the curry. Gently stir so everything mixes well. Serve hot with rice and devour !
STOVE TOP DIRECTIONS:
- Prepare the yogurt and besan mixture as above. In a heavy bottom pan, heat oil or ghee on medium heat. Add Fenugreek seeds, black mustard seeds and cumin seeds and curry leaves. Let them crackle and sizzle.
- Add Yogurt mixture and all other spices. Mix well. Let it bring to boil. Add remaining water. Stir well. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer for 30-50 minutes stirring frequently.
- Once it gets to desired thickness, turn the heat off. Follow the same steps to make fritters, garnishing tadka and serving.
Notes
* Avoid high pressure cooking. Always cook kadhi at low pressure.
* Do not add salt while cooking. Add it along with the garnish at the end.
* Use room temperature yogurt and whisk it well. For Instant Pot, Soup mode works best. You can also use Low Pressure MANUAL for 6 minutes.To prevent the hot kadhi from spitting out while releasing pressure, it is recommended to let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, followed by quick release. You can also make pakoda in airfryer or bake them in oven. Arrange the spoonful of pakora batter in single layer on the grill. Lightly spray some oil mist. Use 325 F temperature setting for 10 minutes. Flip them upside down and bake for another 5-8 minutes until golden brown from all sides. I like spinach and onion pakora. You can also change the veggies for your likings. If you want to keep kadhi simple, skip the pakoras. Use masala boondi instead of pakoras. This recipe is intended for 6 QT and above sized Instant Pots only.
Nutrition
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