Punjabi Kadhi Pakora Recipe

A dinner serving of Punjabi Kadhi Pakora - creamy yogurt curry with non fry fritters along with steamed basmati rice, cut onion salad and flaxseed chutney. This meal is homely and comforting.

4.41 from 5 votes

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora Recipe

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora is popular North Indian comfort food. Learn how to make this classic dinner recipe in Instant Pot along with non fried fritters.

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Additional Time10

Total Time40

Course: dinner

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: people

Calories: 422kcal

Author: Prajakta Sukhatme

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

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

Kadhi tastes best if you use sour yogurt. In fact, it was a recipe to use leftover old yogurt. If your yogurt is not sour, add ½ teaspoon lemon juice or ½ teaspoon of Amchur powder.

To avoid Yogurt from separating and curdling:
* 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