Kadhi takes its name from kadhana — to cook down slowly over low heat — and that is the whole method: sour yogurt whisked with gram flour (besan) and simmered for the better part of an hour until it thickens, deepens to gold and loses every trace of raw besan. Into it go pakoras, soft onion-and-besan fritters that swell as they soak up the tangy sauce. Every region of the north and west has its own kadhi — the Gujarati thinner and sweet, the Rajasthani sharp with whole spices, the Sindhi built on tomato instead of yogurt — but the Punjabi version is the thickest and most assertive, tempered with methi seeds, cumin and dried red chilli rather than the curry leaves of the south, and finished in mustard oil. Served over rice it becomes kadhi-chawal, the slow Sunday lunch of Punjab and Delhi, and like all good kadhi it is better the day after. This version follows Tanvi Srivastava, who set down her family’s Punjabi kadhi on her site Sinfully Spicy — an English-language record of a recipe handed down at home.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup sour full-fat yogurt (about 250g)
- 4 tbsp besan (gram flour, for the kadhi)
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp Kashmiri red chilli powder
- 1 litre water
- 3 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds (coarsely crushed)
- 2 dried red chillies
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- 2 green chillies (slit)
- 1½ tsp salt (plus more to taste)
- 1 cup besan (gram flour, for the pakoras)
- 1 small onion (finely sliced)
- ½ tsp ajwain (carom seeds)
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- neutral oil (for deep-frying)
- chopped coriander (to serve)
METHOD
- Whisk the yogurt, 4 tbsp besan, turmeric and Kashmiri chilli together until completely smooth, then whisk in the water; set this kadhi mixture aside.
- Warm the mustard oil in a heavy pot until it just smokes, lower the heat, and add the fenugreek and cumin seeds, crushed coriander, dried red chillies and asafoetida, letting them sizzle.
- Add the slit green chillies, then pour in the yogurt mixture, stirring constantly so it doesn’t curdle as it comes to a boil.
- Once it boils, add 1 tsp of the salt, lower to a gentle simmer and cook for 30–40 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick, glossy and deep gold.
- Meanwhile make the pakoras: mix the 1 cup besan with the sliced onion, ajwain, baking soda, red chilli powder and remaining salt, adding a little water to a thick batter, and rest 10 minutes.
- Heat the frying oil and drop in spoonfuls of batter, frying until golden and crisp, then drain on paper.
- Slip the pakoras into the simmering kadhi 5–10 minutes before serving so they soften but don’t go to mush.
- Scatter with coriander and serve over steamed rice as kadhi-chawal, or with roti.
