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Kadhi Recipe | Punjabi Kadhi Pakoda

This is a step-by-step recipe of how to make Punjabi kadhi pakora. This kadhi recipe is perfect for weekend lunch when served with rice. Do try.
Course Main Course | Curry
Cuisine Indian, North Indian | Uttar Pradesh | Punjabi
Keyword kadhi pakoda, kadhi recipe
recipe kadhi recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 216kcal

Ingredients

  • ½ cup besan or gram flour or chickpea flour (about 75 gm.)
  • ½ tsp. ajwain or carom seeds
  • ½ tsp. cayenne or red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp. turmeric powder
  • salt to taste
  • ½ tsp. garam masala
  • 2 onion finely diced
  • 2 tbsp. water
  • 1.5 tsp. Oil for Air frying and more for deep frying

For Yogurt Mixture

  • 1 cup Yogurt or yogurt (about 250 gm.)
  • ¼ cup besan or gram flour (20 gm.)
  • 1 tsp. cayenne or chilli powder
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tsp. ginger-garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp. coriander powder
  • ½ tsp. turmeric powder
  • 3 cups water

For Kadhi tempering

Garnish

  • 1 tbsp. cilantro chopped coriander leaves

Instructions

To prepare pakoda or fritters

  • Mix together onion with besan, spices and salt and keep aside for 10 minutes. Onions will release water. If needed add 2 tbsp. of water to form batter. The batter must be thick.

For Deep frying pakodas

  • Now make fritters and deep fry in oil till they are golden brown. Drop fritters when oil is medium hot. Keep stirring constantly and don’t cook on high flame or the fritters will not get cooked inside.
  • Always use low to medium flame. It takes about 5 minutes for the fritters to be done. Drain and keep aside.

For Air frying pakodas

  • Pre heat Air fryer to 180 C or 360 F for 4 minutes. Brush the basket with oil and make small pakoda dumplings in one layer on the basket or perforated tray.
  • I also use perforated parchment paper to prevent the pakoras from sticking to the basket.
  • Air fry for 10 minutes. Turn the pakodas once in the middle and if needed brush with oil. Now Air fry at 200 C or 390 F for 4-5 minutes more to get the lovely brown colour.

To prepare yogurt besan mixture:

  • Add besan to yogurt and whip together till mixture is smooth. Now add all the spice powders, ginger- garlic paste with salt and mix well. Add 3 cups of water and keep aside.

To make your kadhi pakoda:

  • Heat oil in a kadhai or pan. When hot, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafetida. Wait till mustard and cumin seeds sputter which takes about a minute. Now add in the dry red chillies, curry leaves, cloves, cinnamon and fenugreek seeds and cook for 30 seconds more.
  • Add in the prepared curd-besan mixture to this tempering. The mix will splash so lower the flame. Mix well, cover and cook for about 10 minutes till the mixture starts thickening and darkening. Mix well. Uncover and cook for a couple of minutes.
  • Taste and adjust seasoning. Once the kadhi base is ready, turn off the heat and add pakoda and mix well. Keep them soaked for about 5 minutes and then serve hot garnished with coriander leaves.
  • Your kadhi pakoda is ready to serve. Serve it hot with boiled rice.

Notes

  • Always use sour curd or yogurt for making kadhi. In fact, my mum would make kadhi every time the curd got sour especially in summer. If your yogurt is not sour, keep it out in a warm place for an hour.
  • If your kadhi seems too thick you can add water. But remember that this kadhi is served thick and not runny.
  • I always make an extra batch of pakodas to munch on when I make kadhi.
  • If you like your pakodas to stay crunchy and not soggy then add them just before serving to the kadhi.
  • You can skip onion from your pakoda and just make pakoda with spiced besan mixture if you so like it.
  • Adjust heat or chilli powder as per taste. This recipe is mildly spicy.
  • When making air fried pakoras, add a tsp. of oil in the besan batter so that your pakodas taste nicer.

Nutrition

Calories: 216kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 8mg | Sodium: 67mg | Potassium: 655mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1403IU | Vitamin C: 38mg | Calcium: 180mg | Iron: 4mg