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Kadhi pakora or karhi pakora is a dish originating from the Indian subcontinent. Kadhi Pakora is one of the popular dishes of Punjab, northern India.

It consists of a thick gravy based on chickpea flour (besan), and contains vegetable fritters called pakoras, to which dahi (yogurt/curd) is added to give it a bit of sour taste. It is often eaten with boiled rice, jeera (cumin seeds) rice, paratha or roti.

My family loves to have kadhi pakora with either plain or jeera rice, onion salad and some pickle or green chillies. Sometimes kadhi is also made without pakoras. Kadhi Chawal (rice) is one of my favourite dish. I also like kadhi with plain paratha.

It's also a good option for tiffin/lunch box, or you can have kadhi pakora for lunch or for dinner.

In India, kadi is made in different ways, different states have their own version of kadhi. For example, in northern India, pakoras are added to the chickpea gravy and sour yogurt is added to add flavour to it. They are eaten either with boiled rice or roti.

In Rajasthan and Gujarat, it is usually served with khichdi, roti, paratha or rice. It is considered a light food. Rajasthani and Gujarati kadhi differs from the Uttar Pradesh variety. Traditionally, it is sweeter than the other variants, because sugar or jaggery is added to it, but it can be made without sugar for a more sour taste. It is eaten without pakoras and its consistency is slightly thinner.

The Gujarati kadhi is made preferably from buttermilk as it gives a more smooth texture compared to yogurt. Variations on this basic dish includes the addition of certain vegetables, notably bhindi (okra) in which case it is known as bhinda ni kadhi.

In Punjab Kadhi is a simple, quick winter meal. Made from besan (also known as chickpea flour or Gram Flour) to thicken the consistency, and adding pakoras, it is eaten with either long grain basmati rice or, (more commonly) with a roti. Unlike the rest of India, sour yoghurt is not added, just full-fat buttermilk, or unsweetened yoghurt.

The Sindhi diaspora in India usually make kadhi by first roasting the chickpea flour and adding vegetables to the chickpea gravy. It is called Kadhi because of the use of Curry Leaves which are called "Kadhi Patta" in Sindhi. Instead of yogurt, tamarind pulp is used to give it a sour taste. An alternate way is to make a liquid mixture of the chickpea flour instead of roasting chickpeas.

Sometime potato can be added in kadhi, I had such type of kadhi in a Gurudwara Sahib in India, there kadhi is served always on Sunday as langar.

I learned kadhi pakora from my twin sister. When we visited her at her place, she prepared super delicious kadhi pakora with jeera rice, salad and pickle. I liked it so much and she shared her recipe with me. She cooks super delicious recipes. I am a big fan of her, of her recipes.

Ingredients

Preparation

Making Onion Pakora

• Take a mixing bowl, add gram flour (besan/chickpea flour), chopped onions, finely chopped green chilli, baking soda, ajwain (carom seeds), red chilli powder and salt into it.

• Add water in small quantities into it, mix everything well and make very thick batter without any lumps.

• Heat sufficient amount of oil in a frying pan on a medium flame.

• Once the oil gets hot, take a spoonful of batter in between your fingers or in a spoon and carefully drop it into the hot oil. Drop about 5-6 pakoras in a single batch or as per the capacity of the frying pan, do not overcrowd and overlap the pakoras.

• Deep fry the pakoras until medium brown in colour and crispy. Flip the pakoras not before 1 minute, when one side gets medium brown colour.

• Once done drain them and transfer them on a kitchen paper so that it will absorb the excess oil from the pakoras and keep them aside for later use. Follow the same process with the remaining batter.

Making Kadhi

• Beat yogurt (curd/dahi) and gram flour (chickpea flour/besan) in a bowl with the help of hand beater or blender or wire whisk.

• Now add water, turmeric powder and salt into it. Blend all ingredients using hand blender until smooth batter. Make sure that no lumps left behind. Keep it aside for later use.

• Heat oil in a kadai or in a medium size deep pan over medium flame. Add coriander seeds (crushed) into it and sauté it for 30 seconds. Mix in between.

• Now add finely sliced onions and finely chopped garlic into it and sauté it till the onions gets translucent. Mix in between so that they won't burn.

• Now add red chilli powder, raw mango powder (amchur), turmeric powder (haldi) and mix well. It's optional to use raw mango powder, I normally add it to the kadhi to make a sour kadhi.

• Give a stir to already prepared yogurt-gram flour batter and then add it into the kadai or the pan and mix everything well.

• Turn the flame to high and give it a boil. Mix in between.

• Once kadhi starts to boil turn the flame to medium and cook it on a medium flame until the raw smell of gram flour goes away or for approximately 12-15 minutes. Stir occasionally in between to prevent sticking of kadhi to the bottom of the pan/kadai.

• If the mixture becomes very thick, you can add more water into it and cook it for another 4-5 minutes. Kadhi should have a pouring consistency.

• Add already prepared onion pakoras into the kadhi, mix it well and cook for 4-5 minutes.

• Now add some dried methi leaves (crushed) into it and cook it for a minute. This step is optional but dried methi leaves gives a nice flavour to the kadhi.

• Hot kadhi pakoda is ready to serve.

• Serve it either with plain paratha, roti, plain rice or jeera (cumin seeds) rice and enjoy with your loved ones.