While growing up, we used to go to Gurdwara near our place. Every Sunday, they served Kadhi Chawal, Rajma Masala & Chole. I always used to prefer eating my favorite Kadhi Chawal. Our site contains some affiliate links. That means when you purchase anything by clicking those links, I get a commission with no extra cost to you. This helps up the blog running. To know more about this, check out the Disclaimer. Thank You! With the authentic Kadhi recipe, they also used to add onion-tomato tadka on the top. That tadka makes their Kadhi Chawal so unique and delicious & so unforgettable. So I incorporated my Mom’s Kadhi recipe and added the tempering to make them extra special. If you have some old yogurt lying around and is really sour in flavor. Instead of throwing it away, make good use of it by making this Punjabi Kadhi Pakora. It goes great with some steamed white rice. The post contains Helpful Tips & Tricks to make Punjabi Kadhi Recipe. But if you’re in a hurry, you can also click “Jump to Recipe’ under the Heading to go directly to the Recipe Card, or you can also click Recipe Card from the Table of Contents below.
WHAT IS PUNJABI KADHI PAKORA?
Punjabi kadhi Pakora is made from two words, Kadhi & Pakora. Kadhi (also commonly referred to as Kadhna) means a slow cooking process. And Pakoras are fritters. So Kadhi Pakora is fritters added to the curry made by slow-cooking yogurt & glam flour batter. Many restaurants serve the Kadhi with just gram flour fritters. But the authentic flavor comes by dunking potato & onion fritters in the curry. It is a tangy curry and has a velvety texture, and it is made by adding sour yogurt. But if the yogurt is not sour enough, you can add tamarind pulp or amchur powder.
INGREDIENTS
Making Kadhi is a two-way process. So the ingredients that you need for:
Kadhi
Base Ingredients: The basic ingredients for any kadhi recipe is yogurt, gram flour, water, and tamrind pulp. Though tamarind is optional, you only add tamrind if the yogurt is not sour enough. Though I like tamarind flavor so I also use tamrind pulp everytime when making Punjabi Kadhi. Tadka: I also like adding onion-tomato masala (tadka) in the recipe. This brings the dhaba-style flavor.Spices: Just some basic ingredients you need (garam massala, salt, amchur powder, roasted cumin powder, red chili powder, and methi seeds/fenugreek seeds).Tempering: For tempering you’ll need mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin seeds, and whole red chili.
Pakoras
Base Ingredients: The basic ingredient you will need to make pakoras are gram flour, onion, tomatoes.Spices: Spices that I use are garam masala pwoder, red chili powder, salt, and roasted cumin seeds.
See the recipe card for quantities.
HOW TO MAKE PUNJABI KADHI
Check the recipe card below for the full recipe, but you refer here for step-by-step photo instructions.
Step 1- Make Pakora
Step 2 - Frying the Pakoras
Step 3 - Kadhi Batter
Step 4 - Cook Kadhi
Step 5 - Onion Tomato Masala
Step 6 - Make Tempering
Step 6 - Layering
PRO TIPS
Punjabi Kadhi is supposed to be sour. So, I add sour yogurt (4-5 days old) while making Punjabi Kadhi. If yogurt is not sour enough, you can add Amchur Powder or Tamarind to the Kadhi.I always add Curry Leaves to the Kadhi. It gives a nice flavor.I also add fenugreek seeds to Kadhi for a little pungent flavor that tastes good.Always add vegetable fritters just before serving. If you prefer pakoras soft, you can simmer pakoras with Kadhi for 5 minutes.Punjabi Kadhi is thick and creamy in texture. I cook it on low heat, which gives a lovely texture to the Kadhi.Always cook Kadhi at low heat. Because Kadhi has yogurt in it, the yogurt will curdle if you cook it at high or medium heat. And you will not get a smooth & creamy texture.Adding baking soda to pakoras makes them crispy.For authentic flavor, make fritters with onion and potatoes.Add more water because as kadhi cooks, it will thicken in consistency.I also add some tempering before serving, which gives a unique flavor.
VARIATIONS
There are some variations you can try:
WHAT TO SERVE KADHI PAKORA WITH?
you can serve Punjabi Kadhi Pakora with steamed white rice, brown rice, poori, or paranthas.
STORAGE
You can store Punjabi Kadhi in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. But as Punjabi Kadhi is made of Gram Flour & Yogurt, so when stored, it gets thicker. So when reusing, add little water (as needed) and cook it until hot by stirring continuously until lump-free.
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