Being in Punjab, how can I justify myself if I don’t post
the Kadhi Pakora recipe?. Yes kadhi pakora is an all time favorite of Punjabis
for their lunch. I love fried dumpling in curries. So I often make such, and
our South India’s famous Vadai Mor Kuzhambu is what have been a keeper in my
kitchen for a longtime but after coming to Chandigarh, I find Kadhi Pakoras a
more easy version as it doesn’t need any soaking or grinding. M likes it too so
I make them often and so after a 2 day break I m here with the post. Do read my
notes before you start the preparations for more clear idea.
Ingredients:
For Pakoras:
Besan/Chickpea flour-1 cup
Onion-1, finely chopped
Potato-1, peeled & finely chopped
Coriander leaves-2 tbsp, finely chopped
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Red chili powder-3/4 tsp
Asafoetida/hing-1 pinch
Ajjwain-1/2 tsp
Baking soda-1 pinch
Salt-as needed
Water-as needed
Oil- For deep frying
For Curd/Spiced Kadhi:
Curd-1 &1/2 cups
Besan-2 tbsp
Turmeric powder-1/4 tsp
Red chili powder-1 tsp
Thin Buttermilk/Water- ½ - ¾ cup
Salt-as needed
For Tempering:
Oil-2 tsp
Dried Red chilies-2
Methi/Fenugreek seeds-1/4 tsp
Cumin seeds-1 tsp
Mustard seeds-1 tsp
Ginger-1 inch piece, peeled and finely chopped
How It Happened:
Making Pakoras:
1. In a big bowl, add all the ingredients given under the ‘For
pakora’ list except oil and water and mix well. Then sprinkle water little by
little to make a thick batter.
2. Heat oil in a kadai, when the oil becomes hot, drop in
small portions of the batter using a spoon or by hand.
3. After a minute, turnover the pakoras to cook on the other
side and let it cook until golden.
4. When the oil stops sizzling and when the pakoras are
golden brown, remove from oil and rest on kitchen tissue.
5. Similarly fry the entire batch of the batter and set
aside.
Preparing the Kadhi/Spiced Curd:
6. In a big bowl add the curd and beat into so that it doesn’t
have any lumps.
7. Add the remaining ingredients given under ‘for curd’
list. Using a beater beat them till smooth without any lumps and set aside.
Making Kadhi Pakora:
8. Heat oil in a kadai, simmer the flame and add the
ingredients given under the ‘ to temper’ list and when they pop, pour in the
kadhi/spiced curd and let it cook in simmer for 5-7 minutes until it slightly
thickens and froths up.
9. Switch off the flame and drop in the pakoras, mix once
and cover it and let it rest for 10 minutes.
10. Serve hot with rice and papad.
Notes:
* If you want the pakoras to be soft then add a little more
water, this way the pakoras will be pillowy and airy and soft also adding
baking soda helps this process. But if you want hard pakoras that does get
easily disintegrated in the kadhi, then add less or skip water if it has enough
moisture to hold the shape. I have made the soft pakoras so I dropped them in
the kadhi just 10 minutes before serving. But hard pakoras can hold their shape
in kadhi for quite some time.
* You can add handful of cleaned methi leaves to the pakora
batter to make methi pakoras.
* Chop potatoes as fine as possible. If you have a chopper,
use it.
* The oil should NOT
be smoking hot. The oil should be medium hot and keep regulating the flame.
Also do not crowd the oil while frying, this will result in immediate fall of
temperature of the oil resulting in uncooked centre portions of the pakora.
* I have used thin buttermilk to loosen the kadhi while
mixing with besan. But you can use water as well.
* The besan may form small lumps when add to curd so beat it
well with a beater so that all lumps are broken.
* I love ginger flavor but you can skip them.
* You can add curry leaves while tempering, but I skipped as
I didn’t have any.
* Coriander leaves can be used for garnish.
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