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A bowl of yellow kadhi garnished with a dry red chilli and a stem of curry leaves.

Punjabi Kadhi Pakora (with Buttermilk)

by Leena Kohli (@leenakohli)
5.0
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From 2 ratings
Prep Time
30min
Cook Time
40min
Total Time
1hr 10min
IndianLunchVegetarian

Enjoy your lunch with delicious Punjabi Kadhi Pakora. This recipe is mildly spicy and has signature tangy and sour flavors. This traditional punjabi dish is prepared with buttermilk and gram flour and a delicious tempering of red chilli and curry leaves. Serve it with onion fritters and roti or rice to complete the meal!

Ingredients

4 Servings

For Kadhi

  • 2L
    Buttermilk (Sour)
  • 1cup
    Gram Flour (Besan)
  • 1cup
    Water
  • 1/2tsp
    Red Chilli Powder
  • 1tbsp
    Coriander Powder (coarsely groud)
  • 3/4tbsp
    Turmeric
  • 1tsp
    Ginger (finely chopped)
  • 2
    Green Chillies (finely chopped)
  • 1tsp
    Fenugreek Seeds (Methrae)
  • 1tbsp
    Dried Fenugreek Leaves (Kasuri Methi)
  • 3/4tbsp
    Salt
  • 1tbsp
    Oil

For Pakora (Fritters)

  • 3/4cup
    Gram Flour (Besan)
  • 3
    Onions (finely sliced or chopped)
  • 1
    Potato (finely chopped)
  • 1/4tsp
    Turmeric
  • 1/4tsp
    Coriander Seeds (coarsely ground)
  • 1/2tsp
    Red Chilli Powder
  • 1/4tsp
    Salt
  • 1/4cup
    Water
  • Mustard/Refined Cooking Oil (for frying)

For Tempering

  • 2tbsp
    Cooking Oil
  • 1/8tsp
    Asafoetida (Hing)
  • 1/2tsp
    Black Mustard Seeds/Cumin Seeds
  • 3
    Dry Red Chillies
  • 12
    Curry Leaves
  • 1tbsp
    Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
  • 1/2tsp
    Garam Masala
  • 1tbsp
    Green Coriander (finely chopped)

Method

For Kadhi

  1. Pour buttermilk in a deep and heavy-bottomed utensil. Add gram flour, red chilli powder, turmeric, salt, coriander powder, ginger, green chillies, fenugreek seeds and dried fenugreek leaves. Mix well with a hand mixer. There should be no lumps.

  2. Add 1.5 cups of water and 1tbsp oil and mix well.

    Yellow kadhi mixture with speckles of green herbs in a pot
  3. Place the utensil on high flame. Constantly stir the mixture till it starts boiling.

  4. Reduce the flame to low-medium heat and allow the kadhi mixture to simmer for atleast 30-40 minutes. Keep stirring at regular intervals. After atleast 40 minutes, turn off the flame. The longer the kadhi is cooked, the better it tastes.

    Slightly bubbling yellow kadhi in a pot

For Pakoras

  1. Mix chopped onions, potato, salt, red chilli powder, coriander seeds and gram flour in a mixing bowl.

  2. Add water gradually to bind the mixture and form a thick batter.

    Pale -Yellow fritter mixture with chopped onions in a mixing bowl
  3. Heat oil in a heavy-bottomed deep pan or kadhai on medium heat. To check if the oil is ready for frying, put a small portion of the batter in it. It should immediately come to the surface.

  4. Take small portions of the fritter mixture and shape it into lemon-sized balls.

    An uncooked pale-yellow fritter held between fingers
  5. Carefully place the balls into the oil and let them fry for a minute. Then turn them with a slotted spatula or a metal sieve and fry the balls until golden from all sides. When done, take them out and put them in the Kadhi.

    A bunch of fritters being deep-fried in oil
    A bunch of fried fritter balls resting on a slotted spatula

For Tempering

  1. Heat oil in a small pan on medium heat. Add asafoetida and mustard or cumin seeds. Let them splutter.

  2. Then add the curry leaves and dry red chillies. Stir for a few seconds.

    Dry red chillies and other spices being fried in oil.
  3. Turn off the flame and add Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder and mix well.

    Red Chilli Powder being tempered with oil, curry leaves, and dried red chilli.
  4. Add the tempering into the Kadhi. Add garam masala powder and check the seasoning and adjust to taste. Add more salt or red chilli powder if required. Stir and cook the kadhi for 5-10 minutes on medium flame.

    Dry red chillies floating in a pot of kadhi
    Kadhi and cooked fritters in a ladle over a pot of kadhi.
  5. Garnish with fresh coriander. Serve hot with tandoori roti, paratha, or rice.

Tips & Tricks

  1. Kadhi should not be too liquidy or too thick.

  2. The buttermilk used for Kadhi should be sour for better taste.

  3. You can replace buttermilk with sour curd. If sour curd is not available, keep normal curd at room temperature for a few hours.

  4. Kadhi has a signature tangy and sour taste. To make the Kadhi sourer, add some lemon juice once cooked.

  5. For pakoras, you can omit the thinly sliced onions and potatoes and only make the fritters with gram-flour and spice mix.

  6. Pakoras can be made beforehand (upto a day in advance).

  7. For tempering, you can also use mustard oil or ghee.

Reviews

5.0
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From 2 ratings
l

liammiller

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l

leila

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The best kadhi recipe! Love it!

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Recipe by

Leena Kohli

(@leenakohli)

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