Kadhi Pakora Recipe | Khadi Pakoda Recipe Punjabi-Style

I like dumplings in gravies. Its nice to have a curry base and have these cute balls floating in it. This goes for anything, actually, and Punjabi Khadi Pakora has been in my head since forever. I had bookmarked the recipe on many sites but finally ended up making an adapted version from Nita Mehta's Punjabi Recipes book, the same one I made the Paneer Peas Curry from.

Since a lot of you may feel this is a bit of work, I took step-by-step pictures. Its not that difficult actually. The recipe has two distinct sections - making the khadi and making the pakoras. Let's make the pakoras first.

PinTake 1.5 cups of besan in a bowl.

Add 1 finely chopped onion of medium size.

Then add 1 finely chopped potato. I used my chopper that I used in the Gobi Paratha Recipe to chop the onion and potato so fine but you can do it by hand too, just takes longer.

Throw in 1 teaspoon red chilly powder, 1 teaspoon jeera, salt and a pinch of hing.

Next comes baking powder. This helps to make the pakoras crisp. You can avoid this but use it if you have it.

Almost done. Add in 1 cup water.

And mix well to get a batter of dropping consistency. Make sure the batter is not too lose.

I used my spanking new paniyaram chatti / aebleskiver pan to fry the pakoras. You can also deep fry them in a kadai by dropping them in using a spoon.

Excuse the super bright pic! Its my kitchen light 😀 So, the paniyaram chatti is nice to use for mainly two reasons. You use very little oil in the process, especially if the chatti is non stick and also, the pakoras come out very uniformly shaped.

See, nicely browned and very pretty. Set them aside on a kitchen napkin.

Now for the khadi.

Take 2 cups of curd / plain yogurt in a bowl.

Add ⅓ cup besan to the curd.

Throw in ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon red chilly powder and salt. Mix well.

Add 1 cup water to this mixture.

Mix well and get ready to temper this.

For tempering, heat 2 teaspoon oil in a kadai. Add 1 teaspoon jeera and 1 red chilly torn into pieces.

When the jeera splutters and turns brown, lower the fire to sim and add the curd mixture. Mix well for about 5 mins until the khadi thickens. Adjust salt. Set aside.

Add the pakoras to the khadi just before serving. Garnish with coriander leaves and some red chilly powder.

Here's the recipe again, all in one place.

Punjabi Khadi Pakora Recipe

Source: Nita Mehta's Punjabi Recipes

Serves: 4 as a side

Preparation time: 45 mins

For the Khadi:
2 cups curd / plain yogurt
1 cup water
⅓ cup besan / kadala maavu / gram flour
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilly powder

For tempering:
1 red chilly, broken into half
1 teaspoon jeera
2 teaspoon oil
Salt

For the Pakoras:
1.5 cups besan / kadala maavu / gram flour
1 onion, finely chopped
1 potato, finaly chopped
1 teaspoon red chilly powder
1 teaspoon jeera
A pinch of hing
½ teaspoon baking powder
Salt
1 cup water

How to Make Punjabi Kadhi Pakora:

1. Mix the ingredients for the pakoras to form a batter. The consistency should be that of bajjis, not too loose.

2. Deep fry the pakoras in hot oil or use a paniyaram chatti / aebleskiver pan. This should help reduce the usage of oil and give you uniformly shaped pakoras.
Set aside.

3. Beat the curd well. Add besan and other ingredients and beat well.

4. Heat oil and add the jeera and halved red chilly. When the jeera splutters and turns brown, lower heat to minimum and add the curd mixture. Bring to boil stirring continuously. After 5 mins, remove from fire.

5. When you are ready to serve the kadhi, add the dumplings, mix once through and serve.

Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve with chapatis / roti.

Comments

Anonymous

February 27, 2010 at 8:14 pm

This was super delicious! I added a little julienned ginger for garnish and used fresh grated turmeric. I have never had such a tasty kadhi pakora..tried so many other recipes, this one is outstanding. Thank you so much!!

Manasi

September 17, 2009 at 7:01 pm

I love kadhi-pakoda, when in India and visiting my best friend in Delhi I always ask her mom to make this, tons of kadhi, please!!
M'mm - M'mm good!

Lena Rashmin Raj

September 17, 2009 at 11:57 am

its so good that you showed step by step procedure....i just loved the first snap...bakki ishtaayilla ennallatto... really temting post..never tasted this... :)wish to hav it from screen itself.. 🙂

Miri

September 17, 2009 at 7:43 am

The paniyaram pan is a very cool idea and those pakoras look so inviting! I usually end up wolfing down a few even before putting them into the kadhi! I alternate the pakoras with mixed veggies and that version turns out great too.

Soma

September 17, 2009 at 1:21 am

My hubby's favorite! Looks awesome Nags! You have a different way to make the pakora, I do it with only onions. That bowl looks so delicious.

Cynthia

September 16, 2009 at 10:24 pm

In Guyana, there is a version of this dish called Karhi and just today my mom and I were talking about it 🙂 For some reason, I don't like it, give me the gravy and the balls separate but not together 🙂

Sangeetha Subhash

September 16, 2009 at 6:01 pm

Wow what delicious kadai pokara....Nicely presented...I will try this..
I have recently started the blog do visit my blog when you find time!

A_and_N

September 16, 2009 at 3:58 pm

Ooh, the pics are special in this one! All said and done, Kadhi is comfort food for me 🙂

Anonymous

September 16, 2009 at 3:36 pm

Hi Nags - Using the appam vessel for frying is a novelty to me!!
Thanks for sharing 🙂 I tend to shy away from deep frying recipes, now I can't wait to get this vessel in my next India trip. 🙂

-Smita

Valarmathi

September 16, 2009 at 1:47 pm

New to me, looks beautiful and tempting.

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