Spicy Indian Yoghurt Gravy (Kadhi)

kadhiKadhi is a savory gravy dish prepared predominantly in the Northern and Western parts of India. As diverse as the Indian culture goes, Kadhi has various renderations from a lemon yellow coloured : thick, rich and spicy savory Punjabi kadhi to Off white : buttermilk thin, mild sweet and spicy Gujrati Kadhi. DSB Brings to you a mixed version of Kadhi combining flavours of both in one pot.

Summers simmering in various parts of the world, i see food blogs and Internet loaded with recipes to cool things down with refreshing beverages and light snack items. For me, summers refer to copious amounts of yoghurt in my kitchen waiting to be transformed into creative and refreshing recipes.

A list of some recipes from DSB’s recipe box are :

Being a regular yoghurt eater, i almost always have a good big box of yoghurt in my refrigerator. Yoghurt remains fresh, sweet and yum for days during winters but in summers it tends to get sour in just 2 days. It is usually a challenge for me to create recipes using sour yoghurt. Many recipes call for fresh, naturally sweet yoghurt but thankfully this one below is perfect to create awesome meal using the sour ones.

Yoghurt being the main ingredient in this dish, this gravy dish is light in nature and pretty perfect for a hot sunny afternoon. Depending on your preference, you can choose to include or exclude the vegetable dumplings. I personally love these dumplings as it creates a contrast in the dish. The kadhi yoghurt base can be seasoned lightly and is thin and the vegetable dumplings can be made a little extra spicy to add extra texture and burst of flavour to this dish.

Spicy Indian Yoghurt Gravy (Kadhi)

Spicy Indian Yogurt Gravy (Kadhi)

  • Servings: 4
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kadhiRecipe

This dish has 2 components : Spicy yoghurt gravy + vegetable dumpling

For Spicy yoghurt gravy

  • 1 cup plain yoghurt (sour yoghurt taste best)
  • 2 tablespoon chickpea flour
  • 1/4 tsp of asafoetida (optional)
  • 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 tsp fresh/dry fenugreek leaves OR 5-7 curry leaves
  • 2 tsp oil (vegetable/ canola or any neutral smelling oil). you can also use ghee/clarified butter instead for a richer taste
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tsp salt or to taste
  • 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (optional)
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 medium green chilli, finely chopped
  • 2 cups water

For vegetable dumpling

  • 1/3 cup chickpea flour
  • 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 medium green chilli, finely chopped
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
  • 1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)
  • oil to fry

Method

We will start with making the spicy yoghurt gravy and mid way we will make the vegetable dumplings.

Spicy Yoghurt gravy

  1. Take a deep mixing bowl. To this, add the yoghurt and whisk till smooth. Next add in the chickpea flour and combine well.
  2. To this, add the salt, turmeric and red chilli powder and mix. Now slowly add in water (half glass at a time) and mix well till the mixture is homogenous. Keep aside.
  3. Now take a deep pot and put on high flame. Add in oil, asafoetida, fenugreek seeds and mustard seeds. Let the mustard seeds crackle.
  4. Next, add in the ginger, green chilli, fenugreek leaves and/or curry leaves and cook for about half a minute.
  5. Now ad in the yoghurt mixture and let it cook on high till the mixture boils. Once it boils, reduce the flame to low and cover the pot with a lid. Let it cook on simmer for about 20 minutes. Keep stirring the gravy in intervals. The gravy tends to overflow from the pot so make sure to cover the lid partially, leaving some space.

While the yoghurt gravy cooks, we will prepare the vegetable dumplings.

Vegetable dumplings

  1. Take a bowl. Add in the chickpea flour, salt, garam masala and red chilli powder and combine. Next add in the water and mix well till the mixture is homogenous. The batter should be a little thick but pouring consistency.
  2. Next add in the chopped onion, green chilli and combine with the batter till the onions are well coated. You will notice that the mixture is now semi solid. The mixture is now ready for frying
  3. Now take a frying pan and add enough oil for frying. heat till the oil is hot.
  4. Next, with the help of a spoon, drop spoonfuls of mixture in the hot oil and fry till golden brown. remove on paper towel and keep aside. I like to use hands to take some mixture at a time and drop in the hot oil. You can also add in chopped potatoes and fresh fenugreek leaves to this batter.
  • After 20 minutes or as soon as the dumplings are prepared, add the dumplings to the spicy yoghurt gravy/ kadhi and let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes and then shut the flame.
  • Let the kadhi rest for about 15 minutes before serving. The resting time will help the dumplings to soak in the yoghurt gravy and become juicy. Kadhi is ready. Serve it with chapatis or Basmati rice.

I am always so happy to be serving this simple yet sophisticated and amazingly tasty dish. Kadhi is so flexible in preparation that i always have some ways of tweaking the dish and creating new versions every now and then. Sometimes i would add a little tamarind water to create a little south indian version and sometimes i would add in chopped potatoes/carrots/onions for a little Indo-chinese version. I guess following instincts is best !!

For me, i usually like to eat kadhi with a bowl of plain, boiled rice. Accompanying it with papad and pickle with some vingear onions makes the experience divine !

Enjoy your plate of awesonmess today and make summer merrier 🙂


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8 Comments

  1. Pingback: Recipes | Divine Spice Box

  2. Waw, what a fantastic combined recipe! The dumplings are so social to me & that spiced yoghurt too! A dish beautifully presented too! Yumm!

  3. I meant special to me! 😉

  4. Pingback: Gujrati Kadhi | Divine Spice Box

  5. Pingback: Gujrati Kadhi – Divine Spice Box

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