Comforting Kadhi
| Submitted by: Sneha Gupta, Graduate Student, Communication |
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This is my comfort food. Growing up, it was a staple in our home during winters. My husband’s family has the same system too. I am so glad it’s a staple in our home now. It seems complicated but is really not.
| Servings: 4 | Cultural Connection: India |
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Ingredients
| 200g whole milk yogurt | 4 tbsp besan (flour made up from ground chickpeas) | 2 ½ cups water |
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| 1 tbsp oil | 4 cloves (2 cloves for cooking and 2 for tempering) | 4 dried kashmiri whole red chili (2 for cooking and 2 for tempering) |
| 2 pinches fenugreek seeds (a pinch for cooking and a pinch for tempering) | ½ tsp red chili powder (¼ for cooking and ¼ for tempering) | ½ tsp asafoetida (¼ for cooking and ¼ for tempering) |
| ½ tsp salt | ¼ tsp turmeric powder | 1 onion (medium size) sliced lengthwise |
| ⅛ cup cilantro (finely minced) | ¼ tsp green chili (finely minced)-optional | 1 tsp ginger (finely minced) |
| 2 pinches salt (for dumplings) | 3 tbsp besan | ½ cup water |
| Oil for deep frying | ½ onion (medium size, chopped lengthwise and caramelized) |
Instructions
- The recipe begins with a smarty pants tip from my sister-in-law and because of that, I can re-create the same flavor in the U.S. where the weather is different. Thank you, Saumya! If you are making Kadhi for lunch, say at noon on a Sunday, take the yogurt out of the fridge and keep it on the countertop, somewhere near the stove (half covered) on Saturday at noon. This helps yogurt get the right fermentation and brings a much better flavor.
- Whisk the yogurt and pour it into a mixing bowl (mine is a 9-inch diameter/3 quart bowl and avoids spillage), and add water followed by besan. Start stirring immediately so that no lumps are formed.
- Take a medium strainer (mine is 7 inches) and pour the mix through it into another mixing bowl. If there are any big lumps formed, they will separate. I usually press the lumps, thin them out, and make them pass through the strainer to avoid wastage. You shall have a light yellowish mixture ready.
- Cooking – Take a stock pot and put it over the flame. Once the pan is hot, add the oil for cooking.
- Add the cloves, fenugreek seeds, and dried whole chili once the oil is hot, but not burning. Smarty pants tip from my mother- Remember to cut the ends of the chili with kitchen shears. The flavor is maximized once you do that. Once they are cooked, after a few seconds, add turmeric, red chili powder, and asafoetida. The dry spices will cook very fast, so need to be quick to avoid burning. Quickly pour the mixture into the pot and stir. Lower the flame and add the salt. Let it cook for about 45 minutes on low heat. Keep on stirring occasionally. Be careful that the soup does not boil and spill out of the pot. Besan tends to thicken while cooking, so add some water if necessary. Adjust the salt if needed.
- Once the soup is done, turn off the stove and cover it. You will have a yellow-colored soup.
- Preparing the dumplings – The next few steps to prepare the dumplings are optional, though my husband would say otherwise. Take a mixing bowl. Add the onions, cilantro, green chilies, salt and besan. Tip from my husband that added a whole new flavor to the recipe with his smarty pants idea – the addition of ginger to the dumpling mix.
- Slowly add water to the dumpling mix to make batter. Please note that the batter should not be too watery or too thick. We have to deep fry chunks of this batter so it should be able to bind the contents. If you feel it’s watery, add more besan. Take a deep frying pan and heat some oil.
- Once it’s hot for deep frying, but not burning, take a spoon and drop spoonfuls of the batter in the oil to deep fry.
- Wait for the dumplings to turn crisp and golden brown. Use a slotted spatula to take out the dumplings and place them on a paper towel. Do this multiple times till all the batter has been used.
- Add all the dumplings to the soup.
- Take a small pan. Heat oil for tempering. Add cumin, and wait till they crackle. Then add red chilies, fenugreek seeds, cloves, and at the end – asafoetida and red chili powder. Don’t let the dry powders burn. Quickly pour this over the soup and stir. Cover with lid. We are almost there.
- The last step is a tip from my mother-in-law – garnish the soup with caramelized onions when you pour the soup into small bowls. Small things that take the flavor to the next level! Serve the hot kadhi with rice. You can have it like a soup too.
- Note: The spices used in the recipe are common Indian spices and are easily available in the US. These spices are not hot but mostly fragrant except red chili powder which is used in a small quantity. Many variations of this recipe are available online, as it’s a popular dish in many parts of India. At the same time, it’s one of the dishes where every household has their own way of making it and my recipe is the version of how it is made at my home.
