Dahi ki Kadhi With No Fry Pakodis
Dahi ki kadhi is a Punjabi staple and it rarely showed up on our table when I was growing up.
Bunty's mom, on the other hand, made this fairly often and it happens to be one of his favorite dishes.
I tried my hand at it quite successfully, but refrained from making it too often because of those fried pakodis.
Last year, my friend Summi suggested a brilliant idea. Instead of frying the batter, just spread it out on a pan- like a chilla or a thick pancake and cook with a few teaspoons of oil on both sides. Cut up and toss them in the kadhi as usual.
I have given it a shot a few times and it works out beautifully. You can hardly tell from the taste that the pakodis have not been deep fried. The only thing that gives it away is the shape (I usually cut it in diamond shape), but you could easily cut out out round shapes with a cookie cutter.
By Bharti
Ingredients
Kadhi
- 5 tablespoons besan (gramflour)
- 3 cups plain yogurt ( if you like a tarter kadhi, keep the yogurt at room temperature for a day before making this)
- 5 cups water
- 2 green chillies (optional)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 inch piece of ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon haldi (tumeric)
- salt to taste
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 small onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon jeera (cumin seeds)
- 1/2 teaspoon amchur (mango powder)
Tempering
- 2 teaspoons oil
- a few curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon rai (mustard seeds)
- 2 dried red chili
No fry Pakodis
- 1 cup gram flour
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ajwain (bishop's weed seeds)
- 1 tablespoon crushed dhaniya seeds (coriander seeds)
- 2 tablespoons onion chopped
- 1/2 inch ginger grated or minced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves chopped
- salt
- enough water to make a spreadable batter
- 4 teaspoons oil
Method
For the Kadhi In a blender place the first eight ingredients. Blend till smooth. In a heavy based pot, heat 2 teaspoons oil. Add the jeera. After a few seconds, add the onion and cook for a few minutes till translucent. Reduce the heat to medium low and add the yogurt mixture in the blender and mix well. Let the curry be on low heat and mix every 5-10 minutes or so for about 30-40 minutes.
No fry Pakodis
Mix everything together and make a spreadable batter.
Heat up a flat skillet or a tava. Add a few drops of oil to make sure the batter doesn't get glued to the tava. Once the the pan is hot enough, add half the batter and spread with a tablespoon to make a thick pancake.
Cook till you see bubbles on the surface and then flip. If it's stuck to the pan, drizzle the sides with a bit of oil. That should loosen it up and make it flip easily.
Flip once more. Spread the surface of the pancake with 2 teaspoons of oil. Flip again and press down to "fry" that side. Cook till both sides are "well done" and brown. Repeat for the second pancake (chilla). Cut up with a knife in to diamonds, squares or with a round cookie cutter of you have the time.
Assemble
Add to the kadhi and cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Lastly the tempering. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a small pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add the curry leaves and dried red chilies. Add to the kadhi. Garnish with cilantro leaves if you wish. Serve hot with plain white rice. (or brown if you insist- tasty and guilt free either way!)
This recipe makes enough for 4-6 people.
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