Express Recipe: Gujarati Kadhi

Let's enjoy cooking !!
 

Kadhi is my favourite comfort food. It’s one of those dishes that instantly take me to the warmth of my mother’s cooking.

Kadhi is part of almost all cuisines in India and yet every cuisine has a different preparation for this humble dish. There is not much similarity between a Gujarati Kadhi, Sindhi Kadhi, Rajasthani Kadhi, Bohri Kadhi or a UP Kadhi except that all are yoghurt based (except sindhi kadhi which has a tamarind base) and it may or may not have pakodi (gram flour dumplings, and those too vary from one cuisine to another) and other veggies.

When I first visited rural Gujarat on work, I wasn’t very keen on trying the thali as Gujarati food is sweet and normally I’m not used to sweetness in savoury dishes. But just one try and I fell in love with the Gujarati kadhi. Traditionally it is served with khichdi or steamed rice but it’s great as a soup as well!

The kadhi tastes best when made with sour yoghurt. To make your yoghurt sour, keep it out of fridge for a couple of hours.

Gujarati Kadhi
Preparation Time: 10 mins| Cooking Time: 15 mins| Serves 2

Ingredients
2 cups skimmed milk yoghurt
1½ tbsp. gram flour (besan)
1 tbsp grated jaggery (gur)
1 green chilli, chopped
½ tsp fenugreek seeds (methidana)
½ tsp mustard seeds (rai)
½ tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp ginger paste
8-10 curry leaves 1 dried red chilli, broken into two
3-4 cloves ½ inch cinnamon stick
A pinch of asafoetida
Salt to taste
1 tbsp Olive oil

Method
Whisk together yoghurt, gram flour and 4 cups of water to make a smooth paste.

Add the chopped green chillies and jaggery. Mix well.

Cook the yoghurt mixture on low-medium heat, stirring continuously until the yoghurt boils. After that reduce the heat to low and let the kadhicook until it attains a moderately thick consistency. Stir occasionally.

Note: Remember not to boil the kadhi on high flame as it tends to curdle.

For tempering, heat oil in a small pan (preferably a tadka pan). Add the fenugreek, cumin and mustard seeds, curry leaves, red chillies, cloves, cinnamon and asafoetida. When the seeds begin to sputter, pour the tempering (tadka) into the kadhi and mix well.

Serve hot with rice or khichdi or have it as soup.