Pakodi kadhi

This is a modified version of the very popular Punjabi dish kadhi pakodi – gram flour dumplings in yogurt gravy. I wanted to give this a try for a long time now. But due to sheer laziness, I would just make kadhi – buttermilk gravy.

Long time ago, my friend Aruna had sent me a recipe for this dish. What I am posting this today is based on her recipe (for the most part) and the traditional Punjabi version from Anita. This turned out to be finger licking good. I made only few pakodas and most of them were gone before I added them to gravy. I didn’t make them in perfect shape as I was trying to fry them in very little oil. I wrote down the exact recipe, so that I could prepare this next time again. This is more like a South Indian version of the dish with curry leaves and all.

Pakodi:
1/2 cup chopped capsicum (I used orange bellpepper)
1 tbl spn chopped coriander leaves
3 tbl spn besan
1/4 tea spn red chilli powder
Oil
Salt

Mix all with little water. Make small balls from the mixture. Deep fry in oil. (I shallow fried in little oil like this)

Kadhi:
1 cup thick buttermilk or well beaten and thinned yogurt
1 tbl spn besan
2 green chillies
1 red chilli
1/2 tea spn cumin seeds
3-4 curry leaves
A pinch asafoetida
1 tea spn ginger-garlic paste
2-3 strands coriander leaves
A pinch turmeric
Oil
Salt

Method:
In a bowl, mix buttermilk and besan.
Heat oil and add cumin seeds. When they start popping, add green chillies, red chilli, curry leaves, ginger-garlic paste and asafoetida.

Add the buttermilk mixture, turmeric, salt and cook till the kadhi thickens.

Before serving, add pakodis to kadhi, garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with rice.

Serves : 2
Preparation time : 45mins