A lip smacking North Indian recipe of crispy cabbage fritters dunked in a yoghurt curry tempered with ghee laden spices
Have I expressed my love for yoghurt based curries, enough? If not, then my cabbage pakora kadhi (yoghurt curry) is yet another testimony for it. Kadhi is a very popular Indian vegetarian curry that has many regional variations. However, the use of yoghurt in them remains constant. As a result, the kadhi tastes fabulously tangy and yummy, even spicy if you’d like it so. And this recipe that I am sharing is of the Punjabi kadhi pakora, one of my all time favourites. And this is my mother’s recipe, which I so love. In fact, so much so that, every time I visit home, I always get her to make some for me.
Now, pakoras are an essential part of the kadhi. While I have made cabbage fritters to dunk in my kadhi, you could make any that you like. My mother generally makes simple gram flour dumplings for her yoghurt curry to which she sometimes adds greens like methi, spinach etc. Since I had a small portion of cabbage left, I decided to make fritters out of it. However, the recipe of the curry, is that of my mum’s, just how she makes it. This may not be that of an authentic Punjabi kadhi, but it definitely tastes yummy. Moreover, it is a quick and easy recipe, that you could make even for your weeknight dinner. This kadhi is best paired with steamed rice and some papad along side.
Additionally, you have to keep some cabbage fritters aside to have with your chai too. 🙂
You may also like,
Aloo palda (potatoes in yoghurt gravy)
Palak kadhi (spinach in yoghurt sauce)
Doi begun (Bengali aubergine in yoghurt curry)
Kadhi pakora
The best kadhi is made when your yoghurt is slightly tangy, at least I enjoy the slight tang that it imparts. But, you could make my cabbage pakora kadhi (yoghurt curry) with any yoghurt that is available with you. The yoghurt is then mixed with water and spices to make a delicious buttermilk, which is then used to make the kadhi. My mum’s kadhi recipe is also a no ginger no garlic recipe. But you will never be able to tell that they are missing. Also, even though the buttermilk is watery, the kadhi is luscious and thick. And that is because of the addition of besan or gram flour in the curry and also the cooking time.
When the spiced buttermilk is simmered on low heat for a while, it becomes luscious and thick. And that is the secret to a good kadhi – to let it simmer and let the besan take it’s own time to cook. Also, this yoghurt curry thickens even more as it cools. So, this is also something to keep in mind. Once the gram flour cooks and becomes fragrant, keep an eye on how thick the curry is getting and how much thicker you’d like it to be. I, generally, cook it for another 10 more minutes, once the gram flour cooks.
Cabbage fritters
To make my cabbage fritters, I do not add any water to form it’s batter. The reason being, I like to leave the shredded cabbage and sliced onions, for the pakoras, mixed with salt for sometime. This process draws out water from these vegetables and that is enough to form the pakora batter when mixed with the gram flour. Additionally, I also add rice flour to this batter so that the fritters turn out crisp. You could use the same steps to make your pakoras, no matter which vegetable you are planning to use. These taste very good as a tea time snack as well. So, be sure to make extra, besides keeping some for the kadhi.
Share it
If you are planning to make this kadhi sometime, I’d love to hear from you. You could share your food pictures with me on Instagram and also drop in a line with your feedback in the comments section below.
Eat hearty!
Cabbage pakora kadhi (yoghurt curry)
Equipment
- Shallow cooking pot
Ingredients
- 2 cups cabbage shredded
- 1½ cups onions sliced
- 2-3 fresh chilis finely chopped
- ½ cup coriander leaves finely chopped
- 1 cup yoghurt
- ¾ cup gram flour besan
- ¼ cup rice flour
- 2 tbsp turmeric powder
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp asafetida hing
- ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds methi dana
- ½ cup oil
- salt to taste
For the tempering
- 2 tbsp ghee
- 1 tsp coriander seeds crushed
- 1 tsp chili powder
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together the cabbage, ½ cup onions, few chilis, coriander leaves, ½ of the red chili powder, hing and salt to taste. Leave it for 10 minutes
- Gradually add ½ cup besan and the rice flour and mix. Do not add any water, as the moisture that the cabbage and onions leave because of the salt, is enough to form the batter
- Heat ½ cup oil over medium heat. Add dollops of the cabbage pakora batter in and fry until golden brown. Set aside on absorbent paper towel, until needed
- Heat 2-3 tbsp of oil again in another cooing pot, add the fenugreek seeds. Fry until they turn brown
- Then add the remaining sliced onions and saute´until they turn, soft and pink. In the meanwhile, whisk the yoghurt with 3 cups of water, coriander powder, remaining gram flour (besan), chili powder and turmeric powder
- Add this spiced buttermilk to the cooking pot, over medium low heat, keep stirring and cook
- Let the kadhi simmer until it thickens and then add the salt and chopped coriander leaves
- Add the fried pakoras to the kadhi 10 minutes before serving and then top it with the tempering. To make the tadka/tempering heat the ghee until it melts, then add the crushed coriander seeds and chili powder. Cook for a minute and then lace the kadhi with it
- Serve your lip smacking cabbage pakora kadhi (yoghurt curry) with steaming hot rice. You could also save some of the pakoras to have with your tea and coffee as well
Notes
- The kadhi will thicken even more as it cools
- For the curry, make the pakoras small in size, this is because they will swell up once they are dunked in the kadhi
- Adding the pakoras 10 minutes prior to serving, keeps then still crunchy. If kept dunked in the kadhi for longer then they get soggy
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
- tbsp - tablespoon
- tsp - teaspoon
