Punjabi Kadhi sans pakoda is made with chickpea flour, yogurt, and spices. This slightly tangy and delicious dish is commonly known as Kadhi Chawal.
Punjabi Kadhi was the very first post I ever did. I decided to update the pictures and recipe slightly 11 years later. I grew up eating Kadhi Chawal, it was one of my favorite types of curry as a kid. I’d request my mom to make this dish on average once a week over Chole and Rajma.
My version is prepared without pakodas (Indian fried fritters) simply because I don’t fry food in my home and for health reasons. This dish goes perfect with white basmati rice and a crunchy desi salad on the side. Hope you guys enjoy it.
Punjabi Kadhi is:
Flavorful
Comfort Food
Perfect Cold/Rainy Day Meal
Made without Pakoda (fried fitters)
Healthy
Gluten-Free
How to make Punjabi Kadhi recipe with step by step photos?
Prep
Use a whisk to mix well.
Add a pinch of turmeric powder. Set aside for 1/2 hour.
Slice the onions. Chop the ginger and garlic.
Set aside the spices – curry pata, hing, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, cloves, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, and one dry red chili.
Cook the Punjabi Kadhi
Heat up a pot on medium heat, once hot, add oil.
Add the spices, saute for 30 seconds.
Add the ginger and garlic. Saute for 30-45 seconds.
Now add the onions. Saute for 3 minutes.
Add red chili powder, coriander powder, and a little salt to season the onions. Stir.
Slowly pour the besan-yogurt-water mixture to avoid curdling. Add an additional 2 cups of water.
Stir, season with 3/4 tsp of salt, and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes – until the kadhi starts boiling away.
This is what you should have 5 minutes later, the kadhi will get thick.
Cover with a lid and cook the kadhi for 15 minutes on low-medium heat.
This is what you should have. Taste and adjust seasonings if need be. Add more water if you prefer your kadhi thinner (1-2 cups max).
Add mango powder, dry fenugreek leaves, and garam masala. Stir and turn off the stove.
for Tadka/Tempering
Heat up a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add oil followed by dry red chilies and Kashmiri chili powder. Cook for about 1-2 minutes max. Turn off the stove.
Pour tadka over kadhi and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.
Enjoy!
Punjabi Kadhi (healthy, gluten-free)
Ingredients
for chickpea flour (besan) mixture
- 1 cup chickpea flour/besan
- 2 cups yogurt
- 4 cups water
- pinch of turmeric powder
for the kadhi
- 1 1/2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp asafoetida/hing for gluten-free, use GF hing
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds methi
- 3 cloves
- 1 dry red chili
- 12 curry leaves
- 1 large red onion sliced
- 1 inch piece ginger chopped
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 3/4 tsp salt (season kadhi) + a little salt (for onions)
- add chickpea flour (besan) mixture
- 1-2 cups water (optional.. for thinner gravy)
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tsp mango powder amchoor
- 2 tsp dry fenugreek leaves/kasoori methi
for the tadka/tempering
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 dry red chilies
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri red chili or paprika
for garnish
- fresh cilantro leaves
- pour tadka/tempering on top
Instructions
Prep
- Mix the chickpea flour and yogurt together to get rid of lumps, then add water.
- Use a whisk to mix well.
- Add a pinch of turmeric powder. Set aside for 1/2 hour.
- Slice the onions. Chop the ginger and garlic.
- Set aside the spices - curry pata, hing, turmeric powder, cumin seeds, cloves, fenugreek seeds, mustard seeds, and one dry red chili.
Cook the Punjabi Kadhi
- Heat up a pot on medium heat, once hot, add oil.
- Add the spices, saute for 30 seconds.
- Add the ginger and garlic. Saute for 30-45 seconds.
- Now add the onions. Saute for 3 minutes.
- Add red chili powder, coriander powder, and a little salt to season the onions. Stir.
- Slowly pour the besan-yogurt-water mixture to avoid curdling.
- Stir, season with 3/4 tsp of salt, and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes - until the kadhi starts boiling away.
- This is what you should have 5 minutes later, the kadhi will get thick.
- Cover with a lid and cook the kadhi for 15 minutes on low-medium heat.
- This is what you should have. Taste and adjust seasonings if need be. Add more water if you prefer your kadhi thinner (1-2 cups max).
- Add mango powder, dry fenugreek leaves, and garam masala. Stir and turn off the stove.
for Tadka/Tempering
- Heat up a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add oil followed by dry red chilies and Kashmiri chili powder. Cook for about 1-2 minutes max. Turn off the stove.
- Pour tadka over kadhi and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.
that looks really really good.. and so easy!
I didn't use Cloves and Garlic on purpose… it gives the curry a good ginger flavor.
Also, I didn't have any dry red chillies. Came out very good…
Wow, looks delicious.
This is also our favorite…great by itself with a few mixed vegetables and some roti or on rice. As a vegetarian family this is a staple in our home!
I'm going to try this with potato cutlets, hopefully turns out ok.
Thank you very much
Really good recipe. I think you mean pakoras , not Pakodas.
Mine was a bit thick: did I add too much flour?
I let the yoghurt mix only stand for10 minutes, is that why?
Chris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakora
Yes, I mean pakoras. If you follow the recipe exactly, it should be okay. If it’s too thick, just add a little water to obtain the consistency you want. It could also be your yogurt, perhaps the yogurt is too thick. I don’ think letting the yogurt mix sit for 10 mintues would do it. I was just add some water to thin it ou. Hope this helps.
I work with several Indians, 1 from Punjab, and they said your recipe has too much chickpea four and the Mango powder is not necessary. I liked the addition of the mango.
I love amchoor (mango powder) in my curry, and my mom always adds it. This recipe works for me, but feel free to find one that suits your needs. Thanks!!
I understand the ingredients but for one – what is ‘Hing’ ? and Pata/curry leaves ? My supermarket dont sell it but think it may have a different name ?
Hi Debby. Hing in English is Asafoetida. Curry Pata are Curry Leaves. You may want to check at a local Indian or Asian grocery store. You will definitely be able to find it at an Indian grocery store. Hope this helps. Let me know how it turns out. 🙂
I made it last night and it turned out amazing. I followed all the ingredients to measure, 4 cups at the beginning while mixing chickpea flour and yoghurt and 2 more later when cooking. The only ingredient I had to use a little more was Turmeric. It was restaurant quality and whole family enjoyed the meal. For children of course I skipped dry red chilli at the beginning, only add later in the tadka. Thank you for sharing this recipe. I wish I had some pictures but it was gone before I could take any.
Quick and easy recipe! Super delicious and love that it was healthy too!!
Very easy to make and I loved how thick this was!
I made this kadhi following your recipe couple of nights ago… Despite this being a simple dish I could never make it right so haven’t attempted it in more than 10 years… But the pictures on your recipe looked so good I decided to give it a try… It turned out sooo good… All of us thoroughly enjoyed it, and I was so happy your recipe helped me make it after so many years… Thank you for sharing some of the best recipes… Love your blog and all your content…
I love punjabi food but I cannot prepare them but after reading this recipe I am felling quite confident of cooking this yummy recipe, will surely make and let you know how well it cooked and tasted.