Bhindi Kadhi
Nov 12, 2014, Updated Jan 02, 2018
Bhindi Kadhi - Indian Yogurt Soup cooked with Chickpea flour and Okra.
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It’s freezing here today, the minimum temperature is -3. I can’t believe how cold it already is and it’s only November. God knows what’s going to happen in December and January. Oh summer how much I miss you already! As the weather gets cooler I feel like eating hot soups and hot chocolate all the time. I bet I am not the only one who is craving for comfort food these days. And when I talk of comfort food, it immediately reminds me of kadhi.
Do you know what kadhi is? I am sure if you are from North India or from Gujarat, then kadhi is probably one of your favorite dishes ever. Ahh, the thought of hot kadhi with hot rice makes my mouth water. Kadhi is a yogurt based soup which is cooked with chickpea flour (besan) and then seasoned with lots of other ingredients to make it all spicy and delicious. It’s made a bit differently in different regions of the country. I am from Delhi so I make it in the North Indian way. If you are from the western part of India, this probably looks too yellow to you – too much besan I know!
Traditionally kadhi was always accompanied with deep fried chickpea flour fritters (besan pakodas) or any other kind of vegetable fritters. These fritters were dipped in the kadhi and kadhi was then eaten with hot rice. Most people I know love their kadhi with pakoras/pakodas, however me and my husband are a bit different. We like our kadhi as such and no it has nothing to do with the fact that the fritters are deep fried. We love a lot of deep fried stuff like this and this but pakodas in kadhi, no thank you. I relish my kadhi plain and simple.
But these days I am looking for variation in my kadhi, maybe it’s a food blogger thing to always look for new ways to cook a dish! I made this spinach kadhi sometime back and loved it and so this time around when I thought of making kadhi I added some bhindi (okra) to it. I must say it turned out quite delicious.To make this dish, you first need to saute okra in a pan till it’s not slimy anymore and then add it to the kadhi. Okra, as we all know is slimy so you cannot just add it to the kadhi straightaway. You can also deep fry the okra.
Always wash and pat dry your okra with a kitchen towel before you cut them. This way they are less slimy when you cut them. To saute the okra, I added a little more oil than I would have wanted but bhindi needs that little extra oil. Okra is not only delicious but also super healthy, it’s actually a very low calorie vegetable. So if you are watching your diet you now know what to eat!
Change is always fun, don’t you agree? You have been eating the same old kadhi for ages, why not try a different version with bhindi today? I am sure you will love it.
Method
Wash and pat dry the okra. It is very important to pat dry the okra else it will be all slimy when you try to cut it. Use a paper towel to dry them thoroughly. Chop the okra into 2-3 pieces. Since the okra I used were small I chopped them into 2-3 pieces, the one we get in India are longer than these so I would probably then chop them into more pieces.
Heat a tablespoon of oil in nonstick pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot add the cut okra pieces. [You can also deep fry the okra pieces]
Cook the okra for 5-6 minutes or till the okra is no more slimy. Set aside.
In a bowl whisk together room temperature yogurt, chickpea flour (besan), red chili powder and turmeric powder.
Add around 2.5 cups of water and make a very thin paste. Make sure they are no lumps in this batter. Set aside.
Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds and let it crackle.
Once the seeds crackle, add curry leaves and chopped ginger.
Cook till ginger is very light golden brown in color [don’t burn it!].
Now add the yogurt-chickpea flour batter that we had prepared to the pan.
Keep stirring the kadhi on medium heat and once it comes to a boil add around 3 cups of water to it. Lower the flame to medium low and let it cook for 10-15 minutes. Make sure to stir in between.
After 10-15 minutes, add the sauteed okra (bhindi) to the kadhi. Also add the salt.
Let the kadhi simmer on medium-low flame for 20-25 minutes till it gets little thick. You can adjust the consistency to preference but this kadhi tastes better when it’s little thick. Remove from heat and switch off the flame.
In another pan heat 1/2 tablespoon of ghee (clarified butter) on medium heat. Once ghee is hot, add mustard seeds and whole dried red chilies (broken into pieces).
Saute till the mustard seeds start crackling and the red chilies turn dark brown in color. Transfer the tempering to the kadhi.
Add 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves and mix.
Garnish with some more coriander leaves and serve bhindi kadhi hot with steamed rice. You might also sprinkle some paprika powder on top for presentation.
* Adjust spice level to taste. This was not very spicy since me and hubby cannot eat very hot food. If you love chili, add more of red chili powder and whole dried red chilies in the recipe.
* Use room temperature yogurt for this bhindi kadhi. Sometimes the yogurt breaks/separates if it’s put in the pan straight out of the refrigerator.
* Kadhi is supposed to be sour in taste, the best kadhi in India is made using sour yogurt. So try and use little sour yogurt for this recipe.
Bhindi Kadhi
Ingredients
For the yogurt-chickpeas batter
- 1 cup yogurt at room temperature
- ½ cup chickpea flour besan
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2.5 cups water
For the kadhi
- 2 teaspoons oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds jeera
- ½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds methi
- 1 inch ginger finely chopped
- 3 cups water
- 6-7 curry leaves
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves finely chopped + more to garnish
- 30 okra bhindi, small sauteed in 1 tablespoon oil
To temper
- ½ tablespoon ghee clarified butter
- ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 whole red chilies broken
Instructions
Saute the okra
- Wash and pat dry the okra using a kitchen towel. It is very important to pat dry the okra else it will be all slimy when you try to cut it.
- Chop each okra into 2-3 pieces.
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in nonstick pan on medium heat. Once the oil is hot add the cut okra pieces.
- Cook the okra for 5-6 minutes or till the okra is no more slimy. Set aside.
Make the kadhi batter
- In a bowl whisk together yogurt, chickpea flour (besan), red chili powder and turmeric powder.
- Add around 2.5 cups of water and make a very thin paste.
- Make sure they are no lumps in this batter. Set aside.
Make the kadhi
- Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a pan on medium heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and fenugreek seeds and let it crackle.
- Once the seeds crackle, add curry leaves and chopped ginger and cook till ginger is very light golden brown in color. Be careful not to burn it.
- Now add the yogurt-chickpea flour batter that we had prepared to the pan.
- Keep stirring the kadhi on medium heat and once it comes to a boil add around 3 cups of water to it.
- Lower the flame to medium low and let it cook for 10-15 minutes. Make sure to stir in between.
- After 10 minutes, add the sauteed okra (bhindi) to the kadhi and also add the salt.
- Let the kadhi simmer on medium-low flame for 20-25 minutes till it gets little thick.
- Switch off the flame.
Tempering
- In another pan heat 1/2 tablespoon of ghee (clarified butter) on medium heat. Once ghee is hot, add mustard seeds and whole dried red chilies (broken into pieces).
- Saute till the mustard seeds start crackling and the red chilies turn dark brown in color. Transfer the tempering to the kadhi.
- Add 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves to the kadhi and mix.
- Garnish with some more coriander leaves and serve hot with steamed rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Bhindi Kadhi
