Sunday, February 28, 2010

Palak Kadi (Spinach in Yogurt base gravy)


Kadi is different than curry. The Kadi which I'm talking about today is basically yogurt based punjabi kadi, made using chickpea flour. Regular combination is with pakoras, which is absolute favorite of mine. Where as Curry is a term mainly used for any kind of dish which is gravy based and can have many versions of it, like tomato based, onion & tomato based, coconut based. To get the perfect flavors of punjabi kadi you need sour yogurt/home made dahi, even buttermilk will also do. It's perfect way to turn sour yogurt to tasty dish. So if you have 2-3 days old dahi, it's perfect for kadi or otherwise I prefer to leave it out of the fridge overnight at some warm place  and next day cook it into kadi.

What U need :
  • 2 cups of sour dahi / buttermilk / plain yoghurt (in case of yoghurt dilute it using 1/2 cup of water)
  • 4 Tblsp. of chickpea flour (beasn)
  • 1 big bunch of spinach washed & chopped
  • 1 tsp. black mustard ( rai) seeds
  • 1 tsp. cumin (jeera)
  • 2-3 cloves (laung)
  • 2 whole dry red chillies
  • 1 Tblsp. chopped garlic
  • 1 Tblsp. chopped ginger
  • 3-4 green hot peppers chopped
  • 1tsp. tumeric (haldi) powder
  • 1 tsp. coriander (dhania) powder
  • 1 tsp. degi mirch / paprika

What to do :
  1. Whisk the yogurt, add chickpea flour and all dry spices to it & whisk it to remove all the lumps. Keep it aside.
  2. Heat little oil in a heavy bottom karahi/wok. Add mustard seeds, cumin, whole red chillies, cloves and let them splutter a bit.
  3. Add garlic, ginger and sprinkle some salt on it, to prevent ginger from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
  4. Add the yogurt mixture to the pan.
  5. Add around 4 cups of water. Once the whole mixture starts to boil turn the gas to the setting( med. high works for me) where it will still boil but won't overflow. 
  6. Let it cook for approximately 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Add spinach and let it cook for another 20 minute or so. Also adjust the consistency of the kadi, add more water if it's getting too thick or let it boil bit more if it's too thin. 
  7. Once cooked, kadi tends to get thicker keep that in mind while adjusting the consistency.
  8. Classic combo is with rice but you can always serve it with naan/ roti.
If the yogurt / dahi was sour you will get the perfect sour kadi. The recipe above is missing pakoras and some whole spices in it which are normally used when punjabi pakora wali kari is made, as my kids don't like Kadi with whole lot of whole spices in it. I will post the punjabi kari with pakoras whenever I make next time, this is little litter version of that.

Before I sign off this post I would like to say thanks to my blogger friends for visiting my blog everyday for  last 7 days and  leaving thoughts on my spinach week special. Though there are many more recipes which I cook with spinach but either they are very usual one like saag, dal palak, palak paneer or I didn't get to take the pictures. So, for now no more spinach on the blog everyday but it's surely making it's appearance on our dinner table everyday. And once in a while more recipes with spinach will make appearance on the blog too.

27 comments:

Ash said...

Lovely Kadi... I have saved it for my knowledge & guidance for my next..... Good color & texture....

Ash....
(http://asha-oceanichope.blogspot.com/)

PJ said...

spinach kadhi looks so yummy and delicious!

Sushma Mallya said...

Looks healthy and nice,i think u love spinach and i got so many recipes to do with it...thanks for sharing and wish you a very happy holi

Priya Suresh said...

Thats a tempting and healthy kadhi..

Unknown said...

good recipe..

Rachana said...

yummy kadhi...love anything with spinach:)

Cool Lassi(e) said...

Lovely Kadhi. I love all greens and this sure looks tempting!

Unknown said...

Its one of my fav. kadhi...adding garlic to it..is new..sounds interesting

SE said...

yummy...love adding ginger and garlic in the kadi...

RV @ Food for 7 Stages said...

looks very delicious.....

Urmi said...

Wish you and your family a very Happy Holi.
Palak kadi looks yummy and tempting.

Gomathy S said...

We have the word "spice" common in our blog names :) Looks like you had a blast with spinach...looks yummmy yum.. and I'm your 40th follower :)

Nisha said...

Wow i have never tried spinach in kadi .

Unknown said...

I luv the vege dishes in Yogurt...and this recipe is amazing and very healthy with the spinach...thanks for sharing this one...tc

Ms.Chitchat said...

First time to ur space and loved it. You have interesting recipes. Liked the palak kadi and sure to prepare soon. Following u to instantly enjoy ur posts :):)

Chitchat
http://chitchatcrossroads.blogspot.com/

Tina said...

Never tried this before...Looks delicious...

Malar Gandhi said...

Oh what is this, same pinch...planning to make palak kadhi today.

Wow, like ur version lot better:)

Aruna Manikandan said...

First time here....

Kadai looks delicious ....

U have a wonderful space
Love to follow your blog

ArunaManikandan
http://ensamayalkuripugal.blogspot.com

Spice said...

Thanks, everyone for stopping by.....I was kind of disappeared from the blogging world for last two weeks....

@ A2Z & SE, yeah we love ginger & garlic in kadhi.

@ Daisy Blue, thanks for following me....I'm surely gonna check your share of Spice in the food blogging...

Spice said...

Thanks Ms. chitchat, I'm glad you liked my recipes.

@ Malar, ,it's nice to know that how blogging let us share what we r cooking in our kitchens.....i'm sure your kadhi also must have tasted good....

@ Aruna, Thanks for following me....

Hari Chandana P said...

first time here.. wonderful blog..:)

tasteofbeirut said...

Spice

This is such an interesting recipe to me; I have bought chickpea flour in the past but it would sit in my pantry and accumulate dust. Now I know what to do with it!

Champa said...

Nice kadhi. I have not eaten this version. To answer your question spice, no I do not use meringue powder in my buttercream frosting. Look into Cake decorating basics part 3 or 4 for the icing that I use. Corn starch is used in that. If you are in a place where you can buy 'Dream Whip' which is a powder you mix with water to make whipped cream, use that about 3 TBSP dry for about 1 - 1/3 cups of butter/shortening or combination of these. It works like a charm. Hope this helps. More questions, email me.

Nithu Bala said...

Kadhi looks really delicious and healthy with spinach..you have a wonderful blog..happy to follow you..

Nithu Bala said...

Kadhi looks really delicious and healthy with spinach..you have a wonderful blog..happy to follow you..

sangeeta said...

i love kadhi in any form and i make the palak version with palak pakoras...this way i make bathua kadhi....

the pumpkin n palak is favorite too and i have posted it earlier ( a different version)..

i love spinach n all these spinach recipes ( you have posted recently)are regular at my place too....though as you know we have our own different versions....looking at these spinach platters i am feeling hungry...

Pavithra Srihari said...

wow.. spinach with kadi is so simple and yet it looks tasty ...