Kadhi Pakoda

Kadhi: A beautiful fresh dish perfect for a hot day

Its summer here again and the weather today is just crazy. There is a full blown sandstorm outside.

See that? I took this from my bedroom window and just as I was trying to take a picture my whole room got covered with a blanket of sand :( So all I could crave for today was my mum's recipe for kadhi. It is this beautiful Indian dish made with buttermilk and gram flour dumplings (pakoras) in it. Have it with some rice and you will love it inshaAllah.


 Ingredients:

  For he Curry:

1. Gram flour- 1/2 cup
2. Red chili powder- 1/2 tsp
3. Turmeric powder- 1 1/2 tsp
4. Garlic paste- 1/2 tbsp
5. Ginger paste- 1/2 tbsp
6. Onion - 1, pureed
7. Buttermilk- 500 ml
8. Coriander leaves- finely chopped, for garnish
9. Water- as required
10. Salt- to taste

For the Tempering:

1. Cumin seeds - 2tsp
2. Mustard seeds- 1 tsp
3. Asafoetida- a pinch
4. Curry leaves- 8-10
5. Green chillies - 2, cut into two inch pieces
6. Dried red chilies- 3-4
7. Onion- 1, finely chopped

For the Pakoras:

1. Gram flour- 2 cups
2. Red chili powder- 1 tsp
3. Cumin powder- 1 tsp
4. Baking soda- 1 tsp
5. Onions- 3, sliced
6. Green chillies- 2,finely chopped
7. Coriander leaves- 1/4 a bunch, finely chopped
8. Salt- to taste
9. Water- as required

Method:

 For the Curry:

1. In a large pot,mix together the gram flour, red chili powder, turmeric powder, ginger- garlic paste,onion, salt buttermilk.
2. Mix together slowly so that there are no lumps.
3. Add about 2 litres of water, to make the mixture really thin and runny. It should be a really thin and  watery mixture. It will look something like this.
4. Put the pot on high heat and stir continuously till it gets to a boil.
5. Cover and leave it on slow heat.
6. It might take about an hour or more. So leave it alone and don't worry about it.
7. Meanwhile get the pakoras ready.

For the Pakoras:

1. Mix together the gram flour, red chili powder, cumin powder, baking soda and salt. Add very little water so that you get a very thick paste. It will look something like this. we want a really thick paste because once we add our onions, they will leave their water as well and the batter will be of the right consistency.
   
   
   
   
2. Add the chopped chillies, coriander and sliced onions. mix well. keep covered for about half an hour.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. After half an hour it will look something like this. see the onions left their water as well.
   
4. Heat oil on medium high  in a wok. When the oil is hot enough add spoonfuls of the better and fry till golden brown. 
   
   
   
   
5. Add these to the curry once the curry is cooked and thick enough. It should look something like this.
   

Tempering.

1. Heat about two tablespoons of oil.
2. When the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and mustard seeds till they begun to splutter. add asafoetida, onions and red chilies. Cook till  onion are almost golden brown. 
3. Add the curry leaves and green chilies.
4. The curry leaves will splutter. Fry for a minute.
5. Don't let the onions burn.
   
6. Add to the curry.
7. Garnish with freshly chopped coriander.
   

 Enjoy with plain steamed rice and do let me know how it turned out ;)

Chicken Teriyaki

Its  just one of those times  when I get a craving to eat something  sweet and sour. Also, as always  I want to speed up family dinners. This is just the recipe for that. Now chicken teriyaki is a japanese dish known for its sweet an smoky flavour and shiny appearance. Typically a chicken teriyaki is made with soy sauce and mirin. Mirin is a slightly sweet wine that gives the smoky and sweet flavour. After searching several recipes, I came up with a perfect full proof halal chicken teriyaki with no use of any alcohol but a beautiful sweet, smoky and sour flavour. Now, ‘teri’ means to shine and ‘yaki’ means to cook on a griddle or grill. An original chicken teriyaki wont use spring onions or ginger, but  this is the way  I like. So you could call this recipe a spicy indo-japanese chicken teriyaki my style. Trust me you will love it. Serve it some rice. I like to serve it with some spicy schezwan  rice, just because I love it all hot n spicy ;) would inshAllah soon post a recipe for the schezwan rice.

Do try it and give me some feedback guys. Always love to hear it from you.

Ingredients:

1.        Chicken – 500 gms, boneless, cut into cubes
2.        Ginger-  1.5 tablespoons, chopped
3.        Garlic- 2 tbsp, chopped
4.        Spring onions- 5, whites and greens chopped separately
5.        Salt- to taste
6.      .  Black pepper- to taste
7.        Oil -2-3 tbsp or as required

Sauce :

1.        Dark soy sauce-  2-3 tbsp
2.        Vinegar- 2 tbsp
3.        Hoisin sauce- 2 tbsp
4.        Honey- 1.5 tbsp
5.        Barbecue sauce – 2 tsp (optional)
6.        Red chilli sauce- 1 tbsp (optional)

 Marinade:

1.       Dark soy sauce- 1 tbsp
2.       Vinegar- 1 tbsp
3.    Brown sugar- 2 tsp
4.    Black Pepper- 1 tsp
5.      Salt – to taste

 Method:

1.        Marinate the cubed chicken with the ingredients of the marinade. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
2.        Heat oil in a wok. Add the marinated chicken pieces and stir fry till the chicken  is slightly caramelised and tender. Drain the chicken pieces on an  absorbent paper.
3.        In a bowl, mix all the ingredients for the sauce.
4.        Heat  the same oil and add the chopped ginger, garlic and whites of spring onions. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes till the ginger and garlic gets cooked and the onions are translucent.
5.        Add the chicken pieces.
6.        Add the ingredients  for the sauce  and cook till the  gravy is thick and shiny.
7.        Add the spring onion greens.
8.        Serve hot.