Kadhi -cooking with gram flour!

Directions

1. Ingredients for Preparing the Mixture
2. The recipe begins with a smarty pants tip from my sister in law and because of that I am able to re-create the same flavor in US where the weather is different.Thankyou Saumya! If you are making Kadi for lunch ,say at 12 o'clock at noon on a Sunday,take the yoghurt out of the fridge and keep it on the countertop ,somewhere near the stove (half covered) on Saturday noon. This helps yoghurt get the right fermentation and brings a much better flavor.
3. Whisk the yoghurt and pour it in a mixing bowl(mine is a 9 inch diameter/3 quart bowl and avoids spillage) ,add water followed by Besan. Start stirring immediately so that no lumps are formed.
4. Take a medium strainer (mine is 7 inch) and pour the mix through it into another mixing bowl. If there are any big lumps formed,they will separate out. I usually press the lumps,thin them out and make them pass through the strainer to avoid wastage.You shall have a light yellowish mixture ready.

1. Ingredients for Cooking
2. Take a stock pot and put it over the flame.Once the pan is hot,add the oil for cooking.
3. Once the oil is hot (but not burning) ,add the cloves ,fenugreek seeds and the dried whole chillis. Smarty pants tip from my mother- Remember to cut the ends of the chilli with kitchen shears. The flavor is maximized once you do that.
4. Once they are cooked(after a few seconds),add turmeric,red chilli powder and asafoetida.The dry spices will cook very fast.
5. Quickly pour the mixture into the pot and stir. Lower the flame and add the salt.
6. Let it cook for about 45 minutes on low heat. Keep on stirring occasionally. Be careful that the soup does not boil and spill out of the pot. Besan tends to thicken while cooking,so add some water if necessary.Adjust the salt if needed.Once the soup is done,turn off the stove and cover it.You will have a yellow coloured soup.
7. Let's prepare the dumplings (the next few steps to prepare the dumplings are optional though my husband would say otherwise). Take a mixing bowl. Add the onions,cilantro,green chillis,salt and besan. Tip from my husband that added a whole new flavour to the recipe with his smarty pants idea - the addition of ginger to the dumpling mix.
8. Slowly add water to the dumpling mix to make batter.Please note that the batter should not be too watery or too thick.We have to deep fry chunks of this batter so it should be able to bind the contents.If you feel its watery,add more Besan.
9. Take a deep frying pan and heat some oil. Once its hot for deep frying(but not burning),take a spoon and drop spoonfuls of the batter in the oil to deep fry. Wait for the dumplings to turn crisp and golden brown.Use a slotted spatula to take out the dumplings and place them on a paper towel.Do this multiple times till all the batter has been used. Add all the dumplings to the soup.
10. Take a small pan .Heat oil(for tempering).Add cumin , wait till they crackle.Then add red chillies,fenugreek seeds,cloves and at the end - asafoetida and red chilli powder. (Don't let the dry powders burn.)
11. Quickly pour this over the soup and stir.Cover with lid. We are almost there.
12. Last step is a tip from my mother in law - garnish the soup with caramalized onions when you pour the soup in small bowls.Small things that take the flavour to the next level!
13. Serve the hot kadhi with rice . You can have it like a soup too. (The spices used in the recipe are common Indian spices and are easily available in US. These spices are not hot but mostly fragrant except red chilli powder which is used in a small quantity). Many variations of this recipe are available online as its a popular dish in many parts of India. At the same time,its one of the dishes where every household has their own way of making it and my recipe is the version of how it is made at my home.