Gujarati kadhi is a yogurt-based dish made with gram flour, spices, and herbs. It has a mild sweetness from the addition of jaggery or sugar and is prepared without pakora. Serve it with steamed rice or roti for a simple, comforting meal.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Gujarati

Ingredients

  • 1 cup curd ((yogurt))
  • 2 to 2.5 cups water
  • 4 tablespoons gram flour ((besan))
  • ½ tablespoon ginger-green chili paste (or 1 inch ginger and 1 to 2 green chilies crushed in mortar-pestle)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (or jaggery, add more for more sweetness)
  • salt (as required)
  • coriander leaves (for garnishing)
  • 1 inch cinnamon
  • 2 cloves
  • 8 to 10 curry leaves
  • 1 generous pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • 2 dry red chilies (broken and deseeded)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
  • 1 tablespoon oil (or ghee)

Method

  1. In a bowl mix the gram flour (besan), green chilly-ginger paste, yogurt, sugar and salt with water.
  2. Beat to a smooth mixture without any lumps.
  3. In a saucepan heat oil. Keep the heat to low. First add mustard seeds and let them crackle and splutter.
  4. Then add cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves, curry leaves, broken and deseeded red chilies, fenugreek seeds and asafoetida (hing). Fry on a low heat for a minute taking care not to burn the spices.
  5. Add the yogurt-water mixture which we had prepared earlier. Stir and mix well.
  6. Give a boil first on medium-low to medium heat. Then simmer for 10 to 12 minutes or more or as required on low to medium-low heat. There should be no raw taste of besan. Check the taste and if there is some rawness from the besan felt in the kadhi, then simmer for some more minutes as needed.
  7. Continue to stir in between and often to avoid lumps from getting formed while the kadhi is cooking.
  8. Once done garnish with chopped coriander. Serve Gujarati kadhi hot or warm with steamed rice or phulka accompanies with a vegetable side dish, pickle and salad.
  9. Any leftover kadhi can be consumed on the same day.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.