Palak Kadhi – Spinach In Yogurt Sauce
Mar 28, 2014, Updated Jan 02, 2018
Palak Kadhi - Delicious blend of Spinach, Chickpea flour & Yogurt
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Kadhi is one of India’s most popular ‘comfort food’. It is a blend of yogurt and gram/chickpea flour, which is called besan in Hindi. It’s light, healthy and extremely tasty and in this recipe I upped it’s nutrition value by adding spinach to it.
States in India have their own way of making Kadhi. In Punjab and North India, it is usually accompanied with pakora (fritters) which are deep fried and then added to the kadhi whereas in Gujarat it’s served as it is without any fritters. Also the Punjabi kadhi has a lot more besan in it compared to Gujrati kadhi which is high on yogurt and sugar. Growing up in Delhi, I am obviously used to having kadhi with pakoras but somehow I always liked kadhi as it is for it’s taste and simplicity.
You can make this palak kadhi in two ways. You can make regular kadhi and then just add chopped spinach leaves to it or in addition to the chopped leaves you can also add some pureed spinach to it [that’s what I did]. The addition of pureed spinach gives the kadhi a nice green color which I loved. I pureed very little spinach though because I wanted to retain the basic kadhi flavor.
Kadhi tastes best with steamed white rice but you can have it as it is like a soup.
So ditch the pakoras and add some healthy spinach leaves to your kadhi today!
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
To make the batter
Yogurt: 1 cup
Chickpea flour (Besan): 2/3 cup
Spinach: 100 gms, to be pureed
Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Red chilli powder: 1/4 tsp
Water: 4 cups
For the kadhi/yogurt sauce
Cumin seeds: 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds: 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves: 6-7
Ginger: 1 inch, finely chopped
Spinach leaves: 2 cups, finely chopped
Oil: 2 tsp
Water: 2-3 cups
To temper
Ghee or Oil: 1 tbsp
Whole dried red chillies: 3
Onion: 1, small finely chopped
Paprika powder, optional
Method
Blanch the spinach
Wash the spinach leaves and put them in a wok (kadhai), add 1-2 tbsp of water. In 3-4 minutes the leaves will shrink in size, switch off the flame and put the leaves in cold water. Puree the spinach leaves in a blender and set aside. Add 1/2 cup of water while pureeing the spinach.
Make the palak kadhi batter
In a bowl whisk together chickpea flour (besan) and yogurt. Add water gradually and mix to make sure there are no lumps. Also add turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
Add the pureed spinach, water and mix. The batter will be very thin. I added around 4 cups of water at this step (including the spinach puree).
Make the kadhi
In a pan heat 2 tsp of oil and add cumin and fenugreek seeds. Once the seeds crackle add curry leaves and then add ginger. Saute for a minute till the ginger turns light golden brown in color. Set the flame to medium, we don’t want the seeds/ginger to burn.
Add the yogurt-spinach-gram flour batter into the pan and mix. Stir continuously till the kadhi comes to a boil. Once the kadhi has come to a boil add more water, I added around 3 cups, for a thicker kadhi add less water. Cover and let it cook for around 20 minutes on medium-low flame.
While the kadhi is cooking, wash and fine chop some spinach leaves.
After 20 mins, add the finely chopped spinach leaves and salt into the kadhi and mix. Let it cook for another 15- 20 minutes on low flame.
Temper the kadhi
To temper, heat 1 tbsp of ghee or oil a pan. Once hot, add whole dried chillies and saute for a minute. Add chopped onions and fry till they are translucent. Add the onions and chillies to the kadhi and mix.
Garnish with paprika powder and coriander leaves. Serve hot with steamed white rice.
* You can add a lot of things to temper the kadhi – garlic, paprika, mustard seeds, curry leaves.
* Adjust the spices to your taste. I added very few spices here because I prefer simple kadhi, you can go ahead and add garam masala, coriander powder etc.
* Adjust the consistency of kadhi according to your preference. I added a total of around 7-8 cups of water in this recipe. For a thicker kadhi, add less water.
Palak Kadi - Spinach In Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
To make the batter
- 1 cup yogurt
- 2/3 cup chickpea flour besan
- 100 grams spinach to be pureed
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder
- 4 cups water
For the kadhi
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 6-7 curry leaves
- 1 inch ginger finely chopped
- 2 cups spinach leaves finely chopped
- 2 teaspoon oil
- 2-3 cups water
To temper
- 1 tablespoon ghee or oil
- 3 whole dried red chilies
- 1 onion small finely chopped
- paprika powder optional
Instructions
Blanch the spinach
- Wash 100 gm spinach leaves and put them in a wok (kadhai), add 1-2 tbsp of water. In 3-4 minutes the leaves will shrink in size, switch off the flame and put the leaves in cold water. Puree the spinach and set aside.
Make the palak kadhi batter
- In a bowl whisk together chickpea flour (besan) and yogurt. Add water gradually and mix to make sure there are no lumps.
- Also add turmeric powder and red chilli powder.
- Add the pureed spinach, water and mix. The batter will be very thin.
Make the kadhi
- In a pan heat 2 tsp of oil and add cumin and fenugreek seeds.
- Once the seeds crackle add curry leaves and then add ginger. Saute for a minute till the ginger turns light golden brown in color.
- Add the yogurt-spinach-gram flour batter into the pan and mix.
- Stir continuously till the kadhi comes to a boil. Once the kadhi has come to a boil add 2-3 cups of water.
- Cover and let it cook for around 20 minutes on medium-low flame.
- After 20 mins, add the finely chopped spinach leaves and salt into the kadhi and mix.
- Cook for another 15- 20 minutes on low flame and then switch off the flame.
Temper the kadhi
- Heat 1 tbsp of ghee or oil a pan.
- Once hot, add whole dried chillies and saute for a minute.
- Add chopped onions and fry till they are translucent.
- Add the onions and chillies to the kadhi and mix.
- Garnish with paprika powder and coriander leaves.
- Serve hot with steamed white rice.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Palak Kadhi
Hi Manali, what yogurt do you use for making Kadhi? I love yogurt based dishes but everytime I make it using store bought yogurt in US it curdles. Yogurt recommendations would be helpful. Thanks
I use either homemade or Gopi..it won’t curdle if you follow these things- make sure yogurt is at room temperature before you add it to the dish. Whisk it nicely before adding, remove pan from heat and then add it to the pan whisking continuously until all of it is combined well and then put the pan back on heat. And if you still have a problem, just add little cornstarch to the yogurt, whisk and then add. The cornstarch binds the yogurt and it won’t split.
Yummy Manali
Thanks dear 🙂