In Indian cuisine, Curd plays an important role. It’s a dairy product obtained by coagulating milk in a process known as curdling (source wiki).
It’s rich in protein, calcium & phosphorous, and very friendly to human digestive tract! While its coolant properties make it an essential food choice during summers, it must be included in some form in our diet throughout the year for its rich probiotic properties. Hence, in every Indian Thali, Curd secures its place in various forms like Raita, buttermilk, or Kadhi. Having discovered the super food qualities in curd, many nutritionist advice featuring curd regularly in one’s diet.
Many a times, we are too lazy to cook a complete meal and seek refuge in the comforts of what is known as “one dish meal”. Its desirable to have handful of such recipes in our repertoire, because you may never know when you are too tired after your office work and may not want to spend next couple of hours toiling in kitchen. My go to comfort food, on such busier days is kadhi-chawal. Chawal is steamed rice, and Kadhi is an Indian Curd based gravy, which may or may not have the Pakodis (gram flour dumplings) added to it. Every Indian state has its own variations of Kadhi and all these variations differ quite significantly from each other. We have Gujarati Kadhi, Rajasthani Kadhi, Punjabi Kadhi, UP Kadhi, Maharashtrian Kadhi and also Sindhi Kadhi which has a tamarind base instead of yogurt.
I have shared a different form of Maharashtrian Kadhi on this blog space and today I am sharing another variant of Kadhi known as Takachi Kadhi or Buttermilk Kadhi-subtle on palate yet tantalizes your taste buds. Curd that is used in this preparation must have sour taste due to which Kadhi acquires sourness and sugar is added to impart the sweetness. These contrasting flavors in the Kadhi makes it a perfect choice for our party lunches, weekend dinners or for those comfort meals of Kadhi-Bhat (steamed rice). Takachi Kadhi is traditionally paired with another Maharashtrian rice based delicacy- Masale Bhat or if you desire something less extravagant than Masale Bhat, then you can pair it up with Dal Khichdi.
For me and my family, Taka chi Kadhi with steamed rice is our favored comfort meal
What is your favored comfort food? Do tell us in comment section below.
Rating
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-4
- 1½ cup curd ( 200 ml cup ) – 300 gm
- 3 green chillies
- 10-12 curry leaves
- Water as needed
- 1 inch ginger
- 7-8 garlic cloves
- 1 ½ tbsp besan
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ⅕ tsp Asafoetida
- 3 garlics crushed
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp chopped coriander
- Salt as per taste
- Ghee ( clarified butter ) 1-2 tbsp
- Make a coarse paste of ginger, garlic and green chilies in either mortar and pestle or in grinder without using water.
- Lets make buttermilk now. In a bowl, add curd and whisk till it gets smooth consistency. Add 1 to 1.5 cup of water to the curd and again whisk till it becomes frothy.
- In another bowl, mix besan with 2-3 tbsp water and make a smooth, lump free paste. Add this besan paste to buttermilk. Note: do not add besan directly to the buttermilk or else it causes lumps.
- Add turmeric, sugar and salt to the buttermilk, whisk all together.
- Now lets make kadhi. Heat 1-2 tbsp ghee in kadhai.
- Temper ghee with mustard seeds, cumin seeds , asafoetida and crushed garlic.
- Add curry leaves.
- When garlic turns brown then add coarse masala paste. Cook on medium flame till it loses its raw flavour.
- We have sautéed the masala for 2 minutes on medium flame. Now lets add the buttermilk mixture, before that lower the flame and add the mixture.
- Cook the mixture on slow to medium flame. Never increase the heat. Cooking on high may cause the kadhi to curdle.
- Stir continuously as soon as kadhi starts simmering. This will help to maintain the temperature.
- We have cooked kadhi on low flame till 12 minutes, its ready now. Garnish with chopped coriander and cover till serving time.
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