Guest Post: The Indian has landed - Kadhi Recipe - Sweet & Spicy Yogurt based Soup

Greetings fellow readers of Stuff I Feed Brian:

Kadhi - A Vegetarian and Gluten Free Soup from Gujarat, India

My name is Manan and I am a friend of both Brian and D.  I met Brian the Spring of 2003 while we were both studying abroad in London.  After London, I flew back home to the east coast and Brian, the West.  About two years later after completely losing touch, I landed in Pacific Beach, San Diego in brute force, and quickly contacted Brian. 

The PB beach party was on!  Shortly after moving to PB, I met D through a friend, then start dating D’s roommate, Anne, who I am now living with nearly five years later.  I like to take credit for helping give birth to B & D’s relationship, but it’s up to them to give me official credit in the future!

This blog post is not about my history with these folks, it’s about creating delicious vegetarian and gluten free food.  I’ve been following the recipes D has been doling out, and I couldn’t help but wonder, where is the Indian food? 

When it comes to Indian food, most people are familiar with what they eat at Indian restaurants (Chicken Tikka Masala, Saag Paneer, Malai Kofta, etc).  All of the food you see at Indian restaurants emanate from a region of India called Punjab.  While the food is super tasty, it is extremely heavy on Oil, Butter, garlic, and meat (hence when Punjabi cuisine is the main go-to for Americans).

What people may not know is that there is a region of India that serves simple, healthy, and completely vegetarian foods.  This region is the state of Gujarat, a place I spent the first five years of my life.  Gujarati cuisine is considered the King of Vegetarian food throughout the world.  Using minimal oil, the Gujarati flavors can transform normal vegetables, beans, soups, and rice into a delicious feast.

Gujarati food is usually served on a Thali, a round steel plate with six or seven different steel bowls with assorted foods in them.  As Wikipedia notes, “The typical Gujarati Thali consists of Roti (a flat bread made from wheat flour, and called rotli in Gujarati), daal or kadhi, rice, and sabzi/shaak (a dish made up of different combinations of vegetables and spices, which may be stir fried, spicy or sweet). Many Gujarati dishes are distinctively sweet, salty, and spicy at the same time.”

Most authentic Gujarati recipes have been passed down from generation to generation.  Growing up, I was blessed to have a Mom who cooked up the most amazing Gujarati food on the planet.   I am not making a biased statement because she’s my Mom, she really is one of the best cooks on the planet.  I've traveled a lot of the world and no one can tear up a kitchen as Momma Shook.

The recipe for today is Kadhi (pronounced Khaa-Dee), which is basically a Sweet and Spicy Yogurt based soup.  The best way to enjoy Kadhi is mix fresh basmati rice and some gujarati reciped veggies, but I’ve been enjoying  it simply As Is, or with a little bit of rice in the soup.

Kadhi: (improvised from http://www.gujaratplus.com/g_rec/guj_kadhi.html)

Ingredients Needed:

Serves: 4 

2  tablespoon(s) gram flour (besan) 2  cup(s) yoghurt, preferably sour 4  cups water 2  teaspoon(s) ginger paste 2  green chilies slit or chopped fine OR 1 t teaspoon of green chili paste ( or more for spice) 2  teaspoon(s) sugar or to taste 1  teaspoon(s) each of mustard seeds and cumin seeds

½  teaspoon(s) each of asafoetida and turmeric powders 2  tablespoon(s) ghee (clarified butter) 4  curry leaves salt to taste Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

1.     Mix the yogurt, gram flour and water in a vessel beating well so that no lumps are formed.   Pour mixture into a pot and begin low heat.  (You aren’t in a rush here to get it to boiling—think slow heat of the flavors) .   Add the ginger paste,  chopped green chillis or paste), curry leaves, sugar and salt. Keep on low flame for 5  minutes or till the mixture comes to a boil. Keep simmering.

2.     Now as it comes to slow boil, on a separate pan/skillet, you will prepare a tempering that you’ll add to the other pot.  ---For the tempering, heat the ghee (clarified butter) in a pan for 2  minute(s). Add the mustard seeds and the cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Now, add the asafoetida, the red chilli bits, turmeric powder and fry on low heat for a few seconds.

Tempering on top

 3.     Add the tempering to the pot with the Kadhi and stir occasionally whilst simmering on very low heat for 4 minutes.  Add salt and sugar to taste.  You are trying to create a nice blend of spicy, sweet and salty all at the same time.  This soup is about an explosion of flavor.

 4.     Garnish each bowl served with a sprinkle of chopped cilantro.

Enjoy this soup as is, or while prepping the meal, you can throw some basmati rice in the rice cooker.  Fresh rice and Kadhi mixed together are a fantastic meal for dinner.  Hope you enjoy!

The final product after tempering

Share this post