Aish Cooks

Tomato Kadhi ~ A tangy tomato-based curry thickened with chickpea flour

1 year. That’s how long this recipe has been slumbering in my drafts. There’s always something holding up a recipe in draft-mode, which is why I have almost as many drafts as posted recipes. But hey, that is the cost of writing up no-fail-recipes right? 🙂

I had to get this one on the fast track when I heard my sister had a kadhi-disaster last week. That was the last straw. Really. I mean, we’re sort of like kadhi-sisters.. or maybe rasam-sisters.. well, just about anything sour and tangy does it for us. So when she tells me that her attempt at making kadhi was anything but successful, there was no way I wasn’t going to post this recipe right away. After all, I think of her every time I make kadhi! The recipe itself is pretty straight forward, and you could use a variety of vegetables to make the curry. The only way it could possibly go wrong is if you add too much besan (chickpea flour) or if the flour gets burnt. So my dear sis – you’re out of excuses now. Get cooking and get it right!

Tomato Kadhi | Tangy Tomato Curry with Chickpea flour

Adapted from Tarla Dalal’s recipe for Tamatar ki Kadhi

Serves: 4 | Cooking Time:  30 minutes

Ingredients:

1. 4 large tomatoes, quartered
2. 1 – 1.5 cups vegetables of choice, cut and ready to go (any one or a combination of cluster beans, boiled potatoes, okra, cauliflower, carrots)
3. 2 tbsp oil
4. 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
5. 1/4 tsp fenugreek (methi) seeds
6. 1 tsp cumin (jeera) seeds
7. 1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing)
8. 2 tbsp chickpea flour (besan)
9. 1 tsp red chili powder or to taste
10. 1/4 cup tamarind extract (see notes)
11. salt to taste
12. a few steps of cilantro, finely chopped for garnishing

Method:

1. Boil the tomatoes in 1 cup water, with the lid on, for about 7-8 minutes and let it cool down.
2. Drain and reserve the cooking water from the tomatoes, and blend the boiled tomatoes to a fine puree (optional step: peel off the skin from the tomatoes).
3. While the tomatoes are cooking/cooking down, get started with the curry by heating some oil in a pan.
4. Add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and hing to the hot oil. Allow mustard to crackle (just a few seconds in hot oil will do it).
5. Turn down the heat, add 2 tbsp gram flour and saute for a minute or until it turns golden brown in color. Be careful to not burn the gram flour, and act quickly to stir well so that no lumps are formed.
6. Add the chopped veggies and saute for a couple of minutes.
7. Add the reserved water from boiling the tomatoes, plus another 1 cup of water and stir well. There should be no lumps from the besan.  Note: This makes a thick curry, so to make it thinner add more water.
8. Cook on med heat for about 7-10 minutes until the veggies are half-done.
9. Add the pureed tomatoes, red chili powder and tamarind extract. Season with salt to taste.
10. Cook on medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, until the veggies are done and the kadhi has reduced down to desired consistency.
11. Turn off the heat and garnish with finely chopped cilantro.

Serve hot with pulao or just plain steamed rice!

Notes:

• You could use juice of 1/2 a lime/lemon, adjusted to taste, instead of the tamarind extract to add sourness to the kadhi.