#why my dahi vada are hard

[whataboutmyfries]

Desi James!

So, fair warning to all of you that is this a very chaotic disorganised brain barf kinda bulleted fic about my boy James because I refuse to accept that he is a white boy, sorry not sorry. But i LOVE Indian James so so much and I just HAD to write him a lil something. so enjoy!  ~

First off, I refuse to believe that James is not the chaotic Indian child that I believe he is. No, I will not be taking any suggestions

But imagine young James running around his neighbourhood on Holi, playing with the neighbouring kids. 

The amount of PRANKS oh my god. it is absolute PANDEMONIUM. 

Of course, Mrs Potter makes Kachoris and thandai and Dahi vada. 

James is SUCH a mother’s boy it’s not even funny. He loves her to death 

But let's be honest here, who wouldn't? That’s Euphemia potter right there; you can't help but love her. 

James being waAAAAaayy ahead of everyone in his class in all the general muggle subjects when he gets to hogwarts because he studied ICSE. 

There was a time when Sirius thought he knew everything in the world cause he knew all the maths and science and social science that ICSE taught him (RE: James potter is an adorable nerd) 

James curses in Hindi so he rarely ever gets in trouble for foul language. 

Remus is insanely jealous 

So naturally, James teaches Sirius and Remus all the Hindi cusses he can think of. (he spends half his time rolling on the floor at their accents. It’s brilliant.) 

Cue Snape being the slimy git he is; he puts bright gold dye in James’s shampoo

James: “ABBEY MADARCHOD BHAES KE LAUDE TERI TO-” 

Everybody is Very Confused ™ but Sirius and Remus can barely hold him back for how hard they’re laughing. James looks like an enraged Oscars trophy

Sirius picking up little bits of Hindi from when the potters adopt him and soon their notes in class are almost all in Hindi. 

Added bonus: barely anyone can figure out their maraudering plans now; they’re all in Hindi. 

Okay, James smuggles SO MUCH Maggie into Hogwarts it is UNREAL. 

I’m pretty sure he could feed the entirety of Hogwarts for a full year, and they’d still have some left over. 

And of course, nobody grows up around Euphemia and doesn’t know how to cook. 

So whenever his boys are upset, James sneaks down to the kitchens and makes them all Indian food. 

BUT IMAGINE THE MARAUDERS’S FIRST BIG FESTIVAL TOGETHER!!!!

I’m gonna go ahead and say it's Diwali cause why not?

 James absolutely forgets that his parents speak Hindi too, and he casually calls Sirius bakchod or something and his mother raises an eyebrow at him across the table. 

Whoops

THE FOOD THE FOOD THE FOOD THE FOOD

The boys take a whole day to drive around the city eating every Indian street food imaginable. 

It is bliss. 

Both Sirius and Remus vow never to have any other kind of food again 

James promises that he’d always cook for them whenever they wanted 

JUST INDIAN JAMES OKAY???

~ translations and context: - ‘ABBEY MADARCHOD BHAES KE LAUDE TERI TO-’: you motherfucking son of a buffalo im going to-  - Kachoris and thandai and Dahi vada.: Traditional indian food typically made for Holi: the festival of colours -  Maggie: aka my favourite thing EVER. its essentially indian ramen and it is WONDERFUL you have to try it - Diwali: the famous festival of lights! 

#JAMESSSSS #DESI JAMES FOLKS #god i love him #this is sO rushed and SO shitty i apologise #GDJHGFHJRG #James Potter #Sirius Black #Remus Lupin #no im not eating maggie rn what are you talking about? #yes i am a desi kid born and raised

[foodtrails25-blog]

Kadhi  one of the most popular yogurt based gravy thickened with or without chickpea flour(besan) , prepared in minimum spices and tempered with fenugreek  seeds/ mustard seeds /cumin seeds and curry leaves(optional) with chickpea fritters(pakora/pakodi)

Today I have here one of my favourite food. Kadhi Pakodi or Pakoda..I love Kadhi Pakora and I really miss Kadhi cooked by my mom. Whether I go to my parent’s house or she comes to our place this is one thing that we all want her to cook for us. Whenever I make Kadhi, my kids always tell me “why don’t you cook kadhi like naani(maternal grandmom)”. The kadhi made by her is so perfect !! the pakoras are melt in mouth and she doesn’t even add baking soda to it as many people add to the batter while making pakora for softness!!

Kadhi is a favourite comfort food among most of the Indians. It is very popular especially in the states of Uttar Pradesh(U.P), Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujrat. Other states too have their own version. Each version is equally delicious and comforting with it’s own uniqueness. Kadhi from Gujarat is has a sweeter taste to it and it is made with or without besan/chickpea flour. In U.P it has a sour taste as it is made from Khatta dahi(sour yogurt). Punjabi Kadhi is very much similar to the one from U.P. In rajasthani kadhi no pakodi are added , also it is thinner in consistency and it is mainly served with Pyaz Ki Kachoris. Down in south India, yogurt based curries are popular but are made without the addition of chickpea flour and have different local ingredients like coconut.

The kadhi pakodi that I am presenting here s from U.P. I learnt this from my daadi(grandmom) and mom. My daadi used to make amazing kadhi and like my kids look forward to kadhi made by mom, we look forward to her preparation.

Traditionally we used khatta dahi/buttermilk for making it. In India, many people use homemade yogurt/curd. Every night they make a new batch. Due to the hot climate in India, the curd turns sour very soon . People avoid eating sour curd especially at night,as it is considered harmful to health.The leftover is stored for making butter and ghee. Buttermilk that is left from the butter preparation for ghee, is used for making Kadhi. The sour curd can also be used for making Kadhi. So, Kadhi is a weekly or fortnightly affair in many households.

The popular combination with Kadhi is Steamed Rice. But I like it even with chapatis. My mom always makes some Jeera Aloo along whenever she makes Kadhi. Kadhi Chawal(Kadhi and Rice) aur aloo ki subzi was one of our favorite weekend meal at  my Mom’s house. My hubby was not a Kadhi fan when I got married, and I was like.’why doesn’t he eats Kadhi 🤷 but slowly and gradually he also has started eating it😉. My kids just love Kadhi Chawal but they like to have it without jeera aloo.

How to Cook Kadhi.

Kadhi means ‘to cook on slow flame”.Yogurt and chickpea flour mixture is cooked on slow flame till it thickens. When my grandmom lived in village she always cooked kadhi on  Chulha a kind of earthen brick stove, though she had gas -stove too. It took around an hour or so to make it. But, the taste of the kadhi used to just so different and just so delectable.. Those who have eaten kadhi made on slow flame on chulla or have eaten at dhabas will agree with me. Still many people do that. Now a days, people don’t have much time so and also to save the wood and reduce smoke they cook on gas stoves, in a heavy bottomed kadhai or pan. And with the introduction of Instant Pot/Nutripot(in India) we can now cook kadhi under 30 minutes from start to end. After I have bought my Instant Pot I always cook Kadhi in it. This is how things change with time and technology!!

Pakora/Pakodi for Kadhi

Pakora/Pakori as chickpea fritters that we add to Kadhi. You can make plain fritters or can also add finely chopped fresh spinach/fenugreek/coriander cilantro leaves to it.

For Pakodi, make the batter of besan/chickpea flour,add caraway/ajwain seeds and salt. The batter should be of thin consistency. Many people complain that the pakodi come out hard To get soft pakodi, keep these pointers in mind while making pakodi.. you will never get hard pakodi.

To get soft and melt in mouth Pakodi, always beat the batter well. Just like the way we beat batter for Dahi Vada. The batter should be light and airy. This is the secret to making melt in mouth pakodi for Kadhi.

You can also add a pinch of baking soda if you don’t want to do all the muscle work!!

Drop the batter into hot oil and fry till medium brown. Drop small lumps of batter you can use a tsp for that. The batter swells up

To test whether the batter is light enough to fry and give soft pakodi, take water in a bowl, drop a tsp of batter in water. If it floats up the batter is ready.

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Making Kadhi

To make Kadhi we need yogurt/curd/dahi,chickpea flour or besan. Kadhi is made by mixing besan with yogurt and water along with turmeric powder, salt. You can add some red chilli powder also along with it. If you don’t like sour yogurt add a tsp of sugar to it.

I use mustard oil for making Kadhi and  tempering  it with fenugreek seeds  and cumin seeds with hing or asafoetida. I also use garlic and onions for tempering kadhi when I cook it and also before serving it.

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To temper Kadhi in pan, heat mustard oil till it’s smoking point. Cool it a bit then add 1 tsp  of asafoetida/hing. Add fenugreek seeds and cumin seeds along with whole red chillies. Once the spices give aroma, add coarsely garlic and green chilli(optional), saute till the garlic turns light brown. Add finely sliced onions and fry till onions are light brown. Add chilli powder if you want. Add the tempering to Kadhi and cover with lid for a while, till the aroma of spices and garlic infuses in kadhi.

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Few pointers to keep in mind to get the right consistency of Kadhi ..

Mix besan/chickpea flour well in curd. Take care it does not form lumps. If you get lumps strain it through a sieve..

If you are making Kadhi for first time, follow the recipes, later you can adjust the recipe as per your required consistency(thick or thin). Also, kadhi gets thickened once it starts to cool down. Add ,1/4 cup or as required lukewarm water to it before serving to get the right consistency.

Soak the fenugreek seeds a 2-3 minutes before preparing tempering. Drain water and dry the seeds on a paper towel before adding to tempering.

Once you add kadhi to pan to cook keep mixing it for first few minute, else it will curdle.

You can also add curry leaves to the tempering. Add a tsp of desi ghee before serving it. Ghee enhances the taste of Kadhi.

So let’s see my version of Kadhi Pakora..

Kadhi Pakodi/Pakora

Kadhi Pakodi recipe from Uttar Pradesh, Instant Pot and Stove-top recipe included. How to make delicious Kadhi a yogurt based soup recipe with (pakodi) chickpea fritters.  

For Pakoda/Fritters

1/2 Cup Chickpea Flour

1/4 tsp Caraway Seeds/Ajwain

1/2 tsp Salt

Water to make the batter

For Kadhi

2 Cups Yogurt/Dahi/Curd (preferably sour)

1/2 Cup Chickpea Flour

1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder

Salt as per taste

4-5 Cups Water or as required

Make Pakodi

In a bowl add caraway seeds with besan and salt. 

Add little water to mix the batter. The batter should be thick than the cake batter. Beat the batter for 4-5 minutes till you get fluffy batter.

Take water in a bowl and drop a tiny potion of batter. If it floats on top, batter is ready for making fritters.

Keep aside the batter of 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile heat oil in a kadhai to fry the pakodi.

Drop tiny portions of batter in hot oil and fry till golden in color. Do not fry on high flame else pakora will stay raw from inside.

Once done, take out on kitchen towel and keep aside.

Make Kadhi

Soak Fenugreek seeds in water fro 5 minutes. Just before using for kadhi preparation drain water from the seeds and dry these on a kitchen towel. This way seeds won’t turn black while sauteing and also won’t splatter when we add wet seeds to oil in  pot.

In  a mixing bowl, add yogurt, chickpea flour  and salt. Mix together, till no lumps remain. Add water and mix well. Ensure no lumps are there in the mixture.

Kadhi in Instant Pot

Switch on the SAUTE MODE of Instant Pot on and set the timer to 10 minutes.

When the display shows hot, add oil in the inner pot. Add asafeotida , whole red chilli and fenugreek seeds.

Add finely chopped or coarsely crushed garlic and green chilli. You can also finely chop garlic.

Add finely chopped onions and fry till onions are translucent. Cancel the saute mode.

Add the yogurt and chickpea mixture slowly into the pot, and stir it continuously for 2-3 minutes. set the SAUTE mode ON again, set time to 5 minutes.

Keep stirring kadhi for another 2 minutes. Wait till it gets a boil. This will take another 5 minutes.

Stir again and cancel the  SAUTE Mode, cover the lid and set the SOUP Mode ON. Keep the Pressure on LOW and set timer for 12 minutes.

Once the timer goes off, wait for 2-3 minutes and then do a manual quick release(QRP).  Check the thickness of Kadhi.

If the Kadhi is thin as your liking, cook Kadhi for another 5 minutes on high. If the Kadhi is thick, add around 1/4 or more warm water to kadhi and mix. Add Pakodi to kadhi.

Kadhi on Stovetop

Take a heavy bottomed kadhai, add ghee/oil to it. When the oil is hot enough add hing, fenugreek seeds, garlic and green chillies.

Add finely chopped onions and fry till onions are translucent. 

Add the yogurt and chickpea mixture slowly into the pot, and stir it continuously for 2-3 minutes., till a boil comes. Lower the flame to minimum.

Cook Kadhi for another 20-25 minutes or till it thickens. Keep stirring in between. Add pakodi to kadhi.

Prepare the tempering

In a pan add mustard oil/desi ghee. When the oil is hot enough add a pinch of hing, cumin seeds and 1 whole red chilli(optional). 

When the seeds crackle, add finely chopped garlic, saute till light brown, add red chilli powder. Saute for a few seconds and add tempering to Kadhi.

 Close the Lid of Instant pot or cover kadhai for few minutes till the aroma of tempering infuses in Kadhi. 

Serve hot with a tsp of  Desi ghee added, ith Steamed Rice or Chapatis!!

I use Mustard Oil for Making Kadhi for that..

When the display shows hot, add mustard oil in the inner pot. Heat the oil for another 1-2 minutes or till it’s smoking point.

You can use any  vegetable oil/desi ghee for making Kadhi. 

Adding water to the yogurt and chickpea mixture  depends on the thickness of yogurt and and chickpea flour. Add 4 cups water to 2 cups of yogurt and adjust afterwards as required.

Skip Onion and garlic to make it no-onion no-garlic recipe.

To make it gluten-free, skip asafeotida.

So, do try my version of Kadhi Pakodi either in Instant Pot or on stove top kadahi, I am sure you will surely like it. Hot Kadhi with steamed rice with some onions on side is for sure a comforting treat. I make a big batch of Kadhi and usually keep it at least for myself for the next day. I can even have it like a soup with any rice or chapati. I feel Kadhi just like Dal Makhani tastes better the next day. Temper it again with a pinch asafoetida, cumin seeds and red chilli powder before having it.

You can make it without pakodi or add some boondi to it, if you are on low-fat diet or don’t like to add pakodis in it. Make Pakodi in Appe Pan if you have, for the non-fried version.

Skip garlic and onion for no-onion no-garlic version and for the gluten-free version skip asafoetida.

Linking my Kadhi Pakodi recipe to my Foodie Monday Bloghop Facebook group for the theme #191DahiDelights, suggested by Priya Iyer who blogs at The World Through My Eyes.Do check her blog where she has some amazing recipes from South Indian and Gujarati Cuisine.

Also,do check what my fellow bloggers have brought to the Dahi Delights!!

Hope you will love my version of Kadhi Pakora as much as we love it!! Do give it a try.

Visit my social media accounts and say hello to me there… FB, Pinterest and Instagram. Whenever you make this,do post on my FB page or tag me on Instagram.  Pin the recipes for later use.

If you like my work, then do hit the follow button and subscribe to the blog to get notifications on new posts and share the blog with your loved ones. I promise won’t spam your mailbox 🙂.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Kadhi Pakodi Kadhi  one of the most popular yogurt based gravy thickened with or without chickpea flour(besan) , prepared in minimum spices and tempered with fenugreek  seeds/ mustard seeds /cumin seeds and curry leaves(optional) with chickpea fritters(pakora/pakodi)

#featured #Kadhi #North Indian Cuisine #Uttar Pradesh Cuisine #vegetarian #Vegetarian meals

[richmegavideo]

Life in America – 2

I am in Atlanta right now. At my son's place. He has done his best to make us comfortable by stocking his kitchen with grocery and his fridge with vegetables, milk, fruits and of course 'desi' yoghurt. My husband cannot gulp down a single meal without 'dahi'. I remember the time we landed in Patna on a hot evening in May. After a refreshing bath we went around looking for rice and curd - typical of the Tambrahm couple we were. Little did we expect that procuring plain curd and rice would be such a difficult (nearly impossible) task in the capital of Bihar. 

Plain rice at night? Curd? People looked at us as if were aliens from another planet. All that a few places could offer was sweetened curd and fried rice. We managed without curd that night. My husband put on a 'sour' look that seemed to say that it was my fault not to have brought curd with me from Jamshedpur. 

I digress. Coming back to life in America...........

With all good intentions my son had purchased a food processor. I wish he hadn't. Or that my husband hadn't noticed it. 

"Why don't we prepare idlis"? he asked eyes lighting up at the thought of idlis as an alternative to multi-grained bread that I gave him for breakfast. Now, please don't get me wrong. I have made enough idlis in my forty three years of marriage and was really looking forward to an idli-free vacation in America. I have written about my experiences with a manual grinder here.  

"I don't think it is sturdy enough to grind rice" I said. I was happy to put the fear of God into his head.

"If it gets spoilt, fixing it will be more expensive than buying a new one. We don't have Munna here". 

Munna was the electrician who repaired our 35 year old Sumeet mixer in Jamshedpur. My husband is so full of praise for him that he doesn't let my friends throw off their old superannuated mixers offering to get them repaired by Munna.

But as God would will it, my better half spotted a packet of idli rava in the Indian store and picked it up right away giving me no time to think of a new excuse. 

"Now you only have to grind dal". He was elated and went looking for dal and found it in no time.

"We are here just for two months" I tried to dissuade him. "What will R do with all this after we leave"? My protest fell on deaf ears. Son was smiling to himself understanding my ploy but refusing to take sides.

The very next day the idli project began.

"Did you soak dal for idli"?

The man is after my blood. I decided to mess up the proportion and make really horrible idli and blame it on idli rava. I am glad to say that I almost succeeded. The idli came out really hard and the project was a disaster. 

But I have married a scientist who worked in a research lab. He doesn't give up easily. The next time he asked me to try a different proportion, stood by my side while I soaked dal monitored my efficiency in using the food processor saying 'stop' and 'start' at the appropriate moments advising me on when to add water.............

To cut a looooong story short, Idli came out perfect and he is bent on buying another packet of idli rawa before we leave. To add to my sorrow he is hinting at trying out 'adai' and 'vadai' offering to guide me if required. 

I almost hear you ask -

''What is the connection between life in America and preparation of idli''?

Idli is easy on the stomach but a lot of preparation goes into serving this health friendly breakfast item. I truly wish that one didn't find a mini India in every corner of America and would have loved to live on milk, cereal and bread rather than using the delicate food processor that I have here. It has a single jar made of brittle plastic and cannot be left in the sink like the metal jar we have back home.  

 My domestic help Baby would have taken care of washing the jar in Jamshedpur. Out here I am a new incarnation of Baby and till I wash, wipe and put away the jar and mixer I remain tensed. I really wonder if idlis are worth the trouble. Of course juicers, mixers and grinders suited to the pounding, crushing and grating techniques employed in Tambrahm cuisine are available here. But I truly don't want to burden my son with gadgets that he may not use and to see them gather dust after we leave would be equally wasteful.  

Do I really want to put my better half on cereal and bread for the entire period that we stay here?

Of course not. I was just joking. He also adjusts a lot and has no complaints against the food I serve him.

I had earlier written that I feigned to be deaf. That was in an different era - eighteen years ago to be precise. Now I am half deaf and so is my husband. We keep saying "What? Eh? Oh?" to each other all the time. But with all my selective and actual deafness the truth is that I cannot deny him the food of his preference once in a while. Our 'nok jhoks' have reduced drastically and a realization that we only have each other, with whom to share our joy and sorrow, in this alien territory has set in. Please don't imagine that we are absolute angels. Once we reach familiar territory the 'spice of life' will automatically be added. 

And of course we have Eddie to fuss over. He has been adopted from a rescue home by my son and is an absolute delight. My husband runs miles from canines but Eddie is an exception. He loves to stroke Eddies' back and for his part Eddie puts out his paw to indicate that he wants he wants to be stroked more. He takes turns to approach us merrily wagging his tail.

Yes life in America is different. It has its merits and demerits. The internet access is definitely better here and the online library facility helps me read books on my i Pad something that I have come to appreciate and makes me want the same facility in India. Exercising (read walking) on the treadmill in the gym is something I will miss when I return. I must look out for a gym near my house and monitor my exercise routine when I go back. Walking in the crowded park near our house tends to make me cautious and reduces my speed. Moreover, one tends to meet known people and with a 'hello' and 'namaste' thrown in morning walks turn into social interaction. I do miss it here but walking for health benefits is also important.

I wrote two papers after I came here on the 'Role of Multimedia in Higher Education' and 'Improving the Quality of Higher Education in India' and felt good about it. So life here is not just about idli and vada or pulling husband's leg for his food preference. Life in America is about spending some quality time with our children and understanding about their life in foreign shores. 

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