Vegan Kadhi Recipe By Pink Chai

Hi Everyone! It’s your friendly Indian food blogger back again with another one of my favourite homestyle recipes. If you don’t already know me, I’m Raj, and I blog at Pink Chai. I’m super happy to be back here on Jillian’s blog with another recipe that’s close to my heart and family favourite with a vegan twist – Kadhi. I also did a Vegan Palak Tofu recipe so make sure you check it out!

Kadhi is a yogurt based dish that is popular all across India, but the version we are making today isn’t really traditional. Kadhi comes from the word ‘kadh’ which means to cook slowly and gently. So a very traditional version might be cooked for an hour or more. This Vegan Kadhi is a take on my quick weeknight version that cooks up in about half an hour, and skips the added pakoras (fried fritters) on top. But don’t worry, it’s packed with flavour and super satisfying. To make up for the missing pakoras I use thinly sliced onions and roasted chickpeas for extra texture and crunch. 

Kadhi is unique to most dishes you’ve probably eaten at Indian restaurants as it’s made from a mixture of chickpea flour and yogurt that are cooked together to create a ‘cream of soup’ type of consistency. It’s often cooked in warm weather as yogurt has a naturally cooling effect on the body. 

Before we get into the recipe, a few quick notes: 

• Kadhi is one of those dishes that needs a little bit of babysitting. Keep the flame on low, and make sure you are stirring it regularly or the chickpea flour will stick to the bottom of the pot. 

• I tried a variety of vegan yogurts on my quest to get the recipe just right, the winner for me is coconut yogurt. I just couldn’t get the flavours right with other options.
  
• For the chickpea topping, simply drain a can of chickpeas and toss them with your favourite spice blend. I like paprika, salt, and cumin. Roast them in the oven at 400 degrees for 8 minutes. They’ll come out perfectly roasted and delicious. 

With that, let’s get cooking!

Vegan Kadhi Recipe By Pink Chai

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Recipe by From the Kitchen of Jillian Harris

Ingredients

• 2 cups 2 coconut yogurt

• 6 tbs 6 chickpea flour

• 1 tsp 1 salt

• 1 tsp 1 smoked paprika

• 1 tsp 1 turmeric powder

• 2 tbs 2 olive oil

• ½ tbs cumin seeds

• ½ of a yellow onion thinly sliced

• 1 chopped green chili (optional)

• 1 tbs 1 ginger paste

• 1 tbs 1 garlic paste

• 2 cups 2 warm water (plus more if needed)

• 3 tbs 3 fresh lemon juice

• Roasted chickpeas for topping

Directions

• Start by mixing the yogurt, chickpea flour, salt, paprika, and turmeric. Whisk the mixture until there are no lumps. Let it sit and rest for 10 minutes while you prepare the tempering.
• In a heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil. Add the cumin seeds and let sputter for 90 seconds. Now add the sliced onion. Keep the heat at medium, don’t let the onions burn. Cook the onions for only 2 minutes. They should still have a little bite.
• Turn the heat down to low and add the yogurt mixture to the onions. Mix everything well and then bring the heat up to medium and add in 2 cups of warm water. Stir to combine. Now add in the ginger and garlic paste.
• Once the kadhi comes up to a boil, turn it back down to a slow simmer and cook for 20 minutes. Keep stirring throughout to prevent the flour from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
• At the 20 minute point add the lemon juice, stir, and taste for seasoning. Adjust salt and spice as required. Cook for another 5 minutes.
• Plate the kadhi topped with roasted chickpeas and serve with rice or roti.

Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoy my Vegan Kadhi recipe and if you give it a try, make sure to tag me @pinkchai and @jillian.harris on Instagram as we would love to see your dish!

Raj – Pink Chai