Kadhi Bari

I remember in Udaipur having a dish of small pakoras soaked in a delicious yogurt based gravy. I didn't get its name but I recently stumbled across this recipe and realised it must have been the same one or something very similar. Only this tasted even better than I remembered!  

Ingredients
Serves 4

for the onion pakoras 
1/2 cup gram flour
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 medium onion, chopped  (optional)
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1.5 cm cubed fresh root ginger, grated
pinch of baking soda
salt 
water 
vegetable oil for deep frying

for the sauce 
2 tbsp gram flour
375ml yogurt
750ml water
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 garlic clove, grated
1cm cube root ginger, grated
4 curry leaves
salt 

for the tempering
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
3 bird's eye red chillies, sliced
4 curry leaves

Method

Put together in a bowl all the ingredients for the sauce, the gram flour, turmeric, chilli, coriander, cumin powder, curry leaves, ginger and garlic. Then add the yogurt and mix well. Pour in the water whilst stirring and set aside.

Next in another bowl mix together the ingredients for the pakoras, the gram flour, caraway seeds, chilli powder, onions, salt and a little water to make a thick dough.  Adjust the spice level and seasoning to your taste.

Heat a deep frying pan with oil, about 4cm deep in oil for deep frying. Test the oil has reached the right temperature by dropping in some of the batter and see how it cooks. When ready add a rounded teaspoon full of the pakora mix into the oil. If you prefer make larger pakoras using tablespoons.  Repeat until you have filled the pan. Fry them until they have browned nicely. 

Remove them and drain off the excess oil on kitchen paper. Repeat with rest of the batter.
Place all the pakoras on a baking tray and keep warm in the oven on a low temperature.

Now returning to the yogurt mix. Pour the sauce into a pan and heat on a low temperature until it begins to thicken. It may take about 10 minutes. Taste and season further if needed. 

Meanwhile heat the ghee in a small frying pan, then add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and the red chillies.  In about a minute or so the mustard seeds will begin to pop. When that happens remove from the heat and add the asafoetida. 

In a serving dish place the pakoras on the bottom then pour the yogurt gravy over them. Add the tempering mixture and serve.