Karhi, that curry of yoghurt and gram flour

Who can resist "karhi chawal" when hunger pangs hit?

Karhi Pakoda

Yoghurt in any form is good for health. And as “karhi”, it is not just healthy, but also tasty and wholesome, a one stop accompaniment for rice— plain white steamed basmati, or with some jeera, or jeera and peas.

Most fast food joints that offer “chawal rajmah”  also serve “karhi chawal”, for it is home food that fills the tummy.

The last few years have seen  this humble dish, basically of the  farmers and peasants, the countryside , make their way into the menu of fine dining restaurants as well. Served in lovely handis, the humble “karhi” acquires a gourmet status here.

Because of the origin of this dish in the countryside, it is typically made of yoghurt that is too sour to be had plain or as a “raita”. And most often, it is made of “chaach” – the buttermilk from which all the butter has been removed. And so, it is almost fat free, though people tend to make it rich, by adding a generous drizzle of ghee. That is totally optional

For the same reason of its origin, you don’t need too much of yoghurt— in fact, it is whisked with water into  “buttermilk “  or “lassi” at home, and then converted into karhi.

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This is how I make the “karhi”, some of my own touches have evolved out of making this with  a glutton’s passion more than that of a cook, wanting it to be tasty, and also having to manage my time.

Spices for Karhi

Ingredients:

1.Sour yoghurt— 1 cup

Water- 3 cups

Gram flour or Besan, roasted for three minutes- 3 heaped tablespoons

Turmeric- Half a teaspoon

Chilli powder-1 teaspoon

Asofeatida or hing- a touch

Salt to taste

Gram flour, roaste

2.Oil(any) -3 teaspoons

Jeera-1 teaspoon

Coriander seeds-1 teaspoon

Fenugreek seeds-1 teaspoon

Cardamom-2

Cinnamon stick- an inch

Cloves-three or four

Bay leaf-2

3.Ginger-1 inch piece, chopped fine

Garlic-4 pods

Onion-One large one, finely chopped

Green chillies-five or six, chopped

Curry leaves-10 or 12

Gram flour,turmeric, chilli powder go into yoghurt

4.My magic ingredients

Mango pickle, along with the spices ,oil that is coating it (preferably Punjabi)-1 teaspoon

Fenugreek leaves , dried and crushed(kasoori methi)-1 teaspoon

The karhi batter

5.For garnish

Green coriander chopped—a little bit

Method:

Whisk all the ingredients numbered 1, till you get a smooth paste that could be a bit watery. Keep aside.

Saute spices and other ingredients

Heat a deep pan, add the oil, and when it is hot, add all the spice ingredients numbered 2. Saute till the aroma is releaed.

Now add all the ingredients numbered 3. Saute for two minutes.

Now gently pour the yoghurt with gram gram flour  , and stir well and completely at once.  Keep stirring it from time to time , till it begins to boil. Now add the pickle. 

Reduce heat to sim, and let it simmer for ten minutes if you are in a hurry. Five minutes more will be bonus cooking time for this “karhi”, which actually means something that has slowly reduced on flame, getting cooked at the same time.

(If  you find the yoghurt splitting, panic not. Just whisk two teaspoons of gramflour in water, add and stir.)

Colour and texture of karhi change as it is getting cooked!

Ghiya pakoda

Pour over prepared pakoda. 

I have used ghiya(squash) pakoda

Now garnish with chopped coriander.

Don’t see the coriander on the karhi?

Well I did not have any.

Kashmiri chillies, colorful but not fiery, is the garnish

The secret to good home cooking is  taming the ingredients. Don’t have something, don’t let that defeat you. Look for something that can serve the same or a better purpose.

Now this karhi will not exactly become less delicious without green coriander.But to make it presentable and well dressed, I sauted a couple of Kashmiri red chillies in a teaspoon of ghee—clarified butter—and there..the karhi wore red finish instead of green !