Sindhi soul curry.. The famous Sindhi Kadhi..

Hey friends.. How are you doing? I am back after a long break. This time, it’s the Sindhi soul curry…Sindhi  Kadhi.

These days I am craving for a lot of home food, cooked by my mother. But can't help it :-). Thus cooking all my favorite stuff myself in the kitchen. I thought of sharing the recipe of the famous Sindhi Kadhi with you all. We usually serve the Sindhi Kadhi with plain or cumin rice, sweet boondi, papad and salad. Back home, my mummy cooked it on Sundays for us in childhood and when we grew up and visited home too.. It is no less than chicken for us…

Before we start with the recipe, let me tell you what the Kadhi is all about. It’s not something like a Punjabi or Gujarati kadhi which is made up of curd.. However sometimes I feel its analogy with Sambhar could  still be fine.

It is a wholesome curry full of all kinds of vegetables (like Bhindi, Gawar, Tindora, drumsticks, baigan, big chunks of Aloo, Arbi,  Cauliflower and anything you would like to add).  The curry has a tangy taste which comes from tamarind and tomato. It has a earthy taste of cooked gramflour(besan).

The making involves 3 steps

1) Cooking besan along with spices and tomatoes. Pressure cook the same.

2) Pressure cook all the veggies except Okra (Bhindi). (Can even add it without frying along with other veggies .. however it will become soft and will not remain whole(intact) once cooked. I avoided frying this time.)

3) Add fried Okra and tamarind pulp and cook for a while.

Here's how it looks..

Now that we know so much about what we are cooking, let’s see the recipe.

Ingredients: 

For making Sindhi Kadhi: 

(Note: The recipe will suffice for 4 people) 

Ingredients:

Vegetables:

15-20 whole gawar(as spoken in hindi) (Cut the ends)

3-4 brinjals (Tips removed and cut into halves)

2-3 whole potatoes (Cut into big chunks)

15-20 Okra ( Bhindi) (Slit in between and fry a little in oil)

1-2 drum sticks (cut into medium sized pieces)

2-3 cauliflower florets.

10-12 tindora(as called in hindi) 

3-4 Arbi pieces (Patra or Colacaesia roots) (Peeled and cut into big chunks )

Can add other veggies or skip any of above as per they availability in market. 

Other Ingredients:

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

1/4 tsp methi(fenugreek) seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

Few curry leaves 

2 tbsp besan (gramflour)

7-8 whole green chillies (remove the top)

grated ginger (1 tsp)

2-3 tomatoes (pureed)

1/2 -1  tsp red chilli powder 

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Salt (as per taste)

1/4-1/2 cup of tamarind pulp(can vary based on taste)

1/4 tsp salt

Procedure:

Let’s start preparing the Kadhi.

Prep work:

Keep all the vegetables  as mentioned in the ingredients ready. 

Okra (Bhindi)

Tindora, Gawar and whole green chillies

Arbi (Patra roots)

Arbi (peeled and cut into chunks)

Brinjals and potatoes cut into big chunks 

Keep the tamarind water ready. Discard the seeds and other stuff.  (I heated few pieces of tamarind in water for a while.. Filtered out tamarind water. Discarded the pulp). 

Tamarind water

Procedure:

In a pressure cooker, heat oil.

Add curry leaves, mustard , cumin seeds and fenugreek  seeds. Let it splutter.

Oil, cumin, mustard and fenugreek seeds

Add  gram flour(besan). Keep the flame on low. 

Adding besan

Continuously stir and let it cook until the rawness in the flour goes away and it turns a little brownish. Cooked besan gives good aroma.

Besan being cooked

Add red chilli powder and  turmeric powder. Stir well. Add  pureed tomatoes. Stir well. Add 1/4 -1/2 cup water to avoid any lumps.  Let it cook for 1-2 minutes on medium flame.

Turmeric, red chilli powder and tomato puree

Add grated ginger , whole green chillies  and salt. Cover the lid and wait for one whistle. Switch off the flame. Let it cook in pressure for few minutes(5-10 minutes). 

Ginger and whole green chillies

Now add all vegetables except Okra (Bhindi). Add about 1 cup water (only necessary to cook the vegetables).  Cover the lid and pressure cook for a whistle. Let it simmer for few minutes under pressure. (Note: if you don't prefer fried Okra, add it in the same step along with all vegetables. This is what I have done this time.. Otherwise, I fry it and add in next step). 

Few veggies 

All veggies along with some water

Once done, add fried Bhindis and tamarind water. Mix everything gently. Cover it, let it cook for 5 minutes. No need to pressure cook. 

Veggies pressure cooked

Adding tamarind water to the kadhi

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves.

Sprinkle coriander leaves

Serve it hot with jeera rice, papad and something sweet like boondi.

Sindhi Kadhi

Jeera Rice

I hope you would like this authentic Sindhi recipe. Don't forget to post your comments in the comments section.

Have fun cooking. See you soon with another interesting recipe.

Cheers,

Shweta