A favourite meal we make during colder months here is a comforting bowl of Soya Chunks Kadhi, steamed basmati rice and a little mango pickle. It is incredibly comforting meal. Soya is a readymade source of nutrition and take up any flavour thrown at it.
If there is one cooking technique that I am really intimidated by, it is deep frying! I try and navigate around deep frying so much – either by outsourcing it to Arun or by simply refusing to do it. I also try and navigate around by baking, sautéing, slow roasting etc. That said, I have learnt and improved a fair bit over the years and now I probably deep fry once in two months which is already an improvement. However, I LOVE KADHI PAKODA so much. It is one of my favourite things to eat!
So, this meal is the closest that I get to make without making pakoras. I have tried several other Kadhis but something about the sponginess of soya chunks soaks up all the flavour and it is so good to bite into.
Cooking Soya Chunks
For this recipe, I used medium sized chunks. There are many ways to cook them but I find this way the easiest and quickest.
- Rinse soya chunks thoroughly. To do this, I recommend soaking it in plenty of water, using your hands to rinse and draining excess water.
- Repeat this a few times until water runs clear.
- Add rinsed chunks to a small pressure cooker. For 1 cup of soya chunks, add 1 cup of water.
- Add a pinch of turmeric powder, a pinch of salt and cook for one whistle.
- Release pressure and drain before use.
Soya Chunks Kadhi
Ingredients
For the kadi
- 1 cup curd/yoghurt
- 1.5 cups water
- 2.5 tbsp besan same as chickpeas flour
- 3 green chillies
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp sugar
For tadka
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp ajwain seeds optional, but I like the flavour
- 3-4 red chillis
- ½ cup sliced onion
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- few curry leaves
Instructions
Making the kadi
- Grind the ginger and chilli into a coarse paste and keep aside.
- To a large bowl, add the yoghurt, water, besan, spices, ground paste of ginger and chilli, salt, sugar and whisk until fully combined.
- Place on a flame and simmer in low flame and continuously keep stirring.
- After five minutes of cooking in a low flame, add the cooked and cooled soya chunks.
- Let the kadhi boil for another five minutes with the soya chunks in it.
Making the tadka
- In a pan, add the oil, mustard, ajwain seeds, red chilli, curry leaves and let it temper well. then add onions and let it cook till translucent. Once done, turn the heat off and add the red chilli powder.
- Add the tadka to the kadhi and serve.
Notes
- The sugar helps to balance the kadhi. If you are using a very sour yogurt, you may need more sugar than mentioned here. Increase by 1/2 tsp.
Please leave a comment below if you made this recipe, have any questions or thoughts! Your comment will help me learn more about your preferences and will help other readers.
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3 Comments
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November 12, 2021 at 6:18 pm[…] Soya Chunks Kadi […]
Nashid
April 26, 2024 at 4:47 amBased today. Turned out great. However, the onion direction seems to be missing from the written instructions. Also, I had to increase the sugar to 1 tsp; I guess it depends on the type of curd you are using.
myflavourfactory
April 26, 2024 at 11:37 amthank you, i have added now 🙂 youre right, it does depend on the curd.