I am finally sharing a recipe for kadhi pakora on the blog! And guess what? You can make both the kadhi AND the pakoras in an instant pot!
There’s no need to stand around stirring and staring as a pot of kadhi simmers away. What used to take over an hour on the stovetop now takes just ten(-ish) minutes in an instant pot.
What’s Kadhi?
There are many different regional variations of kadhi. I’m sharing a recipe for creamy Punjabi kadhi which is made with besan (Indian chickpea flour) and yogurt. Punjabi kadhi usually also calls for pakoras which are flavorful fried fritters that you serve in the creamy sauce. The whole thing is topped with a colorful spiced tadka, also known as tempering, which is basically ghee infused with spices.
When you eat kadhi, each spoonful should have some creamy sauce, soft textured pakora, and crisp toasty cumin seeds and mustard seeds. There should be a lot of flavor and texture in each bite.
The red tadka that you see drizzled kinda haphazardly on top of the kadhi does have a touch of South Indian flavor to it. I’m married to a South Indian guy and I happen to love the flavor of curry leaves and mustard seeds, so I like putting those two ingredients in the tadka. Highly recommend.
So, there is something you need to know about this particular kadhi recipe. In order to make it so that it tastes absolutely amazing, you really need to make all three parts: kadhi, pakoras, tadka. If you do not have all three of these things, the kadhi will be lacking in my opinion (I guess I probably don’t need to say that since everything on this blog is my opinion?). The kadhi (sauce) is a really simple recipe and so it needs the flavor bombs that are the pakoras and tadka.
Make and Fry Pakoras in the Instant Pot?!
Frying pakoras can be messy. Oil splatters everywhere. It’s a whole thing, right?
I fry pakoras in my instant pot using a limited amount of oil (see recipe card) on the sauté setting. I prefer to fry this way because the pot is pretty deep and so there’s less chance of oil splattering on me or my stovetop/countertop. I obviously keep leave the lid off when frying, and I never leave the pot unattended.
Just so you are aware, instant pot (the company) says you’re not supposed to fry things in an instant pot. If you are more comfortable frying pakoras on the stovetop, please feel free to do that.
How and Why to Make Pakoras:
These spinach and onion pakoras add a lot of flavor to the kadhi. They call for a few spices, but it’s the ajwain (also known as carom seeds) that make these pakoras, in my opinion (ah, there I go again). It’s a spice you can’t omit. If you’ve never had ajwain before, it tastes kind of like thyme but like, really intense thyme.
To make the pakoras, first, we need to make the batter.
This pakora batter has onions, spinach, yogurt, and spices. Mix it all up – it should look like this:
Then heat some oil (I tell you exactly how much oil is in the recipe card below), and once the oil is hot, fry some fritters!
Set the pakoras on a paper-towel-lined plate to absorb any excess oil. And let’s try our best not to eat them because even though they look (and are) delicious… it’s very important that we save our pakoras for the kadhi.
Okay, fine. Go on and eat just one – hurry, no one’s looking… 😜
How to Make Kadhi in Advance:
If you’d like to make this for guests or prepare this kadhi in advance, you can make the pakoras a day before you plan to serve this. Add the pakoras to the kadhi about an hour or so before you plan to serve it. That way, they still stay fresh and have a bit of time to absorb some of the kadhi.
You can also make the kadhi a day in advance, you may need to thin it out though as it will thicken a bit overnight.
I hope you love this recipe! You can serve it with plain basmati rice (kadhi chawal, my preference) or with roti.
Instant Pot Kadhi Pakora
Instant Pot Kadhi Pakora
Ingredients
Pakoras:
- 1 ½ cups neutral oil for frying (I like avocado oil)
- 1 cup besan
- ½ cup whole milk yogurt
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 cup fresh spinach chopped
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon carom seeds ajwain
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne
- ¼ cup water
Kadhi Mixture:
- 1 ½ cups whole milk yogurt
- ½ cup besan
- 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
- 1 ¼ teaspoons turmeric
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne
- 3 ½ cups water
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 teaspoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon garlic paste
- ⅛ teaspoon hing I like this brand: gluten-free hing
- 2 teaspoons kasoori methi dried fenugreek leaves
Tadka:
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 green chilies Indian chili or serrano, slit in half
- 10-12 curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon paprika
Instructions
To Make Pakoras:
- Combine all of the ingredients listed under pakora (except for the oil) together in a bowl and mix well.
- If using the instant pot to make pakoras, press sauté and adjust the heat to the highest setting. Add 1 ½ cups of oil to the pot and wait 6-7 minutes for the oil to heat up. Drop a small amount of the pakora batter into the oil, if it begins to sizzle that means the oil is ready to use for frying. If not, wait a few more minutes and repeat.
- Carefully drop spoonfuls of batter into the oil (you can make around 6-7 pakoras at a time depending on size), wait for 3-4 minutes or until slightly firm and golden, then flip the pakora and wait another minute to cook the other side. Place the cooked pakoras on a paper-towel-lined plate. Repeat until batter is done.
- Discard oil and set the pakoras aside while you make the kadhi.
To Make Kadhi:
- Combine the yogurt, besan and spices together in a bowl and whisk the ingredients together, then add water and mix well. Set the bowl aside for now.
- Press sauté, add ghee to the pot and once it melts, add ginger, garlic, hing and stir-fry for a minute, then pour the kadhi mixture into the pot and mix well.
- Secure lid, close pressure valve and cook for 10 minutes at high pressure.
- Quick release pressure.
- Press sauté, add kasoori methi and pakoras. Cook for a minute or until the pakoras are heated through. The pakoras will absorb some of the liquid in the pot and the kadhi will continue to thicken a bit as it rests.
- Pour into a serving bowl and top with tadka (see below).
To Make Tadka:
- Add ghee to a small pot or pan on the stove and once the ghee is hot, add the cumin and mustard seeds. When the cumin seeds turn brown, add the green chilies and curry leaves and stir for a minute then add paprika. Pour this on top of the kadhi pakora dish prior to serving.
Ajaz Ahmed says
I have been a fan of your receipes since more than a year and cooking delicious food has never been this easy before.
But since my wife cooks most of the time I had only tried cooking in instapot and your receipes only a few times previously but with great reaults.
Recently she has gone back home to India to attend a family wedding and from that time onwards I have tried quiet a number of your non-veg receipes and with great results and compliments from my kids as well.
Coming to this Kadhi pakora receipe, everything turned out well, except the tadka.
I put cayenne pepper powder instead of paprika ( since out of stock ) and my whole tadka became black ( and not red ) as I think the cayenne pepper burnt out as soon as I put it at the last. I think I should not have put this in the kadhi, which I did, and it kind of spoiled the dish flavour.
Sonia says
Did you use 6 quart Instapot or smaller one the 3 quart
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Sonia, all of the recipes on my site are tested in a 6 quart 🙂
Meha Rajvanshi says
Hi, my first time using instant pot and making kadhi in it too. After I put kadhi mixture in the IP, and I close the lid, do I change the IP setting to pressure cook or keep it at saute. And just put the timer for 10 mins. Asking because when I just did it (with saute button and lid on), after exact 10 mins I got PR SE error code.
Toni says
I love the flavors in this recipe but I had a hard time getting my instant pot to build pressure. I’m not sure how to fix this. 🙁
Ruch says
Thanks for a wonderful recipe! I have always made this stovetop but making in instant pot was a first. Turned out pretty good.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Ruch, I’m so glad you liked it! 🙂
Matthew says
We made this for the second time tonight, and it was even more delicious than the first time!
We did cheat a little and use a saucepan and a deep fryer rather than insta-pot 🙂 With the deep fryer, it worked well to pat the pakoras smooth and then dip them in just a bit of besan. I remember the previous time the wet batter had stuck a bit to the fryer.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Matthew, that’s so great to hear! I’m glad you like the kadhi so much 🙂
Rajinder says
Hi Ashley, I made the kadhi again and doubled the recipe and came out very nice….thank you for yummy recipe x
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
That’s great to hear! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out 🙂
Katherine says
Another winning recipe! This is so delicious. The flavors are warm and comforting. Due to a dairy allergy, I used a coconut-based yoghurt instead of dairy. Everything turned out just fine. Wow! I can’t wait to make these again!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Thank you, Katherine! Happy to hear that you like this so much 🙂 And great to know it worked well with coconut yogurt!
Amy Mukherjee says
a question….can I use 0% greek yoghurt in this recipe? or does it have to be full fat yoghurt. Thanks! Love your recipes!
Amy says
Decided to take a chance and make it with the 0% greek yoghurt at hand. It turned out sooo awesome! This was the ultimate comfort food. I ended up just eating some at the end without rice cause I already had seconds. Thanks Ashley for an amazing recipe!
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Amy, that’s awesome – so happy to hear that! Thank you for letting me know how it turned out for you 🙂
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Amy, I haven’t tried this with fat-free greek yogurt but I saw your other comment – so glad it worked out!
Amardip Panesar says
Hi Ashley,
Thank you for providing such amazing recipes. I’ve just started using my Instant pot. I prefer cooking curry in traditional way. But wanted to try out in instant pot. My ques. is that I will be making twice the amount of your recipe. That is using 3 cups of yogurt. Will I be able make that amount in the instant pot safely. Because when making in regular pot, the curry rises for about 10 min as the besan cooks. Thx.
Ashley - My Heart Beets says
Hi Amardip, I haven’t tried doubling this recipe but I think it’ll be fine to do so in a 6 quart. As for the pakoras, if you double that as well, you can keep the amount of oil for frying the same. Let me know what you think of the recipe – it really is easier than making it on the stovetop. Enjoy!
Lauren says
If you double the recipe does the time stay the same? So just double besan water spices etc for the kadhi and how about time?