SINDHI KADHI – सिंधी कढ़ी (Spicy & Tangy Vegetable Chickpea Flour Curry)

The thing I love most about Indian food is how varied it is. While almost all regions / culture / religions / communities use nearly the same set of spices and veggies, the flavour profile is so different for each one; it is mind boggling. Indian diet primarily comprises vegetables and nature has showered its bounty on us. There is a huge variety of amazing veggies and fruits available to us throughout the year. How blessed our we!

And the Sindhi Curry does absolute justice to the produce making use of seasonal veggies in a one pot curry. It is a veggie lovers delight and trust me when I say this, even veggies haters end up loving their veggies when served in this tangy curry. The curry is meant to be enjoyed with a bowl of rice or as my Sindhi friend tells me, with poori, pickle and papad. The curry is so good that you can enjoy it, as a soup, on its own. Its tangy and spicy flavors are kind of addictive. Soul satisfying kind of good 🙂

This is one unique Indian curry that does not make use of onions, garlic and ginger. The base of this curry is the humble chickpea flour and of course, spices. Feel free to select what veggies you want to add to your curry but certain veggies are a must have in this curry such as cluster beans (guar phali/ guwar phali) and green long beans (lobiya ki phali). The veggies that are most often used for this curry are tinda, okra (bhindi), bottle gourd (lauki/ ghiya), cauliflower (phool gobhi), potatoes, French beans, green peas (matar). Some people like adding drumsticks and aubergines (baingan) but you need to be careful with the drumsticks coz if you end up with bitter ones, they are pretty capable of ruining the whole dish. As for aubergines, they go all soft and squishy and I do not enjoy that texture in the curry at all so it is a complete no no for me. Choose what you like while making this curry.

If your prep work is ready before hand, making this curry is a breeze. Therefore, I strongly advise you go through the notes and the recipe so that all your ingredients are ready before you begin with the cooking process. And don’t get intimidated by the list of ingredients. I have listed the ingredients in a chronological order (of the process of cooking).

3½ tbsp Cooking Oil

½ tsp Fenugreek Seeds

½ C plus 2 tbsp Besan (chickpea flour)

1.5 litres Water (add more if required)

Salt to taste

½ tsp Turmeric Powder

30 gm Guvar Phali, washed and cut in 2 inches length

30 gm Lobiya Phali (Chawli), washed & cut in 2 inches length

50 gm Green Peas (fresh or frozen)

100 gm Potatoes (diced)

175 gm Tomatoes (3 in number)

3 – 4 Green Chilies (depending on how your chilies are)

30 gm Okra (Bhindi), washed, dried and trimmed

100 gm Cauliflower (broken into florets)

100 gm Tinda (diced)

1½ tbsp Tamarind Paste (adjust amount to taste)

For Tempering

1 tbsp Desi Ghee (vegans can use any oil of their choice)

1 tsp Mustard Seeds

½ tsp Cumin Seeds

½ scant tsp Asafoetida (I used full ½ tsp coz we enjoy the aroma of hing)

½ tsp Red Chili Powder (if your green chilies are hot enough, you may want to skip using red chili powder)

2 sprigs Curry Leaves

CHECK NOTES AT THE END OF THE POST BEFORE YOU START MAKING THE CURRY

Grind together the green chilies and tomato to a puree. Set aside.

Heat oil in the pressure cooker (of 5 litre capacity) and add the fenugreek seeds. Fry till the seeds just begin to change colour. Add besan and roast it while stirring. Do not stop stirring the besan else it will burn.

Depending on how high the heat is, roast the besan for 5 – 7 minutes or till it attains a nice deep colour and becomes nutty & aromatic. (the idea is to attain a darker shade of besan without burning it)

Immediately add litre of water and cook on high heat while stirring. Do not stop stirring else the besan will form lumps.

Keep stirring till the liquid comes to a boil. Lower the heat and add diced potatoes, both phali and peas along with turmeric and salt. Also chili tomato puree.

Bring the curry to a boil and place the lid of the pressure cooker in place. Cook till the cooker lets out one pressure whistle. Switch off the heat.

Meanwhile, fry the cauliflower florets, okra and tinda (all separately) till golden brown. Remove on an absorbent sheet or kitchen towel.

Once the pressure has released pressure on its own, remove the lid of the pressure cooker and add the cauli, bhindi and tinda.

Add tamarind and adjust amount of water and salt. Also check for sourness and heat of the curry. (add red chili powder only if you feel the need, else skip using it)

For tempering, heat ghee in a small pan and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafoetida. Once they begin to crackle, carefully add curry leaves along with red chili powder. Stir the tempering immediately into the kadhi.

Cook kadhi for a few more minutes if required (i.e. if the veggies are not done or if the curry is thin. And, if the kadhi is thick, add some water and bring it to a boil)

Switch off heat and allow the kadhi to sit for at least half an hour and preferably an hour for the flavors to come together. The more it sits, the better it gets. Serve hot with rice, salad and papad. Enjoy!

Note – I did all the cooking in a pressure cooker to hasten the process of cooking. Feel free to cook it in a pot.

Note – Ensure that all your veggies are chopped and also the ingredients for tempering are ready on hands.

Note – Add veggies of your choice, preferably seasonal. In case you intend to use okra, fry it till it attains light brown color, before adding it to the kadhi.

Note – Ensure that the chickpea flour is well roasted else you will have a raw tasting kadhi.

Note – Do not add the tamarind all at once. Add gradually and adjust the sourness to your taste.

Notes – Having said that, keep the amount of tamarind wee bit more, than you would like, if you intend to have it with rice coz the tanginess mellows down when consumed with rice.

Serves 6

Thanks for your visit and see you soon again with another exciting recipe!

21 thoughts on “SINDHI KADHI – सिंधी कढ़ी (Spicy & Tangy Vegetable Chickpea Flour Curry)

    1. It is one of the simplest curry recipes and the spicy & tangy flavors are its USP.

  1. I wish I had all these ingredients on hands. This dish looks so delicious, definitely something I would enjoy right now.

  2. i got to know about sindhi kadhi few months back from my sindhi friend, Yours looks so tempting… I am gonna try this for sure…

    1. It is that kind of a curry where you pour ladle full of this kadhi and less of rice 😛

  3. A lovely dish, Taruna! It sounds delicious and I’m so curious to try a curry without onion and garlic. Your tips and directions are so helpful. India really has the most amazing food!

    1. There are many Indian curries that do not use onion and garlic. I hope you someday try it in your kitchen 🙂

  4. This sounds and looks delicious…the combination of tangy and spicy sure caught my attention…thanks for the recipe. I hope you are having a great week!

    1. The spicy and tangy is what really makes this curry. Thanks Juliana. Have a great week ahead.

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