Of All the Variations of This Indian Dish, One Person Makes It Best
It has a unique flavor profile, too
Kadhi: a simple vegetarian dish from the Indian subcontinent whose main ingredients are chickpea or gram flour and yogurt, coupled with deep-fried gram flour dumplings or pakoras. Utter the word to anyone in the Indian subcontinent and the room may fill with silence. Then suddenly whispers will be exchanged about who makes the best kadhi.
The answer is actually really simple, and no matter who you ask, it’s always the same: “My mom makes the best kadhi.” It’s true in my case, too, except my aunt’s version is also pretty damn tasty.
Kadhi is a dish that highlights a flavor profile that I believe is unique to the Indian subcontinent — it’s not savory, salty, spicy, sweet, sour or umami. It’s chatpatta. The only correct way to say that is to say it really really fast:“Chat-patta!!” Try it! It’s fun. Tamarind is usually a key ingredient that’s used to create it, but in the case of kadhi, we use soured, old yogurt. It works really well.
My oldest memories of kadhi are of me sneaking into the kitchen, tip-toeing up to the counter where my mom was stacking up the fried dumplings, grabbing a couple and hoping for a clean escape. My mom would always scream at me:
