Aromatic & delicious Punjabi kadhi recipe in slow cooker is prepared with buttermilk and gram flour. A gluten-free, hearty and comforting meal when paired up with cumin rice!!
Have you ever tried cooking kadhi in a slow cooker? If not, than I would suggest try it for once and you will just love the flavors. Slow cookers aren’t only for soups and stews, you can cook yummy Indian meals in slow cooker too. Punjabi kadhi recipe in slow cooker is an ideal example of Indian slow cooking.
Since slow cooker uses indirect heat to cook, you don’t have to be around to stir or mix anything. Buttermilk combined with besan is allowed to simmer on a low flame for hours until satisfying flavors are achieved.
Kadhi will not boil over or get burnt, rather it will simmer behind the closed lid and the end result would be a yummy and delicious kadhi loaded with flavor.
Read all about slow cooker – an Introduction.
Now on to the recipe!
Combine besan and buttermilk together, mix it with a hand blender and pour in the slow cooker. Before we close the lid, pour in the first tadka. This way fenugreek seeds (methi dana), garlic and ginger will release their flavor and aroma in the simmering kadhi, and make it more flavorful.
Set the timer on HIGH setting for 5 hours. Depending on the slow cooker model cooking time may vary. Prepare pakodas the way you like it – fried or appe pan cooked.
After the cooking time, adjust the consistency of kadhi accordingly. To adjust the consistency, I have added an extra 1 cup of water. Add pakodas, stir in the final tadka, adjust seasonings and your kadhi is all ready. Enjoy it with warm rotis or jeera rice. Looking for regular kadhi recipe cooked over flame – click here.
Also try –
- Slow cooker ghee
- Slow cooker Langar wali dal
- Slow cooker Punjabi Lobia
- Slow cooker Palak Paneer
- Slow cooker Punjabi Kadhi
- Slow cooker Onion-tomato masala
- Slow cooker cooked matar for matra ki chaat
- Slow cooker Minestrone soup
Punjabi kadhi recipe in slow cooker or crockpot
INGREDIENTS
FOR KADHI
- 1/2 cup Besan (Chickpea flour)
- 3 cup Buttermilk or Curd
- 3.5 cup Water
- 1 teaspoon Haldi (Turmeric powder)
- Salt to taste
FIRST TEMPERING/TADKA
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- A pinch of Hing/ Asafoetida
- 1.5 teaspoon Methi dana (Fenugreek seeds)
- 1 teaspoon Garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon Ginger paste
SECOND TEMPERING/TADKA
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2-4 pieces of Whole red Chilies
- 2 teaspoon Garam Masala Powder
- 1.5 teaspoon Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1/2 teaspoon Deggi Mirch or Red chili Powder
FOR PAKODAS - MAKES 12-15 PAKODAS
- 1 cup Besan (Chickpea flour)
- 1 cup Chopped Spinach leaves
- 1 medium Sliced Onions
- 1/2 teaspoon Red chili powder
- 2 tablespoon Kastoori methi/ dried fenugreek leaves
- Salt to taste
- 2 tablespoon Oil
INSTRUCTIONS
MAKING KADHI
- Assemble: all the ingredients for kadhi.
- Combine buttermilk and besan in a bowl.
- Add salt and turmeric and..
- Using a hand blender or mixer blend the mixture.
- Pour this besan mixture in a slow cooker.
MAKING FIRST TEMPERING/TADKA
- Assemble: ingredients for first tempering.
- Heat oil/ghee in a pan, add all the ingredients one by one. When ginger-garlic starts to change color take it off the flame and..
- Pour it over the kadhi.
- Close the lid and let it cook undisturbed for 4 hours on HIGH setting.
MAKING PAKODA
- Meanwhile let's prepare the pakodas.
- Clean, wash and chop spinach leaves.
- Add all the ingredients listed under pakoas in a bowl.
- Add spices besan and pour enough water to make a thick batter.
- Grease an appe pan.
- Add batter to each mould.
- Cover and cook.
- Keep turning occasionally and cook until pakodas are crispy and brown in color.
- Feel free to fry pakodas for your kadhi. Set it aside.
MAKING FINAL TADKA/TEMPERING
- After 4 hours, kadhi is all cooked and thick. To adjust the consistency, I have added an extra 1 cup of water to my kadhi.
- Add pakodas...
- Sprinkle garam masala and mix. Cover the lid and let it simmer for another 1 hour on HIGH setting.
- Assemble: ingredients for second tadka.
- Heat oil/ghee in a pan. Add whole red chilies and cumin seeds. As they start to sputter, add chopped onions and cook until onions are translucent. Add red chili powder or degi mirch and take it off the flame.
- Pour the tadka over the kadhi..
- Mix it well.
- Sizzling hot kadhi is ready for dinner.
- Enjoy it with jeera rice or hot rotis.
Tried today liked the flavour specially for fenugreek seeds in the dish normally we used to avoid but it tastes excellent.Love to make it again without any fuss and hassle.Great job.
Thanks Aseem for trying the recipe and sharing your wonderful feedback with me. Glad to hear that you liked the recipe. 🙂
Very nice good one
Thanks Varsha. 🙂
I don’t know why but my karhi separates (buttermilk and water). I’ve also tried not adding salt in the beginning but with no change in results. How do you get a homogeneous blend?
Thanks for stopping by Hani. There are couple of reasons why this curdling happens.
1. Always use full fat yogurt to prevent curdling.
2. Don’t skip salt. Salt added to the kadi mixture prevents curdling (separation of curd from Kadi)
3. Try mixing the kadi-besan mixture with a hand blender or in a mixer. This way you will get a nice silky consistency.
Hope this answers your query!
Hello. This is a great recipe. Thank you. Where did you get an appe pan? I can’t locate one in the states.
Thanks Twinkle, glad you liked the recipe. I have bought appe pan from Amazon. Please check out this page for the link – http://www.ruchiskitchen.com/kitchen-essentials/
RuchiJi, all your recipes are nicely described and inspiring, can I use cake pop maker to cook the Pakodas? Thank you!
Thanks Trupti! I have not used cake pop maker but I guess you can!
Nice recipe. Easy and tasty
Thanks Supria. 🙂
Thanks a lot! This is an good blog. Very well written and perfectly photographed. Going to try it soon.
Thanks Pooka! Glad you liked. 🙂
LOVE all your recipes!!! I feel inspired to cook so many of them, All the instructions are so clear and the photos incredible. Thank you for all your hard work and sharing your love of cooking with all of us Ruchi.
Thank you so so much for you lovely words of appreciation! Means a lot!!
Wow ! Thanks for sharing
Pleasure is all mine. Thanks!
Wonderful idea to make punjabi kadi in a slow cooker! Thanks !!
Thanks Rene. Glad you liked. 🙂
I have tried this kadhi recipe a no. of times and my whole family loves it. Infant made it 1st time after coming to US. My mom then my cook used to make it in India but trust me your recipe is awesome. Loved it . Ur pictorial representation is also good!!
Thanks for your lovely feedback Neeru. Glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
I am making this tom for the first time! I am so excited =)
Good luck and do share your feedback with me. 🙂
My first attempt at making Kadhi today. Great Recipe. Thank you.
You are welcome.
So I can use regular yogurt instead of the buttermilk in the slow cooker? Should I use a blender to blend the besan and yogurt? And there is no need to “buno” the besan before slow cooking it?
Thank you
Anjali
Yes Anjali, you can use yogurt as a substitute.
You can blend yogurt and besan with a whisk too. An immersion blender works great though.
Roasting the besan or bhuno, before adding it to the yogurt is not required.
I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Also, is the cooking time of 4 hours the same if you use the slow cook in the instant pot?
Anjali, the Instant Pot cooking time, will be completely different and pretty quick.
I haven’t tried the Instant Pot version as I prefer Kadi the old-fashioned way – slowly simmered to perfection. 😊
But I am sure if you search online, you will find the Instant Pot version too.
Hi Ruchi
Great recipe, I made it twice and my family loved it.
I love your recipe.❤️
Thank you
Jayanti
Thank you for the feedback, Jayanti!
Glad to hear that you and your family enjoyed the recipe. 😊
Hello dear,
I wanted to buy a slow cooker in India. May I know the brand you are using or if you are aware of any good brand slow cooker in India.
Hello Rati,
I am using a Crock-Pot 8-quart programmable slow cooker. I am sorry I have no idea about the Indian slow cooker brand. Your best option would be to search on Amazon.in for the slow cookers available in the Indian market.
Thank you!