India is known for it’s “curry” – say that to an Indian and they are most certainly going to scoff. There’s no one Indian “curry”. Every state in India has its own version and they differ further depending on which region or district of a particular state we are talking about. Sind, which is a part of Pakistan today, has its own kadhi or “curry”. There’s very little chance that you might have tried it because there are very very few restaurants in the world that offer this dish. It’s even less likely you have a Sindhi friend in the UK who knows how to make this dish. Allow me to fill this role and share with you my mother’s recipe.
This recipe serves two people.
Ingredients
2.5 tablespoons gram flour
4 tablespoons vegetable oil + 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
4-5 cups cups water
2 potatoes
1 small carrot
4-5 cluster bean stems
10-12 pieces of okra
1 lotus stem
2 tablespoon tamarind juice
4-5 fenugreek seeds
1 medium sized grated tomato
¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon turmeric
8-10 curry leaves
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
2 small or 1 green chilli
Method
Mix gram flour in oil in a pot or cauldron (kadhai) on very low flame and keep at it so that the flour doesn’t burn. Mix until it turns golden brown. Then add three and a half cups of water to it. Add salt and turmeric powder and mix. Cut the potatoes into big chunks and add them. Chop the carrots, lotus stem and cluster beans, and add them to the mix. Make sure all the vegetables are boiled.
Split the okra from the centre lengthwise and lightly fry them before adding them it to the mix so that they don’t get mashed. Make sure okra is the last vegetable to be added once the rest of the vegetables are boiled. Add tamarind water and mix. Once everything is boiled, add slowly the remaining water or until you reach a consistency you like. Ideally it should be neither thin nor thick because letting it rest will make the curry slightly thick anyway. Adjust salt and turmeric powder accordingly.
Separately, heat oil in a big ladle directly over the flame on the hob until very hot. Carefully add mustard seeds first, then cumin seeds and then fenugreek seeds. Slice the green chillies through the centre and add them. Add the curry leaves and grated tomato. Stir fry till until spices and tomato are fried. Finally, add red chilli powder. Immediately after, add the whole mix to the curry in the pot/cauldron. Then mix for a few minutes and taste. Adjust salt and chilli to taste. Serve and eat with plain steamed rice.
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Note: When my mother cooks for my younger sister and me, she only adds potatoes (for me) and okra (for her) because we don’t like any other vegetables in our kadhi. If you don’t like a particular veggie, feel free to leave it out of the recipe. Read more about the Sindhi Kadhi tradition in my family here.
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