Pakistan – Punjabi Karhi Pakora

by Dahiza Umar

INTRODUCTION TO THE DISH

This is a unique dish and made up for 2 components. By assembling them together and mixed them to make this amazing combination. This dish is a part of national cuisine of Pakistan. As an Punjabi cuisine, as a dish of Punjab this dish has many traditional aspects like use of basic but authentic ingredients, freshly prepared herbs and the freshly prepared gram flour. These ingredients are used in this dish and make this dish a full aromatic and basic dish with traditional values.

COMPONENT OF THE DISH

PAKORA

Pakora is the first component of the dish. It is actually eaten individually except from this dish as a snack. But this snack is added into the curry made of unique with basic ingredients. Pakora is actually a fried snack material made up of adding different vegetables and spices into the gram flour mixed them. To make a paste of the flour and main ingredients and fry them into small ball shape snack. It is either eaten as a snack at tea time and can be added into this dish to make a full course heavy rich dish.

VARIETIES OF PAKORA

Pakora has alots of varieties like, it be specified by adding specific ingredients to the gram flour and spices. And just fry them or just make a basic PAKORA by adding all basic ingredients like:

• Potato Pakora
• Spinach Pakora
• Egg plant Pakora
• Mixed vegetable Pakora
• Chicken Pakora etc.

KARHI

Karhi is actually a form of thick curry simply made up of yogurt and gram flour by adding minimal spices. To just make it, this curry amazed by adding the yummy pakora to the curry and make it more delectable and palatable. We can consume the pakora individually but this karhi is not consume as it is. It must have added pakora into the curry to make this unique dish.

PUNJABI CUISINE

As this dish is a Punjab cuisine, it is full of healthy and traditional aspects. Because the use of the ingredients are freshly prepared from the farms likewise the use of freshly lie yogurt is used in this dish. When cooked in Punjab it is freshly prepared at home by freshly obtained milk. They used fresh ingredients that cannot beat any other thing in this world. The taste of freshly prepared ingredients, when added to the dish is take this dish to the next level of taste that cannot beat it.

HISTORY

History of this dish is not even clearly known. It is assumed that as a Punjabi cuisine and both Indian and Pakistan has Punjab region. When they lived together they even share their taste, cuisines and culture so it is not wrong to said that this dish is from the time of Indian subcontinent. The history before that time is not known.

SERVE KARDHI PAKORA WITH

In punjab the word KARHI CHAWAL is very famous it means karhi pakora. This dish with CHAWAL means RICE so there are many things to which this dish can be served with like :

• Roti
• naan
• Paratha
• Rice
• Boiled rice
• fried zeera rice etc

TIME REQUIRED

• Preparation time : 20 minutes
• Cooking time : 30 minutes
• Total time : 50 minutes

NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS

• Calories: 260
• Carbohydrates : 24 grams
• Fats : 10 grams
• Protein : 13 grams

INGREDIENTS

FOR PAKORA

• Gram flour : 2 cups
• onions : 2
• potato : 2
• green coriander : 4 tbsp
• green chilies : 2
• mint : 4 tbsp
• salt : 1 tsp
• red pepper : 2 tbsp
• coriander seeds : 1 tbsp
• cumin powder : 1 tsp

FOR KARDHI

• Gram flour : 2 cups
• yogurt : 3 cups
• oil : 1/2 cup
• onion : 2 large
• tomatoes: 2 large
• Garlic paste : 2 tbsp
• Ginger paste : 4 tbsp
• Green chillies paste : 2 tbsp
• salt : 2 tbsp
• red pepper : 1 tbsp
• Turmeric powder : 1 tbsp
• cumin seeds : 1 tsp
• black pepper : 1 tsp

FOR SEASONING

• Oil: 1cup
• Red whole pepper : 5
• curry leaves : 6 to 8
• cumin seeds : 1 tbsp
• Fenugreek seeds : 1 tbsp
• carom seeds : 1 tsp

METHOD

FOR PAKORA

To make pakora just mix all the vegetables by cuting into slices with spices into gram flour. Make a thick paste by adding water into it and make small balls. Deep fry them into oil and set them aside.

KARDHI COOKING METHOD

• Take a cooking pot and add oil into it now add slices onions along with tomatoes into oil and fry them.
• Now after 10 minutes add garlic ginger paste and fry them until brown color appeared.
• Now add all the dried spices with a glass of water and let them cook for 10 minutes to soften the vegetables and make it juicy.
• Now after that add yogurt into the mixture and let it cook for 5 minutes till than make a mixture of gram flour and water of 2 glass and add into the yogurt mixture.
• Now it time to simmer the mixture for 20 minutes until the consistency is thick.
• Now our mixture is ready

ASSEMBLING AND SEASONING

Now it time to assemble the curry and pakora together and seasoned together.

To make seasoning add oil in the cooking pan. warm it a bit than add all the ingredients. just fry it for minutes and added to the top of the dish.