by Huma
Karri in 5 simple steps
Overview
Today we are going to make Karri, and no it is not a typo and I was not trying to write Curry.
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It is actually a little hard to write the correct spelling of the word because the alphabet “r’a” doesn’t exist in the English language so I am calling it Karri but you may see it written as “kadhi” or described as “besan ki karri” or “karri pakora” or “karri pholki” or “Punjabi Kadhi”. All of which really refers to the main ingredients.
Let me first describe it for you, the base ingredient in it is yogurt, cooked with besan. Besan is ground chickpea flour or gram flour. So it is yogurt cooked with besan into a thick curry and once the curry/sauce is ready then you add fried onion fritters to it (also called pakora or pholki). It is eaten with plain boiled rice, though some people do eat it with a spoon.
Simple right, well maybe not that simple but here are the individual steps.
- Bhagar: fried spices
- Cooked yogurt/besan curry
- Fried onion fritters (delicious appetizer to eat as is or in Karri)
- Cook it all together
- Bhagar: fried spices
A bit of a background about Karri. As my kids say back in the old days -(err I meant when I was growing up), yogurt was made at home on a daily basis so my mom would set the yogurt in the morning and it would be ready by early afternoon to be consumed both with meals and to be used for cooking. Every day we would have a bit of leftover yogurt and that would be saved to make Karri. The reason why the surplus yogurt was used was because yogurt gets sour as it ages and that’s the sour taste you need for Karri, you never make Karri with fresh yogurt because that has a very mild taste and you would not get the right taste. I know at times when I don’t have the right flavor of yogurt, I have cheated by adding extra lemon juice or tomato at the end to give a bit of punch but that is not authentic.
Since my family is from North area of India, our Karri is a bit more mild in the sense it skips the first step given above, but I like mine more flavored so I add the first step.
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients
Step 1 – Bhagar (Fried Spices)
4 tbsp oil
1/2 large onion
4 dried red peppers
1 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi dana)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black cumin
Few curry leaves
2 tbsp Garlic
1 tbsp Ginger
2 tomatoes or 1/2 can small
Fry the onions in oil, once fried add all the dried spices, when they are roasted, add the garlic, ginger and tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes break down.
Step 2 – Cooked Yogurt (Besan Curry)
4 cups yogurt
1 cup gram flour (besan)
1/3 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp coriander
6 cup water
Mix the yogurt with besan with salt, pepper, turmeric and coriander. Add it to the tomato mixture with the water, keep stirring it so that no lumps form. Cook the Karri for about one hour
Step 3 – Pakora (Fried Onion Fritters)
1 large onion sliced
1 jalapeño
mint leaves (fresh or dried)
1 1/4 cup gram flour (besan)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup water
pinch of baking soda
Make the mixture for onions fritters (pakora). Fry them for about 2 minutes on first side, flip it and fry it for 1 minute.
Step 4 – Cook it All Together
When karri is cooked, add the pakoras to it and cook together for 10 minutes.
Step 5 – Bhagar (Fried Spices)
2 tbsp oil
4 dried red peppers
1 tsp cumin
Fry the bhagar and pour it over the finished karri.
ALL DONE! Happy cooking, let us know in the comments if you have any feedback or suggestions, we would love to hear from you. Below is a video of this recipe.