Priya Makes Kadhi

The idea of summer camp wasn't something

my parents really understood,

so the only camps I ever went to

were, like, goat-milking camp, and then debate camp.

That's it, no other camps.

I remember, like, my friends got to go to camp at NASA,

and I was like, why can't I go to space camp?

And my parents were like, here's goat-milking camp.

You asked to go to camp, right?

[soft funky music]

So we're making kadhi today,

and kadhi is basically this cozy, warm, tangy soup.

Think of, like, the best cream of whatever soup

you've ever had, but with no produce,

and made of chickpea flour, spices,

yogurt, turmeric, and the thing

that always bugs me is that it's spelled K-A-D-H-I,

and so a lot of people think that's, like, curry,

and they think, oh, like an Indian curry.

This is not that.

This is kadhi.

So the base of kadhi is turmeric, chickpea flour,

yogurt, and water, and this part is really important

because everything has to be really smooth and homogenous.

Otherwise, it's gonna not cook right,

it'll get clumpy, and kinda taste a little gross

when you're cooking it.

So we're gonna start by putting our yogurt.

You want to try and find the most sour yogurt you can get.

Weirdly, the European-style yogurt

at Trader Joe's works really well,

but what works the best is just, like,

having yogurt that's old.

Like, a two-week-old tub of yogurt

will work really well.

You really want that characteristically sour, acidic flavor.

I've just found that Indian brands of yogurt

in particular just have a much more acidic flavor,

and that's what I grew up with.

I love that flavor.

We've got our chickpea flour.

I feel like chickpea flour kind of turned

into a wellness trend recently,

and people are like, oh my god,

have you heard of chickpea flour?

And every Indian ever was like,

yes, we use it all the time.

And then we're gonna put water in here,

and we're gonna give it a whisk again.

I like doing this all in a measuring cup

'cause, when we have to pour it in,

it just makes it easier,

but you can do this in whatever floats your boat.

Now we're gonna add our turmeric.

Kadhi has this really beautiful, bright yellow color,

and the turmeric is what gives it that.

Mix this until you aren't seeing any lumps.

Like, lumps are the enemy in kadhi.

You want this to be really smooth,

really homogenous, really creamy.

All right, so this is kinda what you're looking at.

See, like, look, no bumps, no lumps, nice and smooth.

Cool?

This is a soup that's really gonna bubble,

so if you're choosing between something a little smaller

and something a little bigger,

go with something a little bit bigger

because you don't want things spilling over.

We're gonna heat this up on medium,

and then we're gonna put our ghee in.

You can use oil if you want,

like, any neutral oil,

but ghee is really the best.

Okay, so while this melts,

you've got cloves, black mustard seeds, love these,

two bay leaves, fenugreek.

It sort of has this really earthy, woodsy aroma.

It works really well with sweet dishes like squash.

It's very essential in Indian cooking.

And then black peppercorns.

The reason we're starting with whole spices is because

it's awesome to get the sort of bite

into a whole peppercorn that's gotten a little bit soft

but retains a little bit of crunch.

Like, even the cumin seeds,

you get this sort of smoky hit

in the middle of the soup.

So, we're gonna let these toast.

Toasting them kinda brings out the aroma,

gives them a little bit of crunch.

The best indicator that they're done is

when the mustard seeds start popping,

so it'll probably be about a minute or two,

and then this'll be good to go.

These are popping, so we're gonna add our kadhi mixture.

Then we're gonna add this.

And we're gonna add salt.

Now we have to keep stirring until it boils

'cause, if you don't keep stirring, it will curdle.

This is the kind of stressful part about making kadhi.

Do not stop stirring.

Like, curdling is the difference

between kind of a chalky-tasting soup

and a really rich, creamy-tasting soup.

We're gonna turn the heat up to high,

and again, keep stirring.

This is a good point to taste it

just to make sure that the salt levels are what you want,

and also that it's tangy enough,

and if it's not tangy enough,

my trick is just a few drops of lime juice.

Let's see how it goes.

Mm, I think it needs a little more acidity,

so I'm gonna put a few drops of lime juice.

Just I think the yogurt wasn't old enough.

I'm adding a teeny bit of lime juice

just to give it a little bit more tang,

but continuing to stir,

and then I'm adding just a teeny bit of more salt as well.

The other thing I love about this kadhi is

that it requires no fresh produce.

It's one of those perfect winter soups.

Like, when you go to the farmer's market,

and there's literally nothing that's looking good,

you can come home, and make kadhi and rice,

and it's just kinda this perfect, self-contained meal.

My mom puts pakoras, which are these little fritters

made of chickpea flour, in her kadhi,

but I don't like pakoras in my kadhi,

and whenever I bring this up

with someone else from Uttar Pradesh or from UP,

they're like, this is blasphemous,

but I just don't like stuff floating around in my soup.

It's just, I don't know,

it's just a personal preference,

but if you like pakoras in your kadhi,

you can buy them frozen at the Indian store,

and plop them in, totally fine.

Okay, so now that it's boiling,

what I'm gonna do, this is another mom trick,

is, I'm gonna keep this spoon in here,

a long-handled spoon, to kinda break the surface tension

and prevent it from boiling over,

and let it cook for about 10 minutes.

So this is, you can see how it's thickened up.

It's thick enough to kinda coat a spoon.

It's almost there.

We're gonna give it one or two minutes.

Gonna give it a little taste.

Guys, it's really good.

It's really good, mm.

Gonna turn that off,

and now we are, ooh, oops, that's what aprons are for,

we're gonna make the chhonk.

We put chhonk on everything.

Haven't you watched enough of these videos to know that?

So put our ghee in.

As soon as this is all melted,

we're gonna add our cumin seeds.

You'll note we added cumin seeds,

I guess, to the soup itself,

and we're gonna put it on the chhonk

because, in this, they have sort of an earthy taste,

and in this, they have

almost this sort of smoky, buttery taste.

I think one of the things that's so amazing

about Indian cooking is just sort of,

like, layering the complexity of the spices

This dish is really like a study

in nuance and complexity.

It's just, I'm really excited to eat it.

[laughs]

All right, so we're gonna put our cumin seeds in here.

You all know the drill.

We're gonna wait for them to dance a little in the oil.

Once you can smell that smoky flavor,

they start to get a little brown.

All right, these are good to go.

They're nice and brown, so you take it off the flame.

Now we're gonna add our asafoetida, hing.

Kind of has this beautiful garlic-y, onion-y flavor

that we know and love.

Gonna do our dried chilies,

and then our red chile powder.

Cayenne works great.

I use Kashmiri chili powder

'cause it has a nice, smoky taste.

And this is what our chhonk looks like.

Pretty nice.

Ooh, chhonk.

[laughs]

Sorry.

All right, now we're ready to put it in the bowl.

We're gonna drizzle our chhonk over the top.

Okay, and then, the last touch.

All right, here we go.

Woo.

[Man] A little chhonk to end the show.

Kind of awesome.

Really, always my favorite part.

And so, to construct a bite,

you are gonna mound white rice,

you're gonna put a little bit of kadhi over the top,

and it's kinda perfect.

So, everyone has a preferred kadhi-to-rice ratio.

I like a good amount of rice.

I'm not gonna lie.

Then I'm gonna give this just a little stir,

get everything incorporated.

The chilies, just note, are for color and aroma.

I would not eat them,

but some people eat them.

It's personal preference.

Might blow your head off.

I'm gonna eat it.

Mm.

Oh my god.

This is like the coziest,

most soul-warming soup ever.

Just with the rice, it's just,

it's like, this is what I want on a sick day, on a cold day.

It's tangy, you got the crunch of the spices,

it's rich from the chhonk,

it's a little spicy, but not too spicy.

Who would've thought?

Put yogurt in soup.

Indians, that's who.

Mm.

Also, whole peppercorns, so underrated.

Like, crunching on a whole peppercorn

I find extremely satisfying.

It's like, every bite's a little bit different.

Sometimes, you get the smoky crunch of a cumin seed.

Sometimes, you get that sort of more earthy,

bitter crunch of the fenugreek.

Mm.

Oh my god.

This is so good.

I wish my mom were here.

[clapperboard clicks]

All right, our kadhi is boiling away.

We've got, like, five minutes.

I can read the thing in debate talk, if you want.

[Director] On the mark, Priya, present the case now.

Kadhi, meet my favorite soup of all time.

Kadhi is similar in texture to those cream of soups,

but far more satisfying, and no creaming involved.

In its original form, comes from Rajasthan,

where my mom tells me it's popular

'cause [mumbles] are the reason.

All you need to make kadhi are yogurt,

chickpea flour, and spices.

Don't let the simplicity fool you.

Kadhi is equally comforting, insanely complex,

favorite like a cozy plate.

Have a bowl of white rice.

In my mom's recipe, unlike the liquid-y, mild version,

made the sort of rush onto sticks,

rich in spice forwards.

The pleasant tanginess, and small warning,

absolutely love the strong pepper and [mumbles] flavor,

and suggest, if you don't like peppercorns,

feel free to nix them or cut the amount in half.

[people clap]

Wow, Priya.