Gujarati Kadhiગુજરાતી કઢી
⏱ Prep 10m🍳 Cook 20m🍽 Serves 4🌿 Vegetarian
Video: Hebbars Kitchen (YouTube)
Gujarati kadhi is unlike any other kadhi in India — deliberately sweet, gently sour, and as thin as silk, meant to be poured over steamed rice or sipped alongside khichdi. Where a Punjabi kadhi is thick and hearty, this version is a refined, translucent broth built on a besan-yogurt base and tempered with whole spices. The defining character is the jaggery — it gives a caramel sweetness that surprises first-timers and becomes impossible to go without.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
Finding Desi spots near Plano…
Ingredients
- ▪plain yogurt (dahi / દહીં), well-beaten1 cup (full-fat)
- ▪water3 cups
- ▪besan (chickpea flour / ચણાનો લોટ)1½ tbsp
- ▪jaggery (gur / ગોળ), grated or broken into small pieces2 tbsp
- ▪fresh ginger, grated1 inch piece
- ▪green chilli, slit lengthwise2
- ▪saltto taste
- For the tempering ghee
- ▪mustard seeds (rai / રાઈ)1 tsp
- ▪cumin seeds (jeera / જીરું)1 tsp
- ▪dried red chilli2
- ▪cloves (laung / લવિંગ)3
- ▪cinnamon stick (dalchini / તજ)½ inch
- ▪curry leaves (kadi patta / કઢી પત્તા)10-12 leaves
🌍 Cooking abroad? Substitutions
- Jaggery is available at any South Asian grocery store; raw cane sugar works as a one-for-one substitute and keeps the slight caramel depth. Plain white sugar gives the sweetness but without complexity — add a tiny splash of lemon juice to compensate.
- Full-fat yogurt is important — it stabilizes better when boiled. If using low-fat yogurt, add an extra ½ tbsp besan to prevent the kadhi from curdling or separating.
- Fresh curry leaves are sold refrigerated or frozen at South Asian stores. Dried curry leaves are largely flavor-free — skip entirely rather than use dried; the tempering will still be aromatic from the cloves, cinnamon, and mustard.
Method
- 1Whisk together yogurt, water, and besan in a large bowl until completely smooth — a hand blender or thorough whisking ensures no lumps, which would make the kadhi grainy when cooked.
- 2Add grated jaggery, ginger, green chillies, and salt to the yogurt mixture and stir to combine.
- 3Pour into a wide pot and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to prevent the besan from settling and burning at the bottom.
- 4Once boiling, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered for 12-15 minutes, stirring every few minutes, until the raw besan smell has fully disappeared and the kadhi is lightly thickened but still very fluid.
- 5In a small tadka pan, heat ghee over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add mustard seeds and let them pop. Add cumin seeds, dried red chillies, cloves, cinnamon, and curry leaves; let sizzle for 30 seconds until fragrant.
- 6Pour the tempering into the simmering kadhi, stir well, and cook together for 2 more minutes.
- 7Taste and adjust: Gujarati kadhi should be noticeably sweet and pleasantly tangy — add a pinch more jaggery or a few drops of lemon juice to balance. Serve hot over steamed rice or alongside dal-khichdi.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.