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Yoghurt kadhi with squash and onion bhajis
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 400g natural yoghurt, preferably left out overnight to sour
- 50g chickpea flour
- 1⁄2tsp ground turmeric
- 2tbsp ghee
- 1tsp brown mustard seeds pinch asafoetida
- 15 fresh curry leaves
- 2 dried whole chillies, broken in half
- 1⁄2tsp cumin seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick, broken up
- 2 cloves
- thumb of ginger, peeled and grated
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- 1 heaped tbsp grated jaggery or soft brown sugar
- handful fresh coriander, finely chopped
- juice 1 lime
For the squash and onion bhajis
- 225g butternut squash, grated
- 75g chickpea (gram) flour
- 25g cornflour
- 2.5cm piece ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- 2tbsp freshly chopped coriander
- 15 fresh curry leaves
- 1tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
- 1⁄2tsp ground turmeric
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- rapeseed oil, to deep fry
Method
Put the squash for the bhajis in a colander, sprinkle with salt, massage it in and set aside.
For the kadhi, whisk together the yoghurt, chickpea flour and turmeric in a large bowl until smooth, then add the 1.5 litres cold water.
Heat the ghee in a large pan over a high heat and, once hot, sprinkle in the mustard seeds. As soon as they start to pop, add the asafoetida, curry leaves and dried chillies. Once they crackle, add the cumin seeds, cinnamon and cloves. Turn down the heat, sauté briefly until fragrant, then add the ginger, garlic and fresh chilli and sauté for 3–4 minutes till golden.
Pour in the yoghurt mix, add the sugar and season with salt. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to the boil, then turn down the heat to low and simmer gently for 15–20 minutes.
Meanwhile, for the bhajis, put the salted squash on a clean tea towel, then wring it to squeeze out as much water as possible. Put the chickpea flour and cornflour in a large bowl and add the ginger, green chilli, fresh coriander, curry leaves, coriander seeds and turmeric. Add the grated squash and the onion, season with sea salt and stir in 50ml cold water until you have a thick batter.
To fry, pour oil into a deep, heavy-based pan to no more than half full and heat to 180C. If you don’t have a cook’s thermometer, you will know the oil is ready when a cube of bread added to the pan turns golden in 20 seconds.
Line a plate with kitchen paper. Drop heaped tablespoons of the batter into the hot oil and fry for 3–4 minutes until crisp and golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper.
Add the chopped coriander and lime juice to the kadhi and season with sea salt. Ladle into 4 bowls and serve topped with the bhajis.
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