Kadhi - cooking recipe

Ingredients

3 cups slightly soured buttermilk (1 cup sour curd + 2 cups water)
2 tablespoons gram flour or 2 tablespoons graham flour (besan)
1 teaspoon wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or use whole)
1 bay leaf
4 -5 fenugreek leaves or 4 -5 mint leaves
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 sprig curry leaves or 2 bay leaves
2 whole red chili peppers
1/4 teaspoon grated ginger or 3 pinches ginger powder
1/2 red chile, crushed
salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon clarified butter
2 pinches asafoetida powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons chopped coriander

Preparation

Mix flour and butter milk well with a hand mixer or whipper.
Heat the clarified butter in a saucepan, add cumin and mustard seeds, curry leaves, whole chilli and ginger allow to splutter.
Add the buttermilk.
Stir continuously adding crushed chilli, salt, sugar, turmeric and asafoetida and the mint/fenugreek leaves.
Stir continuously till it reched boiling point.
Simmer on low for 10 minutes till the flour cooks, stirring once in a while.
Serve piping hot garnished with coriander.
Note: 1.
Kadhis have to be stirred continuously, till the curd mixture starts boiling to get a smooth and uncurdled texture.
Once boiling starts,then it may be simmered on slow, to extract flavours to full extent, stirring occasionally.
2.
Kadhis may be made in advance (a few hours and not days) but do not temper the kadhi, just boil the buttermilk with the flour and the ingredients added after that.
Heat the clarified butter and temper just before serving and heat the kadhi through before serving.
3.
Try and use the kadhi within a day.
4.
If the curds/ buttermilk is not sour enough, then add a few grains of citric acid to get the sour flavour.
But do not use overly sour curds (stale), as this will result in the kadhi tasting pungent, not aromatic.