Kutchi Bhatia Kadhi

Since childhood,I was brought up on cuisine that was mostly typical of my community and Uttar Pradesh.It's only after coming to Dubai after marriage that I got the opportunity to explore Sindhi, Gujarati and Kutchi Bhatia cuisine and came to love it a lot !The Bhatias are a community of Sindhis who had migrated from Rajasthan,India to a village Thatta in Sindh,Pakistan,and then had returned during the partition.I absolutely love their food and make most of their recipes pretty often.
Their one dish that me and my family absolutely adores is Bhatia Kadi.Now for those who're well familiar with what Kadhi is,are aware that it is usally made from gram flour and yogurt,and may have dumplings or boondis.But the first time I heard the description of Bhatia Kadhi  I resolved that I am never going to taste it.Being from Uttar Pradesh,it was impossible for me to digest the idea of Kadhi made of okra,bananas, and chickepeas.But once I had it,it found a regular place on our weekend lunch menu at home and is now a family favorite.

Bhatia Kadhi is not only great in taste,but is also a very healthy concoction of vegetables and lentils.The Kadhi is served with a few side dishes,such as steamed rice,boiled green moong or pureed yellow lentil(Lachko daal),aloo tuk and papad.

Whole green gram is boiled in enough water and then strained and then this strained water is added in the kadhi,which gives it a nice green colour,enhances the taste and adds to the nutritional value too.

Preparation Time - 15 minutes
Cooking Time - 90 minutes
Serves - 8
INGREDIENTS-
For Moong-

• Whole Green moong/Mung beans/Green gram - 3/4 cup
• Green chilies,chopped- 1 tsp
• Turmeric-1/2 tsp
• Curry leaves-8
• Ghee- 2 tsp
• Salt-to taste

For kadi-

• Gram flour - 5 tbsp
• Turmeric powder - 3/4 tsp
• Tamarind - 2.5 inch
• Black kokum - 8 *
• Kokum phool - 8 *
• Jaggary - 2 tbsp
• Okra/bhindi - 12
• Cluster beans/Guvar - 18
• Potato - 2(medium)
• Yam/Suran, chopped - 3/4 cup
• Drumstick - 1
• Banana - 1
• Chickpeas - 1/4 cup
• Tuvar daal - 1 tsp
• Cow peas/lobhia- 1 tbsp
• Ginger, chopped -  2 tsp
• Fresh coriander -  2 tbsp
• Lemon juice - 2 tsp
• Salt - to taste

Tempering-

• Ghee or oil - 2.5 tbsp
• Cumin seeds - 2.5 tsp
• Fenugreek seeds - 2 tsp
• Asafoetida - 3/4 tsp
• Dried red chilies - 6
• Green chilies, chopped -1. 5 tbsp *
• Curry leaves - 15

Pre-preparation - 

• Wash and soak chick peas and cow peas overnight. 
• Peel potato and yam and chop into big cubes.
• Peel and make 2 inch pieces of drumsticks.  
• Destring the clusterbeans and chop into 2.5 inch pieces. 
• Trim the ends of okra, slit lengthwise and chop into 2 inch pieces.
• Chop green chilies.
• *Use the hot variety of green chilies as red chili powder is not used in the kadhi.

PROCEDURE- 

1. (For Moong) Wash and soak green moong in enough water for 1/2 hour.
2. Boil water in a big pan and add moong, curry leaves,chopped green chilies,turmeric,salt and asafoetida. Boil on medium heat.
3. Cook till done, then strain the moong and keep aside the water(A)
4.  add plain water in it to make it 5 cups.
5. Take the boiled moong in a heavy bottom pan, add 2 tsp ghee and simmer it for 2-3 minutes.
6.  Add some plain water in moong water-A , to make it 5 cups.
7. (For Kadhi) In a big and wide pan add ghee and then add cumin and fenugreek and cook on a low flame.
8. When cumin starts crackling add green chilies, dry red chilies and curry leaves and then add asafoetida.
9. When cumin becomes golden, add cluster beans, chickpeas and cow peas and  saute for a minute.
10. Now add the strained moong water, chopped yam, black kokum, brown kokum and ginger.
11. Let it cook on medium heat for around 20 minutes .
12. Mix gram flour with 1 cup water and then mix approx 2 litre water in it.
13. Add this gram flour water in the pan, cook for approx 5-8 minutes on high heat till it starts boiling. Keep stirring.
14. Now add drumstick pieces, potato cubes,few curry leaves, turmeric, salt and tamarind pieces.
15. Cook on medium heat for around 40 minutes on medium heat. 
16. Now add jaggary, chopped okra, banana pieces and the banana peel.
17. Cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes
18. Add fresh coriander and lemon juice(if needed)
19. serve hot.

Serving Suggestions - Serve both Kadhi and Moong together with steamed rice, aloo tuk and papad.

Note-
1--If you are not making whole moong with this kadi then add 2 tsp whole moong at step-8
2-Lachko daal-boil tuvar or moong daal with salt turmeric and asafoetida and then make a thick and smooth puree, add some ghee and serve. 
3-You can also mash or puree the boiled moong if you want a creamy texture daal.
4-You may also add gram flour mixture at step 10 along with the moong water.
5-*Use the hot variety of green chilies as red chili powder is not used in the kadhi. 
6- *If  black kokum and kokum phool is not available then can use tamarind only,and in that case slightly increase the quantity of tamarind.