Instant Pot Punjabi Kadhi Recipe - Easy & Authentic (2024)

4.47 from 15 votes

Punjabi Kadhi Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Besan / Chickpea Flour sieved
• 2 cups Yogurt sour
• 1 tbsp Ginger finely chopped
• 2 Green Chillies slit into 4s
• 6 cups Water

Oil & Spices

• 1 tbsp Ghee
• 1 pinch Hing / Asafetida
• 1 tsp Jeera / Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Methi dana / Fenugreek seeds
• 2 Lal Mirch Sabut / Red Chillies Whole & Dry
• 1/2 tbsp Haldi / Turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp Lal Mirch powder / Red chili powder
• To taste Salt
• 1 tsp Ginger finely chopped
• 1-2 Green Chillies slit into 4s

Tadka Ingredients

• 1 tbsp Ghee
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 small pinch Hing/Asafetida
• 1 tsp Degi Mirch or Kashmiri Lal Mirch

Preparing for Punjabi Kadhi

• Take a large Mixing Bowl and add Besan or chickpea Flour in it.Whisk the yogurt and add it slowly to the flour. Keep stirring vigorously with the whisk, to avoid any lump formation. Add 2 cups of water. Mix with Besan and yogurt. Set aside.

Making Punjabi Kadhi in Instant Pot (variation to make garlic kadhi and/or palak kadhi given in the notes section)

• Use 6 quart Instant Pot or larger. Do not use the MINI INSTANT POT for making Punjabi Kadhi.

• Place the Instant Pot on an open counter space. Make sure that it is away from the wall and away from any cupboard above it.Place the Inner Stainless Steel Pot inside the Instant Pot Base. Make sure that the lid has its sealing ring placed properly.

• Plug in the InstantPot. Press SAUTE MODE and set it onNORMALbypressing the sautemode.Now wait till the screen displays HOT.

• Add Ghee or cooking oil to the Inner pot and wait for few seconds till ghee heats up. Now add Hing (asafetida), methi dana (fenugreek seeds), cumin seeds and whole dry red chilies to hot ghee. Saute for few seconds till cumin seeds turn slightly golden. Add Ginger and green chili. Give it a good stir.

• Now slowly pour the besan mix into the inner pot. Give it a good stir. Add turmeric powder, red chili powder and salt to taste. Give another good stir with kitchen stirring spoon. Add the remaining 4 cups of water and adjust salt. Stir again.

• Now place the lid of the pot and rotate it clock-wise to lock it in place.Press CANCEL to cancel the SAUTE MODE setting.

• Set the FLOAT VALVE to SEALING.

• Press SOUP/BROTH Mode and set it on NORMAL and the PRESSURE MODE set to HIGH. Set the timer for 15 minutes.

• After the timer goes off, & safety valve drops down, open the lid carefully.

• The kadhi might seem saturated or concentrated. Take a stirring spoon or ladle and give it a good stir. Kadhi is ready. If it is too thick for you, add 1 cup of hot water, as desired and adjust the salt.

Making Tadka for Kadhi

• Heat Ghee in a small pan. Lower the heat to lower medium and add hing+cumin seeds to the pan. Once the cumin seeds start crackling, lower the heat and add degi mirch or kashmiri mirch. Immediately switch off the heat. Add this tadka to Punjabi Kadhi.

Serving Suggestion

• Punjabi Kadhi is best served with Jeera Rice or Plain Basmati Rice. It is often relished with Parantha and naan as well.

Variation to make Lehsuni Kadhi or Garlic Kadhi

If you plan to make Lehsuni or Garlic Kadhi, then add 7-8 Garlic cloves to the Ingredients List. Peel and Chop it fine.

Add it to the inner pot when you are adding Ginger and Green chili in Step 4 above. And then follow the rest of the recipe as is.

Variation to make Palak Kadhi or Spinach Kadhi

If you are planning to make Palak Kadhi, then add 2 cups finely chopped fresh spinach to the ingredients list. You can use 1 cup frozen spinach as well.

Add it to the inner pot when you are adding Ginger and Green chili in Step 4 above. And then follow the rest of the recipe as is.

Variation to make Papad ki Kadhi

This is a very popular addition to kadhi in Rajasthani and Hariyanvi Cuisine. I make kadhi sometimes with Papad also. The melt in the mouth papad is so comforting in every bite.

There are few ways that people make it.

• By frying the papad first
• Sometimes by roasting papad first
• And the last & easy one by just adding as is later on

I make it by adding un-roasted Papad pieces later to the hot kadhi and simmer on Saute Mode.

So for this recipe, take about 3-4 papad (I use Lizzat papad brand). Break papad into rough pieces. You may cut into diamond shape using kitchen scissor.

After opening the lid of the IP, add these papad pieces to the hot kadhi and simmer on the Saute Mode for about 3 minutes.

Switch off the Saute Mode. Add tadka and serve with rice or roti. I enjoy my kadhi with parantha or roti more. 🙂