Tamatar ki Kadi
Delightfully sweet, and subtly sour, is how I describe the taste of this curry. Memories of my childhood are closely yet again associated with this traditional dish that my Ammi used to prepare with so much love for us all.
Tamarind – Imli
AntiClockwise from top – Tamarind pod; inside the pod without shell; tamarind seeds; tamarind pulp shaped into ball; leftover fibre from the pod to be discarded
Tamarind, an essential ingredient in Indian cuisine, is used in this recipe for a sweet-sour flavor. The prepared curry is then subtly thickened with finely powdered rice and allowed to cook for a little while to impart a silky texture to the curry.
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Pre-prererations for the curry: (you can prepare these a day before you plan to make the curry)
1. Tamarind pulp:
Remove the shell of the tamarind pod, and gently pull away the fibres meshed with the inner pulp and remove the seeds embeded inside. Discard the shell, fibre and seeds. Shape the pulp into a ball to use. (See the picture above for an idea)
2. Rice powder:
Soak rice for 2-3 hours in cool water. Drain the rice and spread on a cloth to air dry for a few hours. Once completely dry, powder the rice very very finely in a spice grinder to use. The texture of the rice powder should be similar to that of flour, or else coarsely ground rice results in an unpleasing gritty texture in the curry. This ground rice flour is used as the thickener in this curry.
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Tamatar ki Kadi – Okra and Meat in tangy Tomato Sauce
Ingredients:
Canola Oil - 2 tsp
Ginger paste – 1/2 tsp
Garlic paste – 1 tsp
Fresh Curry leaves – 2 sprigs
Veal/Lamb/Goat/Sheep meat with bones – 600 gms (boneless meat is not recommended)
Tomatoes – 5, large, roughly chopped
Roasted Coriander seed powder – 1/2 tsp
Roasted Cumin seed powder – 1/2 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Salt – to taste
Okra – young and tender pods, 100 gms, tailed and topped
Tamarind pulp - lime sized ball of tamarind pulp, or as per taste (see above)
Very Finely powdered Rice – 4 tbsp (see above)
Tamatar ki Kadi
Method:
1. In a pressure cooker at medium high heat, pour oil, and as soon as it warms up, add the ginger and garlic pastes. Fry it for a few seconds. Add the curry leaves and as they splutter, add the meat and the tomatoes, salt, red chilli powder, turmeric,, cumin and coriander seed powders and mix well. Pour in 3 cups of water and pressure cook until the meat is tender.
2. Open the lid of the cooker, and add the okra. Half cover the lid and let cook for 8-10 minutes or until the okra is tender. Add the tamarind pulp and mix well.
3. In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup warm water and add the rice powder to it. Mix well so that it doesnt get clumpy, and gently pour this mixture into the pressure cooker stirring continously. Let it cook uncovered for 10-12 minutes until the sauce leaves oil and thickens gradually because of the rice powder. Remove from heat and serve warm.
Once the curry is no longer warm, it begins to thicken due to the thickener added. If the left over is refrigerated it turns into a slighty pasty consistency, but do not worry, as soon as it is reheated with the addition of a little water, its consistency will thin up again.
Luv,
Mona
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July 28th, 2009 at 8:39 am
hey mona
nice recipe and photos. i recently made this kadi, only difference i used onions too.
is it ok to use readymade rice flour from desi stores.
i prefer with khushka , papad but any serving suggestions for side dish with this.
thx
rizruby
Rizruby, you can certainly use store brought very fine rice flour if available.
I enjoy this curry along with any vegetable side dish or shaami or shikampur on the side. ~Mona
July 28th, 2009 at 8:56 am
Mmmmm Yummyyy… wonderful clicks..
July 28th, 2009 at 9:24 am
this looks very good! do you have to use fresh tamarind pulp? i usually use the ready-made tamarind paste that comes in a jar in my cooking. How much paste do you think would be the right amount?
A, you can use store brought tamarind concentrate/paste if fresh tamarind is not available. About 1 or 1 1/2 tbsp must be enough. It depends on your taste. ~Mona
July 28th, 2009 at 11:48 am
monajee, assalamu alaykum, mona dont u think the title of this dish – Tamatar ki kadi- is somehow misleading name.! when word “Kadi” comes it means slurpy soup form dish made from yoghurt. here the entire recipe resembles- BAMIYA GOSHT- gosht with okra. pls correct me if i m wrong.thanks
Wa-AlaiKum-AsSalaam Shaikhmohammed, we call this curry as ‘Kadi’ as the gravy/soup has been thickened with rice flour. ‘Dahi ki Kadi’ is when besan is added as thickener to the sour yogurt gravy, and ‘Tamate ki Kadi’ is when rice flour is added as the thickener to the sour tomato gravy.
I have no knowledge about ‘Bamiya Gosht’, is it a Pakistani or Indian dish? Would love to go through its recipe, do send me when you prepare it next time. ~Mona
July 28th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
Wow thats different! never used powdered rice as thickner, sounds interesting, must a try! do you think rice flour can be used instead?
Parita, you can use store brought very fine rice flour. ~Mona
July 28th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
as salam alaykum,
jazakallah sooo much for posting this recipe!! i will def. try making it, and ill let you know how it turns out!! btw, when my mom used to make it, she didnt put meat in it. can it be altered to not have meat? i like it either way, but if i want to make it for vegeterians, i wanted to know if you can. thanks once again!!
Qudz104, in the first step, just omit adding meat, and pressure cook the tomatoes until they are soft for a few minutes. This way you can prepare a vegetarian version. ~Mona
July 29th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Love the dish Mona, never had kadi with okra and meat together. This is bookmarked. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
July 29th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
oh! the kadi looks mouthwatering dear. Thanks for sharing this recipe. will try to make this 1 day inshallah.
July 31st, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Looks delicious! I feel so hungry!!
“Tamate” could well have been “Tamatar” and still tasty.
I always wonder if we trans-literate “later” as ‘baad’, “self” as ‘KHud’, should we write this as ‘kaRi’ rather that ‘kadi’ or ‘kari’!
August 26th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Asak mona,
U have a beautiful space in here and wonderful recipes…. How come i missed it all these while?!
February 15th, 2011 at 8:01 am
Your blog is superb.MashaAllah.
My mother also adds little Besan along with rice powder in the preparation of this Saalan.
February 18th, 2011 at 8:12 pm
This turned out really delicious, thanks Mona. This curry was what my mom used to make for us as kids…….
August 14th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
Assalamualaikum Mona,
JZK for posting this authentic Hyderabadi recipe. I made it for Iftar tonight….it smells and looks amazing.