Kadai vs Handi – Have you ever wondered how these two cooking methods are different?

Handi dishes:

• Handi is a clay pot with a wider base
• Handi is much more ancient
• Involves wood-fire, slow cooking method
• Less oil
• More spices
• Hot & tangy
• Handi dish is a more liquified & blended mixture of tomatoes, green chillies, ginger and other ingredients with the addition of yogurt
• It is a gravy dish

Kadai dishes:

• Kadai is a thick, circular, and deep cooking pot made of metal.
  It is similar in shape to a wok used is South-Asian cuisine but with a flat base.
• Kadai cooking is a relatively newer practice
• Contains slightly more oil
• Less spicy
• Sweet and tangy
• Kadai dish is a more solid reduction of the same key ingredients which are usually not blended or liquified which give the kadai dish its typical dry texture with oil separated and the classic red/brown colour.
• It is a semi-dry dish.
• Capsicum, onion and tomato are often distinctly visible.

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Cooking on wood-fire is not so practical in a modern day home-kitchen but the principles can always be adapted to create a dish as close as possible to the original. Using clay pots for cooking is gaining popularity in recent times, you may consider the same to re-create a handi dish.

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Kadai paneer is a flavorful preparation made of semi-dry gravy made of onions, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger and garlic. However, the main ingredient that brings out the typical flavour of a kadai dish is the kadai masala.

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Tips & Tricks:

• Red chilli – use the less mildly spiced variety such as kashmiri or byadgi. If using a spicier variety, reduce the quantity to half to balance the spice level. Always dry roast on low flame to avoid burning and altering the flavour & colour of the gravy.
• Paneer: Always use fresh paneer. Paneer may be shallow fried too. But I prefer cooking in hot water to keep it soft. This also cuts down on the amount of oil used.
• Kadai masala: This is the key ingredient in bringing out the typical flavour of this dish so do not substitute this with any other masala. Kadai masala is made of dry roasted coriander seeds, cumin seeds, green cardamom, black peppercorns, fennel seeds and red chillies that are mild in spice but impart amazing colour to the dish. For a quicker version I have made coriander seeds, red chillies and garam masala. Do check out the detailed recipe for making Kadai masala.

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With our understanding of basic differences between a handi and kadai recipe in place and the minute details to go the perfect dish, let’s get to the recipe for kadai paneer.

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Recipe serves 4

Ingredients:

• 200gm Paneer
• 1 medium sized Onion, finely chopped
• 1 small sized Onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 inch ginger + 7-8 medium sized garlic crushed in a mortar & pestle to a fine paste OR 1-1/2 tsp Ginger-garlic paste
• 2 Green chillies, finely chopped
• 2 medium sized Tomatoes, finely chopped
• 3 medium sized Tomatoes, pureed
• 1 small Green capsicum, diced
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala
• 1/2 tbsp Kasuri methi / dry fenugreek leaves, crushed
• 1-1/2 tbsp Fresh cream
• 2 tbsp Oil/ butter/ ghee

For garnishing

• 1 tbsp Coriander leaves, finely chopped

For kadai masala

• 1 tbsp Coriander seeds
• 4 whole Kashmiri red chillies, halved

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Instructions:

1. On low heat, dry roast coriander seeds and whole Kashmiri red chillies until they are aromatic. Turn off heat. Allow to cool.

2. Grind them to a coarse powder. Kadai masala is ready.

3. Finely chop one medium sized onion.4. Dice a small onion.5. Dice one small capsicum.

6. Finely chop 2 tomatoes.7. Dice the remaining 3 tomatoes and blend them to a fine puree.

8. Cut paneer in any shape you desire – finger like, diced, small cubes, triangles, etc.

9. Heat oil in a kadai. Add the diced and finely chopped onions. Saute for a minute and add salt. Mix well.

10. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute for a couple of minutes until raw smell is gone.

11. Add the kadai masala and mix well.

12. Add finely chopped green chillies a saute for a minute.

13. Add the finely chopped tomatoes and saute for 4-5 minutes until tomatoes become mushy and oil begins separating.

14. Add tomato puree and cook for 10-15 minutes until oil begins separating. Stir occasionally.

15. In the meantime, boil water in a saucepan or vessel. Once the water behind boiling, add the paneer pieces and turn off heat. Paneer will get cooked in the hot water. Keep aside until gravy is fully cooked.

16. Add diced capsicum and sautee for 2-3 minutes.

18. Add water and simmer for about 10 minutes. When the gravy is fully cooked, you’ll begin to see oil on the surface.

19. Add crushed kasuri methi and garam masala. Mix well.

20. Drain water from paneer and add the paneer pieces to the gravy. Mix gently and then turn off heat.

21. Add fresh cream and finely chopped coriander.

22. Mix gently and kadai paneer is ready. Serve with hot roti, naan, paratha, kulcha, jowar roti, steamed rice, jeera rice, ghee rice or biryani.

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If you happen to try my Kadai Paneer recipe; leave a comment, let me know how it turned out.Use in your Instagram posts – #theredplatechroniclesbymeenadanti
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Have a great day you all!Love
M❤️