Makai kadhi (Corn on the cob in a yogurt soup) with coconut

"Makai" is a Swahili word for sweetcorn. I still remember the superb taste of the "Makai" I used to buy from the street vendors in Kenya. The corn they served had large firm kernels. They roasted the corn on charcoal and served it sprinkled with a mixture of salt and chilly powder with a dash of lemon.  I would eat this on my way home from school.

Sweetcorn is available in several forms in the UK - Fresh, frozen or in cans. You can get just the kernels or on the cob. We all love fresh corn on the cob - either just boiled or roasted under the grill. We serve it hot drizzled in butter. The corn we get here in the UK is very sweet and cooks really fast.

Today, my family wanted me to make them  Makai Kadhi (corn on the cod in a yogurt soup) .   This dish can be eaten on it's own as a snack or as a main course where you can serve it with rice and chapatis.  This recipe can also be adopted as a low calorie recipe by not adding the sugar and using less oil for the tempering.

Ingredients to serve 4 people:

1-2 Fresh corn on the cob
2-3 tablespoons of sweetcorn ( Fresh or frozen)
2-3 tablespoons of dessicated coconut
250 mls of yogurt
1 heaped tablespoon of Chick pea flour
1 teaspoon salt
half teaspoon of turmeric
1 fresh chilly - blended
1 teaspoon of blended garlic
1 Teaspoon of blended ginger
1 tablespoon of lemon
2 teaspoons of sugar
small bunch of coriander
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds.
5-6 leaves of curry leaves


Method:

1. Boil or steam the corn on the cob.

2. Cut the corn into manageable pieces.

3. In a saucepan, mix the yogurt with 1,000 mls of water.

4. Add in the chickpea flour and blend the mixture.

5. Add in the salt, sugar, turmeric, ginger, garlic and green chillies blended mixture, coriander, curry leaves and the dessicated coconut.

6. Also add in the sweetcorn kernels and the small boiled pieces of corn.

7. Heat the yogurt kadhi mixture stirring it gently.   Keep stirring until the kadhi is boiling.  Lower the heat now and be careful as it may spill over.

8.  As you lower  the heat and add the lemon juice and taste the kadhi and make adjustments.

9.   In a separate saucepan - prepare the "vaghar" or tempering.  Heat the two  tablespoon (use only one tablespoon if you wish to be healthy) of cooking oil.  Add the mustard seeds.  Once the mustard seeds stop popping, add the tempering to the kadhi and stir well.

10.  Keep cooking the kadhi on a low heat for as long as you can to enable the sweet corn to soak up the flavours of the kadhi and also make it  creamy and thick.

11.  Serve it hot with rice.

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