Raita recipe is a condiment that is served as a side dish with Indian meals. Made with good for you ingredients, loaded with natural probiotics this will be your most loved side after on taste!
Raita recipe goes well with just about anything. Serve it along side just a plain Khichdi, Restaurant Style Dal Fry or even stuffed parathas. Find all Indian Recipes on the website at one place.
Its refreshing flavors and cooling effect on the body makes it a great accompaniment to biryanis and spicy Indian curries.
This Raita is made with simple ingredients like yogurt, veggies like tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, some herbs and spices.
In my house, while growing up raita was such a staple with every meal. Specially during summers this was the most required side with lunch.
You can even serve it as a dip. Just remember to keep it thick and do not add any water to it, like some people do in their raita.
Ingredients and substitutes:
Veggies: I like cucumber, onion, tomatoes and carrots in mine. You could also use just cucumbers, spinach (chopped and cooked for 2-3 minutes) or even boiled potatoes.
Yogurt: Use plain full fat yogurt. Even low fat can be used in a pinch if you aren't concerned much about the creaminess in your raita. It still tastes good. Just don't thin it with water if you are using low fat yogurt. Even Greek yogurt can be substituted here.
Herbs and Spices:
In my opinion, black pepper, salt, Himalayan salt and cumin powder tastes best in here. If you want an extra kick here, you can add chopped jalapeno/serrano or Indian green chilies to it.
Some chaat masala, around ½ teaspoon can also be added to it. Remember to adjust other spices accordingly. You will need less salt, black pepper and cumin powder then. As chaat masala already contains these spices.
Tempering: Some people also like to temper their raita by heating some oil and crackling mustard seeds, curry leaves and red/green chilies to it. I haven't today.
I then love to flavor mine with a lot of mint leaves and coriander. These both give life to raita! Feel free to use dill or parsley instead.
How to make Raita:
It is super easy to put this together. If you can chop some veggies, you got this. No seriously, It is that simple.
All you do it whisk some yogurt and add your herbs, salt and spices to it.
Next finely chop some carrots, red onion, cucumber and tomatoes. For the cucumbers I use Persian ones. You don't need to peel those. If you are using cucumbers that are thick skinned, peel them before chopping.
For the tomatoes, cut them into halves and deseed them.
Mix veggies into yogurt and chill until ready to serve.
Make ahead, Storing and Serving Suggestions:
This recipe is best served fresh. If you want to make it ahead, whisk yogurt and add all the spices to it. Keep this yogurt chilled and don't add chopped veggies in till you are ready to serve it.
You can chill yogurt mixed with veggies, maximum for about an hour or so in the refrigerator. I don't suggest keeping it mixed longer than that. As the raita can thin out when chopped veggies release their water in it.
Serve it with Biryani, Pulav, or along side aloo gobi, spinach or even Kidney Beans Curry.
It can easily be served as a snack on its own. Or even as a dip for pita bread or raw vegetables if you prefer.
Popular Variations:
Cucumber Raita: Here we mix grated cucumber along with lots of freshly chopped mint in spiced yogurt.
Boondi Raita: Boondi is small fried round balls of chickpea flour. Firstly we dunk boondi in hot water for a few minutes and then add it to spiced yogurt. Some people don't like to soak the boondi in water first. They directly mix it in spiced yogurt. Both versions taste good!
Fruit Raita: We mix lots of freshly chopped fruits such as apple, banana, chikoo (sapota), mango, grapes, oranges and more into a sweet and spicy yogurt. Garnish it with fresh herbs and pomegranate seeds.
Beetroot Raita: Grated and slightly sauteed beetroot is mixed with spiced yogurt and an tempering is added on top. Tempering includes mustard seeds, green chilies and curry leaves cooked for just a minute in hot oil.
If you liked this recipe, give it a star review. Also tell me in the comments, how did this turn out for you! And don’t forget to share your creations with me on Instagram at #greedyeatsblog Lets be friends on Pinterest and Facebook too! 🙂
Recipe
Raita Recipe
Equipment
- 1 Hand Whisk
- 1 Medium Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 (500 gms) cups Plain Whole Milk Yogurt
- 1 and ½ (160 gms) Persian Cucumber
- 2 medium Tomatoes (seeds removed)
- ¼ medium Red/Yellow Onion (finely chopped)
- 1 small Carrot (Washed, peeled and finely chopped)
- 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon Kala Namak (Black Himalayan Salt)
- ⅛ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- a handful of Mint and Coriander Leaves (Chopped)
Instructions
- Quarter cucumbers lengthwise and chop them small. Peel onion and carrot. Finely chop them too. Cut tomatoes into halves. Deseed and chop them. Roughly chop coriander and mint leaves too.1 and ½ (160 gms) Persian Cucumber, 2 medium Tomatoes, ¼ medium Red/Yellow Onion, 1 small Carrot, a handful of Mint and Coriander Leaves
- Pour yogurt in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk yogurt using a hand whisk until smooth. Now add spices and salt to it. Mix spices in yogurt until well combined.2 (500 gms) cups Plain Whole Milk Yogurt, 1 teaspoon Cumin Powder, ¼ teaspoon Salt, ¼ teaspoon Kala Namak (Black Himalayan Salt), ⅛ teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- Add and mix veggies, chopped cilantro and mint with yogurt using a spoon. Save a few herbs for garnishing. I also sprinkled some red chili powder and cumin powder to garnish. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
- Should I water the Raita down?
- Can I adjust the amount of veggies added:
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