Indian Raita recipes (2024)

FAQs

What is Indian raita made of? ›

Raita is a side dish in Indian cuisine made of dahi (yogurt, often referred to as curd) together with raw or cooked vegetables, fruit, or in the case of boondi raita, with fried droplets of batter made from besan (chickpea flour, generally labeled as gram flour).

Raita is a side dish from India while tzatziki is a Greek sauce. Both are eaten as dips or as an accompaniment to a main dish. Their consistencies are different. Raita is made with plain yogurt and tzatziki is made with thicker Greek yogurt.

Raita can also be deployed beyond Indian cuisine. You can eat it by itself as a savory yogurt snack; you can use it as a marinade for chicken; you can serve it as a side or topping to any hearty dish in need of a light accompaniment—lamb chops, fried things, stuffed breads, roasted vegetables.

Raita Should Be Thin

Unlike the thick yogurt-based dip that a raita is often thought to be, an Indian raita is more liquidy. It's made with fresh yogurt or curd that hasn't rested in the refrigerator for too long, or that hasn't been strained like Greek yogurt.

Raita is a side dish from Indian Cuisine, made with yogurt, spices, herbs, vegetables and sometimes even with fruits. It is an integral part of Indian meal menus. Call it what you like – raita, pachadi, curd dip, or the Indian cousin of Greek tzatziki, this yogurt condiment is healthy and adaptable.

Curd or dahi is called yogurt in the United States. Yogurt is a commercialized product that is made from milk that has been heat-treated to kill live bacteria. Dahi is a traditional yogurt that is made from cow's milk, buffalo milk, or goat milk.

Raita can be served as a dip or a side dish. In the latter case, it is easiest to view it as a salad. In India, people snack on raita between courses to cool the mouth, or they mix it first with rice before eating it with a curry.

Raita is a yogurt-based gluten-free side dish served with Indian meals and is similar to Tzatziki, a Greek yogurt side dish. Cooling raita complements spicy Indian foods such as curries, vegetables, dals, and biryanis. The main ingredients for raita include yogurt, veggies or fruit, and herbs.

South Indians eat more curd/yoghurt than the rest of us. But they like it for itself. The nearest you get to raita in the South is pachdi, which may be of Tamil origin. (In Andhra and Telangana, pachdi is often just a chutney without dahi.)

Raita is prepared using curd, which is high in protein and low in unhealthy fats. It makes for a perfect aid for digestion and weight loss.

How long does raita keep in the fridge? ›

Serve right away or store in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.

At its core, raita is yogurt that's been mixed with a little bit of sugar, spices, and oftentimes vegetables and other textural components. When done right, raita has an addictive salty-sweet quality to it—it's the cooling foil to all of the hearty, warm spice-laden flavors of many Indian dishes.

Yogurt made from milk kept below 170 ºF / 77 ºC is thinner and tastes fresh, a little fruity and more tart, while yogurt made from milk held at 195 ºF / 90 ºC for 10 minutes is noticeably thicker and tastes less tart and somewhat creamy/nutty/eggy. Protein is Key to Thickening.

A basic raita recipe is made of salted yoghurt, chopped onion, coriander, mint and ground or whole cumin seeds. It has a salty, sour, savoury taste that is also cooling and refreshing.