Boondi Raita
Of all the different kinds of raita’s (yogurt side dish – kind of a dip) – Boondi’s (tiny balls of fried gram flour – chickpea flour) raita remains one of my favourites. Having grown up in a South Indian family, yogurt was always a part of every meal. But believe me, the first time I tasted this was when I was in my 20s during my lunch out with my boss in Bangalore. The crunchiness of the Boondi’s in yogurt – the taste and feel stayed with me.
Some of my trails to prepare this at home ended in disasters. I learned it the hard way that Boondi’s is best kept as last add-on before meals – to retain their crunchiness or else the raita’s turns into one gooey mess.
This dish is similar to Tzatziki (a Greek yogurt dip – can be made in versatile variations). Similarly our raita’s can be found in different variations i.e. fruit raitas, pulse raitas, vegetable raitas etc.
Raita is the classic accompaniment dish to any pulao or biryani (veg & non-veg), very easy to prepare with minimal ingredients. This yogurt preparation is mainly eaten with spicy dishes to cool the palate and many a times it works to enhance the favours too.
Think Indian: Think Raitas!!
Boondi Raita
Nutritional Value: 82 Calories / Serving Fat 34 cal Carbs 13 cal Protein 35 cal
Ingredients
- 1 cup Thick Curd
- ¼ tsp Cumin Powder
- ¼ tsp Chilli Powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- Water as required
- ¼ cup Boondi Plain
Instructions
How to Make Boondi Raita ?
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Take the curd in bowl add the dry masala powder and the salts to the curd and beat it gently, and then add some water and beat it gently again, till its mixed. Keep this in the fridge until its served, raita is always good when cold.
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Add Boondi just before it’s served, as it tends to soak the water content and the raita becomes thick and the Boondi gets soggy and it’s not really tasty.
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This is served as accompaniment for Veg Biryani, Pulao’s, Paratha and non veg preparations.
Looking for more recipes: Coconut Chutney, Makhana Raita, Ginger Chutney