Raita Recipe

Raita is an Indian side dish made with yogurt, spices, herbs and vegetables. There are numerous variations and sometimes it is also made with fruits. Call it what you like – raita, pachadi, yogurt dip, or the Indian cousin of Greek tzatziki, this yogurt raita is healthy and adaptable. In this post I share a Basic Raita recipe and 12 variations from all over India.

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Summers in India are synonyms with cooling foods from seasonal fruit and ice cream to lassi, chaas, kadhi and raita. This dish comes in varied flavors and textures, from a no-fuss creamy cucumber raita to a more complex flavored burani and mint raita. You will also see the dish being made with cooked/steamed or grilled vegetables.

About Raita Recipe

Whether you are looking to beat the heat from a flaming spiced dish or simply want to round-out your Indian meal, a Raita fits the bill perfectly. A creamy raita is the best partner to all your Kebabs, Biryanis, Pulao and Parathas. It is a celebrated hero of an Indian themed dinner, so goes with anything Indian.

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Honestly, you don’t actually need anything to serve with this. Simply eat it as a refreshment! You just need 10 mins to transform the humble yogurt to a delicious raita and all you require is a handful of pantry ingredients.

At home we are bored to eat the same kind of raitas or plain yogurt regularly, so I make these different versions which I shared in this post. Here are the ingredients you need to make the basic version.

Ingredients & Substitutes

• Yogurt (Curd): Traditionally thick homemade yogurt (Indian curd) is used. But you can also use any store bought unsweetened yogurt including Greek Yogurt. Using sour yogurt makes the dish sour so make sure it is not too tart. If you can’t eat dairy, make it with plant-based yogurt.
• Vegetables: A basic raita can be made with only one vegetable or a mix of vegetables like cucumbers, onions and tomatoes. The seasonings vary depending on what you are using. Example: A North Indian cucumber raita uses cumin powder while a South Indian onion raita does not use any ground spices.
• Green chilies: This is an optional ingredient and is used for heat and flavor. All raitas are not made to tone down the heat of a meal. Some are made to bring in more heat. There are some versions where green chilies play a very important role. Example: Onion raita, mint raita and Kebab raita/chutney is always made with green chilies.
• Cumin powder: Roasted cumin powder is a key ingredient in a North Indian raita, like a cucumber raita or a mixed vegetable raita. It adds an earthy and smoky flavor to the dish.
• Herbs: Coriander leaves also known as cilantro are used to add an herby refreshing flavor. Mint leaves add a cooling and zesty flavor and aid digestion. Though you can add coriander leaves to any raita, mint leaves are used only in some versions.
• Ground Spices: (optional) Kashmiri chili powder and black pepper are used a lot of times to garnish the raita. These are mainly for aesthetic purpose. Some versions also use chaat masala to add varied flavors. If you have it you can pretty much sprinkle it any kind of raita.

Related recipes
Chicken biryani
Mutton biryani
Veg biryani

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Cucumber Raita

Young cucumbers make a great addition to a raita providing you with the crunch and double the cooling effect. Chopped cucumbers go into a bowl of yogurt seasoned with green chili, black pepper and cumin powder. Mint and coriander leaves enhance the mouthfeel of this dish.

Can’t stand the heat from chili and black pepper? Skip these or add mild paprika instead. This goes perfectly with a spicy biryani or curry dish.

Don’t have Indian cucumber at hand? Use English or Japanese cucumbers without losing out on the taste.

Ingredients
1 cup chopped cucumber
1 cup curd (adjust as needed to get the desired consistency)
Salt as needed
½ to 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
pinch of red chilli powder (optional. for garnish)
few mint leaves or coriander leaves chopped finely(optional)
1 green chili seeded and chopped

Instructions

Whisk the yogurt well with salt and cumin powder.

Wash and peel cucumber.

Deseed if required and Chop to small bites.

Add them to the bowl along with mint coriander leaves. Mix everything well.

Garnish with cumin powder, coriander leaves, red chilli powder and black pepper if required.

Boondi Raita

A unique and well-loved raita, you’ll find this served at most Indian restaurants as part of the thali or full course meal. Boondi is tiny fried balls made with chickpea or besan flour put through a special ladle with round holes.

The crunch of nutty boondi blends with chaat masala and chili powder to create a delectable yogurt condiment.

Ingredients
1 ¼ cup fresh curd / yogurt (more if required)
¾ to 1 cup boondi
Salt as needed (boondi is salted so use very little)
¼ to ½ tsp roasted cumin powder (more for garnish)
¼ tsp red chili powder (adjust to taste)
1 tbsp coriander leaves
½ tsp chaat masala (optional, adjust to taste)

How to make boondi raita

1. Whisk curd with salt & cumin powder. Add coriander leaves & mix. If you want you can also add some red chilli powder to the yogurt.
2. You can add the tiny fried balls directly into the curd mixture with the rest of the seasoning. But if you want to avoid the greasy flavor in your raita, there is an alternate method, Soak the fried boondi in a bowl of water for 1 to 2 minutes. Squeeze well to remove all the liquid and add to the curd.
3. Taste test and add more seasoning if required.
4. Sprinkle some crunchy boondi, chilli powder, ground cumin and coriander leaves for garnish.

North Indian Vegetable Raita

Mixed vegetable raita is made with a mix of vegetables like onions, cucumber, carrots and tomatoes. You will see this most often served in the North Indian restaurants in a Thali or a buffet.

This tastes completely different from other raitas, in a way it has more complex flavors of roasted cumin powder, red chili powder, black salt and chaat masala mixed into the raita.

2 to 2 ½ cups yogurt
¼ cup onions
¼ cup deseeded chopped tomatoes
¼ cup carrot
¾ cup cucumber deseeded, peeled and chopped
Handful of coriander leaves chopped finely
green chilies 2 to 3 chopped
salt as needed (preferable black salt for flavor)
1 tsp roasted cumin powder (more for garnish)
¼ tsp red chilli powder (more for garnish if required)
1 tsp chaat masala (more for garnish)

Instructions

Whisk curd well until smooth.

Add vegetables, salt, green chilies and coriander leaves.

Add cumin powder, chaat masala and red chilli powder.

Mix well and taste test and adjust the seasoning. If you prefer more veggies, stir in more yogurt at this stage. Garnish mixed vegetable raita with red chilli powder, chaat masala and cumin powder.

South Indian Onion Raita

South Indian onion raita is the simplest of all the raitas and you will find this always served with meat and vegetarian biryanis and pulaos. Also known as thayir pachadi, perugu pachadi or perugu chutney, this is a staple in most places – from South Indian households to budget and upscale restaurants.

In this version you won’t find the ground spices or any other ingredients like cumin powder or red chilli powder. Some people like to add grated carrots or a few tbsps of chopped cucumber, but these are optional.

For this version it is important to use good quality onions that don’t smell bad. If your onions are too pungent, you may cut each onion to 2 parts and soak them in water for 15 to 20 mins. This removes the pungent smell. Then drain the water completely and then slice.

Ingredients
1 cup yogurt/ curd (more if required to adjust the consistency)
½ cup onions roughly chopped (1 medium)
1 to 3 green chilies deseeded and chopped
Salt as required
1 to 2 tbsps coriander leaves fine chopped

Instructions
1. Whisk curd with salt until smooth.
2. Add all the other ingredients and mix. Taste test and adjust the seasoning.

Mint Coriander Raita

This is known by different names as dahi chutney, kebab chutney, kebab raita, mint raita, mint chutney for kebab etc. These names are purely region or country specific, mostly used in Indian restaurants abroad.

This goes so well with pulao, biryani, parathas, rolls and wraps. You can also serve with kababs like Chicken kebab, Soya seekh kabab, Vegetarian Hara bhara kabab, Grilled tandoori chicken, Reshmi / malai kabab, Mixed veg cutlet and chicken cutlet.

Ingredients
¾ to 1 cup thick fresh curd / dahi
2 to 3 deseeded green chili
1 cup loosely measured fresh pudina / mint leaves (15 grams)
½ cup coriander leaves (15 grams)
1 small garlic clove
¼ inch ginger
½ to ¾ tsp roasted cumin powder/ jeera (or 1 tsp cumin seeds)
¼ to ½ tsp sugar
salt as needed

How to make

• Wash mint & coriander in lot of water. Drain them very well in a colander.
• Dry roast 1 tsp cumin until aromatic and cool it. Powder it in a small grinder/blender jar.
• Add 2 tbsp of curd, coriander, sugar, mint, salt, ginger, garlic and chili to the blender jar.
• Blend them all well until smooth.
• Whisk the remaining yogurt in a bowl and then add the mint coriander paste. Mix well. Taste test and add more salt if required. If you want you can also add some chaat masala.

Onion Mint Raita

Ingredients
¾ cup fresh mint leaves/pudina (loosely measured)
1 large onion chopped or half cup chopped cucumber
½ tsp cumin seeds
¼ to ½ tsp. sugar
salt as needed
1¼ cup thick curd or Greek yogurt
small green chili (deseeded)

Method
1. Wash mint/ pudina leaves few times. Drain them to a colander.
2. Dry roast cumin and cool it. Add cumin to a blender jar and powder. You can skip this if you have the powder ready, just use the powder directly.
3. Add 1 tbsp of curd, mint, coriander, sugar, salt and chili to the jar.
4. Blend until fine. Mix with the rest of the curd.
5. Add chopped onions or cucumber pieces. Serve onion mint raita with any meal.

Green Chilli Raita

This may be a good choice for those with young kids at home. Make your biryani, pulao kids friendly with out green chilies. Make a carrot raita for the kids. Then make this chilli raita to go with your biryani.

Ingredients
¾ to 1 cup fresh curd
2 to 4 hot green chilies
¼ to ½ tsp sugar (organic) (optional)
½ to ¾ tsp cumin or jeera powder
coriander leaves few chopped (optional)

Method
1. If you like you can deseed and use the green chilies to reduce the heat.
2. Fry green chilies in 1 tsp oil until they blister. Cool and blend with 2 tbsps curd and sugar in a blender. Mix with the rest of the curd and salt. Garnish with cumin powder. It is good to serve this chilled.

Cabbage Raita

Ingredients
½ cup finely chopped cabbage
1 cup greek yogurt or hung curd
1 green chili deseeded & chopped
Roasted cumin powder / jeera powder to suit your taste
Few coriander leaves chopped
Sat as required

How to make

• Bring 5 to 6 cups water to a boil and turn off the heat. Add the shredded cabbage and give a good mix and drain to a colander.
• Immediately pour cold water and rinse well. Drain water completely and set aside.
• Whisk curd with salt & cumin.
• Add cabbage, green chili and coriander leaves.
• Mix everything well.
• Sprinkle black pepper.

Pahadi Raita

What do hills and yogurt have in common? Nothing except that this raita from Kumaon cuisine can transport to you to lush green mountains of Uttarakhand with clean air and breathtaking views.

The original pahadi recipe uses a locally grown variety of giant cucumber with yellowish skin. Use any type of cucumber to recreate this recipe.

Grated cucumber blends with thick curds. The exceptional tasting spice paste contains yellow mustard seeds combined with red chili powder and turmeric. Chopped green chili and coriander leaves add the finishing touches to the raita.

How to make

• Grind 1 teaspoon mustard seeds to a smooth powder.
• Grate cucumber (1 cup) and squeeze off the excess juices from it.
• Whisk 1 cup yogurt with mustard powder, 1/8 teaspoon turmeric and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a smooth consistency. You can also add little red chilli powder if you like.
• Add 2 fine chopped green chilies and 2 tbsps coriander leaves.
• Mix everything well and your pahadi raita is ready.

Burani Raita

If you love adding garlic to everything you cook, this raita will soon become your go-to recipe. Deceptively simple but damn delicious, this curd condiment gets all its tang from garlic.

You can simply add minced garlic cloves or fresh garlic paste to the curd mixture with salt and other seasonings.

To get a deeper and smokier flavor from the garlic, fry the garlic cloves in oil and add the tempering to the yogurt.

Ingredients
1 ¼ cup fresh thick curd / yogurt
2 medium garlic cloves
Salt to taste
¾ tsp roasted cumin powder
2 generous pinches of red chili powder

How to make

• Whisk together curd, chilli powder and salt.
• Blend 2 garlic cloves with 2 tbsps of yogurt. Optionally you may skip this step and fry the fine chopped garlic in 1 tbsp of oil until uniformly golden. Do not brown it to avoid bitter flavor. Cool this and pour the whole thing to whisked yogurt. If you love the more intense garlic flavor, you can add the raw garlic and add more fried garlic too.
• Mix it with the rest of the whisked yogurt.
• Garnish with cumin powder.

Pomegranate raita or fruit raita

Ingredients
1 cup thick curd / yogurt
½ cup pomegranate / anardana (or sweet mangoes & grapes)
Salt to taste
¼ tsp roasted cumin powder
2 generous pinches of red chili powder (optional)

Whisk the curd to smooth with salt, chili powder and cumin powder. Add the pomegranate seeds and serve. This goes well with pulao and biryani that are not much hot (from chilies) as this tastes slightly hot.

Grilled or sautéed Vegetable Raita

Bored of those simple flavors of the regular raita? If you’re looking for crunch, depth and bold flavors in your yogurt dip, you ought to recreate this recipe of mine at least once in your kitchen.

This one is vastly different from the others because of sautéed or roasted vegetables. This dish is heavier than the others and works as a standalone side to a spicy biryani or flavored rice dishes.

You can use any vegetable you like or a combination or two or more. Cook the vegetables well with cumin seeds and green chili. Add in aromatics like garlic and ginger for a burst of extra flavor. Go ahead and mix-in seasonings including salt, cumin powder or chaat masala.

Add the cooled veggies to the yogurt and serve. Easy enough.

So, what kind of veggies complement this raita? Greens like spinach work for this dish. Roast some eggplants to give a flavorsome twist. Sauté some bottle gourd or snake gourd. White pumpkin and squash could add a refreshing note to the raita.

I have a few which I have shared on the blog. You may check them here – Potlakaya perugu pachadi and Bottle gourd perugu pachadi.