Sunday, November 29, 2009

Mixed Vegetable Raita...with a twist !

Raita is a simple Indian salad always made with yogurt, some vegetables or any particular vegetable of choice and some simple seasoning. It tastes great when paired with pulao or biryani. If you want to add a salad to an Indian meal you cannot go wrong with raita. This dish features regularly in my kitchen and I never gave any thought to varying the usual recipe. Recently my mother in law was here with us and she mentioned to me that sometimes split gram lentil (also known as udad dhal) is roasted, powdered and added to the raita to give it a different flavor.

Her version of raita piqued my interest and I could not wait to try it the next time I was planning pulao and raita for lunch. This seemingly simple and slight variation really adds an interesting flavor to the raita and a touch of creaminess that really enhanced the raita. In addition when I tasted the yogurt with the powdered lentil in it, just before adding the vegetables, the yogurt taste reminded me of dahi vada (fried black gram lentil fritters soaked in yogurt). Of course once the vegetables are added this strong resemblance in watered down quite a bit. But anything that ever reminds me of dahi vada no matter how slight, wins my approval in the taste department, so this one is definitely a winner in my book :-)


Raita 1


Here is another view of the Raita.....


Raita 2


Click here for a printable view of this recipe

Ingredients and Method to make Mixed Vegetable Raita

1 small carrot grated
1 large cucumber peeled and cut fine
1 large tomato cut fine
1 1/2 cups plain yogurt (curds/ dahi)

1 tbsp split black gram lentil (udad dhal) (dry roasted until red and ground to a fine powder)


seasoning
1 tsp oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds (rai/ kadagu)
3 small Thai / Indian variety green chillies (or according to taste) (cut very fine)
pinch of asoafoetida (hing/ perungayam) (optional)

salt according to taste ( I used about 3/4 tsp salt)


Dry roast the split black gram lentil on a medium heat until it starts to turn reddish. Cool thoroughly and powder in your spice grinder until fine.

In a large bowl, add the plain yogurt, the powdered lentil powder, salt to taste and wisk well together until it is smooth.

Heat oil in a small pan, add mustard seeds. When the seeds start to splutter, add finely cut green chillies and the asafoetida and give a mix or two until the green chillies start to change color.

Pour the entire mixture of oil + mustard seeds + green chilli mixture on top of the wisked yogurt and mix well.

In another bowl assemble all the vegetables mentioned above and give it a good mix.

Just before serving add the vegetables to the yogurt mixture and mix well and serve immediately

Notes

If the vegetables are added to yogurt well before time, the raita tends to get a little watery because the juices from cucumber and tomato get released, hence the need to mix it just before serving.

31 comments :

Unknown said...

Looks creamy and rich, nice twist too!

Indhu said...

I love raita in any form.. I have been known to drink cups of raita ignoring the main course :)
will add the urad dal the next time I make this .... as you said, anything that reminds me of dahi vadai is a sure winner :)

Unknown said...

like the addition of urad dal powder.. nice twist.

Priya Suresh said...

Definitely an interesting twist..Raita looks thick and refreshing!

indosungod said...

Will try the urad dal powder next time I make raita, dahi vadai works for me too.

suvi said...

Looks yum....my mil makes something very similar, she also grinds mustard seeds along with the urad.

Preeti Kashyap said...

Should try it soon! Love the idea of putting ground urad dal

chef and her kitchen said...

This version sounds gr8 dear..

Pari Vasisht said...

I temper my raita sometimes with urad dal, but ur twist invites me to try this version too.

Valarmathi Sanjeev said...

This sounds great and yummy.

Anonymous said...

Sounds delicious, great twist!

Deepthi Shankar said...

nice raita

Gita Jaishankar said...

This version of raita sounds interesting Usha...looks good too :)

Supriya said...

Hi Usha - addition of udad dal pwd to raita sure sounds interesting. I usually add peanut pwd., will try the udad dal next time. Would be especially good for serving people w/peanut allergies.

Unknown said...

yummmyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

Anupama said...

The twist definitely sounds like a 'must try' one... the raita looks very creamy indeed!

SE said...

hi usha..thanks for stopping by at my blog and for the wonderful comments..you have a great space too!

Sushma Mallya said...

Nice recipe, perfect salad for pulav..will surely try out ur version..

Cham said...

I never seasoned the raita! This one sounds good with urad dhal!

Unknown said...

using udid dal is something so differnt..looks so colourful and yumm

Malar Gandhi said...

Sounds so good, mixed veggies...complete and load of fibre.

Oraphan said...

Hi Usha,

This salad looks and sounds amazingly delicious! I've never heard about it before but I believe it's my kind of food, YUM!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and the lovely comments. So in love with your blog, it has all what I've been looking for; great recipes & tips, beautiful photos and especially an INSPIRATION! Can't wait to come back and read more:)

preethvijay said...

Hi thanks for visiting my blog and for ur valuable comments. Ur blog looks awesome....Wonderful efforts...... And this salad version sounds so nice and different.

Unknown said...

sounds gr8 and nice twist..raita looks so inviting..:)

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

raitha looks colorful and pretty.

Padhu Sankar said...

Looks creamy and delicious.
http://padhuskitchen.blogspot.com/

Padhu Sankar said...

Looks creamy and delicious.
http://padhuskitchen.blogspot.com/

radha said...

I shall try this especially since I have some roasted urad dhal powder left over from some muruku making some time again. A nice twist as you put it.

Soma said...

The dal sounds really intriguing in the raita. will have to try this out. It is almost like a designer raita ;-)

PJ said...

I know exactly what you mean by dahi-wada kind of flavor to the raita... I have had one like that at a friend's pot-luck party and wondered how that was made.. now I know the secret! thanks for sharing and beautiful photos btw!

sangeeta said...

hey now i realize that i have been here before...great blog you have...n nice healthy recipes..

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