This post is in case you thought ‘raita’ to be this mysterious dish which is not to be made at home. A dish that adds about Rs 60 (1 USD) to your bill in restaurants. Raita is actually very easy to make.
I was rather hungry during dinner today. I had gone to the gym. I did the leg routine. The most torturous thing know to man. Even if you do the stuff without weights like this mid 30s with a bad back does. Mid way into my dinner of roti and chicken chaap I realised that I would be hungry after I ate. That I would later reach for the Chaklis in the snack box. I wanted to avoid that. So I looked around the kitchen and made myself a raita in twenty seconds or so.
Here’s what I did:
- There were 4,5 rings of cucumber around. I cut them into small pieces with a knife
- Put these a bowl and added curd or dahi and filled it. I use Nestle Probiotic dahi
- To this I added a pinch, literally, of red chilly powder, jeera or cumin powder and half a teaspoon of crushed black pepper. I did not add salt or pepper. They weren’t required in the final analysis
- I looked into the fridge and found some curry leaves. Took four out. Shredded them with my hands and added them
- Then I did something very unconventional. I took two or three basil leaves from the fridge shredded them and added them to the bowl. And 7 or 8 pine nuts. Neither goes into a traditional raita. But the basil gave it a fresh, cool bite and the pine nuts made it a bit more wholesome and filling
- I slowly stirred this mix with a spoon and the raita was done. Satisfied my hunger. Tasted pretty good. The Indian touch of the curry leaves with the Italian basil made for a nice jugalbandhi of tastes.
Note: You might not have all these ingredients at home at a given time. Try adding chopped tomatoes, carrots, onions (which won’t help your ‘lonely heart status) with or instead of cucumbers. Coriander or dhania leaves, pudina or mint leaves and chopped green chillies could substitute curry leaves. Let your imagination run wild
A fancy, domesticated, raita would have a tadka where mustard seeds, curry leaves, spices could be sautéed in a bit of oil and added to the raita.
PS: I did munch a few chaklis later