Boondi are light , crispy , tiny , fried , gram flour balls
and raita is any curd / yogurt based dish. So Boondi Raita is a North Indian raita
made by mixing crispy boondi with the spiced curd. This raita can be served
with any plain or stuffed paratha, and tastes best with rice dishes like Pulavs
and Biryanis.
Boondi raita is one of the simplest raitas , and can be made
in a jiffy, if you have curd and boondi ready at hand. Boondi can be made at
home , but is easily available in Indian departmental stores . Plain boondi is
used in the preapartion of boondi laddoo. Salted boondi is served as savoury
tea time snacks or is used in chaats .
There are many ways of making this delicious Boondi Raita. One can
first soak the boondi in lukewarm water , this will remove excess oil from the
boondi and also make the boondi swell up which makes it soft and receptive to
the flavours of the spiced yogurt. The other method is to add the crisp boondi
directly to the beaten spiced yogurt and refrigerate the raita for few minutes
before serving, which allows the boondi to soften and soak up the flavours. But
if likes the boondi to remain crisp in the raita, can beat up the yogurt and
season it with spices and add boondi just before serving. This will prevent the
boondi from becoming soggy.
One can season this Boondi raita with variety of spices like
roasted Cumin powder , red Chilly powder , Black salt , Chaat masala , crushed
black Pepper , rock salt and with herbs like fresh Coriander leaves, fresh or
dried Mint leaves or with fried and crushed curry leaves.
Ingredients
- 1 cup plain Curd
- 1/2 cup unflavored salted Boondi
- 1/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
- 1/4 tsp red chilly powder
- 1/4 tsp Chaat masala ( optional)
- 1/2tsp sugar (optional)
- 1/4 tsp black salt
- 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh Coriander
- Salt to taste.
Method:
- In a bowl take the curd and whisk till it is smooth.
2. Season
the beaten curd with roasted cumin powder , red chilly powder , chaat
masala , sugar and black salt. Give a quick stir.
3. Taste
and add salt or chilly powder as per requirement. Be cautious while adding salt , as the boondi also has salt in it. Refrigerate this
seasoned curd until use and add boondi while serving , if you like to have
a crisp boondi in the raita. But if
you prefer the boondi which has soaked up all the flavors from the seasoned
curd, add the boondi at this stage. Mix well and refrigerate the Boondi
raita for few minutes , or for about half an hour before serving.
4. Transfer
the Boondi Raita to a serving bowl and garnish it with finely chopped
fresh coriander leaves and serve with paratha or rice dish of your choice.
5. I have served the Boondi raita with Soybean Chunk Fried Rice.
Do try out this simple yet delicious raita recipe and share your valuable feedback with me.
For more raiat and salad recipes, do check my posts on
Hi. I find your blogs interesting. It would be great if you can also blog on spices. I would be happy to send across our farm samples for your consumption. Do let me know;
ReplyDeletesales@homeofspices.com
Thank you for your kind words. I will try to add Indian spices in my blogs
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