Fresh, healthy and spicy just the way we like it! Do you know Boondi Raita? In some portals and recipe books you will find it classified as a salad, but in reality it is more like a sauce, fresh and creamy, to be enjoyed on its own or to accompany other dishes, a bit like Greek Tzatziki, ‘wanting to find a similarity’.
Boondi raita, as the name suggests, is one of the many variants of ‘raita’, a distant Indian relative of Greek tzatziki. Let's get to know it better...
What is raita in Indian cuisine?
As mentioned earlier, it is a fresh and creamy dish, prepared with yoghurt, spices (especially cumin, which is present in all versions), vegetables and fresh fruit. Easy to prepare (it takes little more than ten minutes), it can be used as an appetiser or as a side dish in composite dishes.
In today's article, we have decided to offer it to you in a special version, boondi raita... and this brings us to the next step, to find out a little more about boondi or boondi masala.
What is the difference between boondi and boondi masala
Boondi, one of the main ingredients of our dish, is a tasty snack made of tiny fried balls of chickpea flour. It is widely used and popular in both its plain version and its spicy variant, the boondi masala. It is easier than you might think to find it on the market, either online or in ethnic or organic food shops, but if you want to try your hand at making a homemade version, you can follow the recipe available on Hebbarskitchen.
How to make boondi raita
To prepare your raita in the boondi version you will need
250 g of plain whole yoghurt, half a teaspoon of cumin, a pinch of chilli powder, two pinches of black pepper, 85 g of boondi, a pinch of salt, fresh coriander.
In a sufficiently large container, mix the yoghurt with the spices, salt and chopped fresh coriander and leave to infuse for a few minutes.
At this point you have two options, the boondi has a rather crunchy consistency, you can add it without softening it, or after letting it soak for no more than 5 minutes in warm water.
Mix everything together and your boondi raita is ready to enjoy.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)