The raitha is a welcome dish on our dining table, be it any season. The benefits of curd make it an essential inclusion in most menus of our meals. Eaten as a side dish or as an accompaniment with paratha, pulao or biryani, raitha is a hot favourite to cool our insides. A dash of salt added to cool, whipped curd with the option of the following main ingredients added to it, will give you a good variety of raithas to choose from:
Spinach – cut fine, washed and steamed for five minutes in a steel colander over a vessel of boiling water. Cool and add finely cut green chilies, mint and coriander.
Vegetables – finely cut carrots and beans to be steamed for 5 minutes and cooled. Add this and finely cut raw capsicum, cucumber, onion (optional), tomato, green chilies and coriander. Mix in a little sugar and cool again.
Lauki (bottle gourd) – Peel and grate the gourd. Steam in a steel colander over a vessel of boiling water for 10-12 minutes. Cool before adding to the curd. Heat a spoon of oil, add mustard, jeera, cut green chilies and curry leaves and add this seasoning to the raitha.
Bread – cut small pieces of slices of bread and deep fry them (like for soup) and cool. Add to curd just before serving (so that the bread remains crisp) and garnish with chili powder, chat masala and jeera powder.
Radish – Grate radish and add with pepper and coriander.
Capsicum – pierce a fork into a capsicum and hold over a flame. Rotate to roast it slightly all over. Cut into big pieces and add to curd along with crushed garlic (2-3 flakes per cup of curd) and finely cut green chilies.
Beetroot – boil, grate and cool before adding to the curd. Add seasoning of mustard, chilies and curry leaves. Garnish with a little red chili powder.
Boondi – Soak khara boondi in water for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the water and add to the curd.
Brinjal – roast small, round brinjals (preferably green) over burning coal or flame till fully tender. Cool, peel and mash fully. Add this to curd along with finely cut onion, green chili and coriander.
Chaat raitha – add pieces of boiled potato and sprouts. Garnish with sweet chutney, chili powder, chaat masala, mint chutney (optional) and fine sev (optional).