Raita or Pachadi (as we call it in Tamil) is a cooling and refreshing yogurt-based side dish/dip that is served with spicy Biriyani or Curry. There are several different vegetables that we can use to make Raita / Pachadi. I am part of a Facebook Group called ‘Recipe Swap Challenge’. Each participating member is paired with another member and we have to cook from our pair’s blog. This month, I am paired with Sujata, who blogs at Batter Up With Sujata. I chose her Palak Raita / Spinach Raita recipe to make for this month’s challenge and it was a lovely accompaniment to the spicy Vegetable Biriyani that I made for dinner last night.
What kind of spinach to use for the recipe -
If you have fresh spinach, it will be great to use it. When I am planning what to cook for dinner in a hurry, I don’t have essentially the fresh ingredients. But I always have frozen spinach at hand. I use frozen spinach for almost all my recipes like this Spinach rice or Spinach poori. It is much easier to plan the menu with frozen ingredients ready in hand. I just thawed the frozen spinach and sauteed it for a few minutes to get rid of the moisture and then added it to the yogurt mixture. I have much more spinach recipes in my blog and most of them are made using frozen spinach. Check out all the Spinach Recipes here.
Let’s talk yogurt -
I am a big advocate of fresh Homemade yogurt. It is very simple to make yogurt at home and I have explained it in detail in this post. Also, it is very economical to make your own yogurt. It has no additives and all it needs is milk and a little bit of active yogurt culture. If using store-bought yogurt, use plain yogurt with no flavoring. Full-fat or low-fat yogurt both would work fine. Use whatever you prefer.
Seasonings -
The other seasonings used in the Palak Raita recipe are pretty straightforward and basic Indian spices. I have used chili powder and red chili in the recipe. If you want a milder flavor, skip the red chili powder. Roasted cumin powder is very important as it adds a lot of flavors. If you don’t have the ready-made powder in hand, you could always roast a little cumin and grind it, and then use it. If you are looking to make different Raita, check out a few of my recipes here -
Cucumber Peanut Raita Potato Raita Tomato Raita Radish Raita Okra Raita Plain Raita with no vegetables
Preparation time - 10 minutesCooking time - 10 minutesDifficulty level - EasyRecipe adapted from - Batter up with Sujata
Ingredients to make Spinach Raita - Serves 4
Spinach / Palak - about 8 oz / 1 ½ cups Yogurt - 1 ½ cups Milk - ¼ cup Oil - 2 tsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Mustard seed - ½ tsp Dry red chili - 2 Red chili powder - ¼ teaspoon (optional) Roasted cumin powder - ½ tsp Salt - to taste Sugar - 1 tsp
Procedure to make Palak Raita -
I used frozen spinach to make raita. Place the spinach in a bowl and add 3 tablespoon of water. Microwave for 4 minutes or until the spinach has thawed and softened.
Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan and add the thawed spinach to it. Add the salt needed for the spinach and saute on medium heat until the water content has evaporated and the spinach appears dry.
Let this mixture cook down.
In the meantime whisk the yogurt. Add milk to make it a little thinner in consistency. Start with a tablespoon of milk and increase as you go and check what consistency you like the yogurt to be.
Add the red chili powder, roasted cumin powder, sugar, and salt needed (remember we already added a little salt to the spinach), and whisk well.
Add the cooled spinach to the yogurt and mix.
Heat a small pan and add 1 teaspoon of oil. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and dry red chili to the oil and let it fry until aromatic.
Add the seasoning to the prepared yogurt mixture.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
More Side Dish Ideas
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