பாரு பாரு, பச்சடி பாரு..! RAITA ANYDAY ANYTIME!!

My days are getting hectic, without actually accomplishing much. You have experienced that sometime or the other I suppose.

Now, there is an effortless (almost) side dish that will spruce up your palette, complete a meal, make a so so dinner into a sophisticated one, and so on.. You guessed right, that side dish is Raita (for North Indians, Pachchadi for South Indians). And it is a perfect add on in Summer.

All you need is some vegetable (bar a few exceptions!). In my house, when I cook, whether we have a main course or not, we will have Raita! just kidding, but I can hardly cook a meal, without adding a raita. Let's see what are the vegetables you can make raita out of:

Tomato, Potato, Onions, Cucumber, Squash, Bell Peppers, Green pepper, Ladies Finger(Bindi), Eggplant, Radish, Beetroot, Carrot, Coacoanut, White pumpkin, mango, ...

Generic Raita Recipe:

Cut the vegetable of your choice finely. Cut also couple of green chillies and coriander finely. Add yoghurt/ buttermilk to the required amount, add salt, mix. Top it off with a few popped mustard seeds, and add the cut greenchillies and coriander leaves and mix well. Raita is ready to serve.

Here are the tweeks:

1. Tomato alone:

Step 1:Cut into pieces, take a sauce pan, add some oil, pop some mustard seeds and urad dal, add the green chillies, and add the cut tomatoes, add salt and saute well.
Step 2:Let it cool really well and add yoghurt and mix. Add chopped coriander leaves.

2. Zuchini/ Squash/ White Pumpkin:

Cut the vegetable into big pieces and boil well with less water. Mash just a little, cool it down.
Go to Step 2.
Step 3: Pop some mustard seeds, asafoetida and add to the yoghurt mix.

3. Carrot/ Radish/Beetroot:

peel the skin off. Grate the vegetable. Add salt and asafoetida.
Go to Step 2 and 3.

3. Tomato, Cucumber, Carrot, Cocoanut:

Peel the skin off. Cut into small pieces. Either all 3 or tomato-cucumber-cocoanut, cucumber-carrot-cocoanut will work. Blend well in a mixer with small quantity of water. Remove and add salt.
Go to step 2 and 3.

4. Ladies finger (भिन्डी/ வெண்டைக்காய்):

Cut into small pieces after washing. Saute well with some popped mustard seeds and urad dal. Add salt and asafoetida.
Go to step 2.

5. Eggplant (भैंगन / கத்திரிக்காய்):

Bake the eggplant smearing it with afew drops of oil. Peel the skin off, mash the contents and add salt. Take a small spoon of oil and pop mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, jeera and chillies (green or red) and asafoetida. Add to the mashed vegetable.
Go to step 2.

6. Bell peppers:

Cut finely and saute. Step 2 and 3.

7. Green chillies:

Clean and cut into uniform slender pieces. Cut some ginger pieces. (Optional - bell peppers).
Take a sauce pan, add a generous quantity of oil and pop mustard seeds, little jeera, channa dal, and some meithi. Now add the green chillies and cook in med-low flame for a few minutes. Now add pre prepared tamarind water, reasonably thick, and add salt and turmeric powder. Let it boil well for sometime and cool it down.

This will be great side dish for Idli, dosai, thayir satham, chappati, upma, etc.,
It can be refrigerated in good condition for upto a month or more.!

6. Mango:(Sweet Raita)

Boil well, add jaggerya and when thick top it off with mustard seeds and meithi.

7. Potato:

Boil potato, peel, and mash into small pieces, Add yoghurt, tinge of garam masala, chilli powder and salt. That's it. No step 2 or 3. :-)

8. Bhoondi:

Just take some bhoondi and add yoghurt and salt and a tinge of garam masala and chilli powder. There is your Raita that you eat in any Indian restaurant in the US.

9. Readers Choice Recipe:

Send in your recipe. I will add it here.

Happy Cooking!!!!!!!! or shall we say in this case, NO cooking!!!!!!!!!!!