Beetroot Raita – Lightly Seasoned Beetroot and Yogurt Salad
We have been celebrating Spring. Today’s post is mostly a collage of this wondrous time.
The past few days have been gorgeous. Balmy air, blue skies and the soft delicate petals on the trees, have dressed the earth as beautifully as it possibly can.
As the spring breathes color and life in to mother nature, my kitchen and the produce goes through renewal too. The note of nascent spring, and the sunshine calls for food that is light and fresh; lightly cooked and sauteéd, less processed, and of course food with some fresh colors.
It had been an extremely busy but fun week. The weather turned very pleasant, while the spring break began. I have been enjoying the outside a lot with my girls. The spring air beckons us for long walks, swaying blooming branches and a lot of play in the park. The inspiration of this recipe rose out of the colors of spring and the abundant blooms around our neighborhood.
And I decided to bring some spring indoors. No not the flowers, for they look best on the trees –
Spy the bee? The magic of nature’s at work
For those who are not familiar, Raita is simply a yogurt based Indian condiment often used as a side, sauce or dip. Fruits, and/or vegetables or even tiny lentil dumplings are combined with yogurt and the condiment may or may not be lightly tempered with spices and herbs.
We had planned a lot of time together and I had my heart filled with the my gals. Then the Super Moon and the Indian Festival of Holi came in together. While the Saturday evening was spent looking at the loveliest moon, the Sunday was full of action and chasing around with the colors for Holi.
It is indeed time for the beautiful pink!
Sara is hosting Meeta’s Monthly Mingle, and she has “struck upon THINK PINK“. So here goes my pink to Think Pink.
Raita is served chilled and is considered a cooling dish. Even though Raita is usually a savory dish, certain times when only fruits are used along with yogurt, some kind of sweetener is used to strike that right balance of taste. The Mediterranean Cacık or Tzatziki very similar to the Indian Raita.
Although not very traditional, I have added some walnuts here. Believe me, it makes a mighty happy and refreshing lunch with some crisp grilled pitas and the beetroot and walnut raita.
Sweet or savory, the Raita makes a wonderful accompaniment with grilled meat and works wonderfully as a side for a light lunch, or as a dip with crackers or flat breads.
Endlessly versatile, any kind and combination of fruits, vegetables are spices may be used to make Raita. and the dish may be used in any way you want. It all depends on the regions of India, and of course the personal preferences.
Beetroot Raita – Lightly Seasoned Beetroot and Yogurt Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 large beetroot
- 2 cups strained yogurt, or Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup walnut, lightly toasted and broken into small pieces
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 scant teaspoon whole mustard or sesame seeds
- 1 fresh green hot pepper – Serrano or Thai Bird, sliced very thin
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- scant 1/4 teaspoon roasted cumin powder (optional)
- 10 fresh Curry leaves (optional)
- salt
- red chili powder/paprika/cayenne, to taste
- fresh cilantro/coriander or fresh mint (if you are not using Curry leaves)
Note: I have used Curry leaves to season and flavor the raita. The Curry leaves may be substituted with any herbs. I love using fresh mint or cilantro. If you are not using Curry leaves, do not cook the mint/cilantro in oil; muddle the herbs to release the flavor and add them fresh to the yogurt instead.
Preparation:Boil or roast the beetroot till cooked. Cool, peel and grate/shred or julienne the beetroot. The root may be chopped into very tiny cubes if shredding seems like an effort.
Combine yogurt, salt, sugar, chili powder/paprika, roasted cumin powder and whisk till smooth and creamy. Combine the toasted nuts, prepared beetroot, half the amount of fresh chili pepper and add them to the whisked yogurt. Gently stir them in.
Heat the oil and add the mustard OR sesame seeds. When they start to splutter, switch off the heat and add the rest of the chili peppers and the curry leaves to the hot oil. Remove from heat and immediately pour over the raita – yogurt, beetroot mix.
Gently stir in the tempering and serve chilled.
Serve as a condiment, side or a dip.
Related Posts:
Aam Murabba/Green Mango Relish
Sugar Grilled Mangoes with Saffron Yogurt and Nuts
So pretty Soma. Indeed Spring and your girls look so happy. Happy Holi. You are one talented photographer my friend!
such a beautiful and colorful pic 🙂 just beautiful!!
I don’t like beets but I must say this looks soo good I’m starting to doubt myself.
Your photos are so beautiufl. I especially love the photos of the blossoms. The colours perfectly match the beetroot raita.
Raita looks brilliant! So colorful and nicely made.
Deepa
Hamaree Rasoi
Looks gorgeous. My husband loves beetroot raita. I make a more south indian version of this
beautiful beautiful! For some reasons I feel that your photos truly come alive lately! The power of spring? 🙂
Wow……raita looks extremely yum….love that spring clicks….
I normally grate the raw beet and make this raita. But will try roasting or boiling and see the difference. Love the matching flowers you clicked with the raita.
I love the pairing of the spring blossoms and the beet raita pics 🙂 What a pretty pink post!
Beautiful colors……what a awesome post !!
I love spring and spring blossoms!
What a gorgeous dish! Beetroot is so versatile and your raita must be palatable.
Cheers,
Rosa
luved ur pink post,..;-)
im not a big beet fan, but why dint i think of making raita with it…hmmmm
the pibk flowers look gorgeous.
Those beautiful flowers interspersed with the amazing raita has me energized this morning. I grate the beetroot but chopping them seems like a much easier way to do it.
Enjoy Spring, ours is a few weeks away,
Beautiful is the word for this dish..
Lovely, I was so missing the pink spring of Europe, here in India there are flowers here and there but dust and pollution and heat is not allowing them to look so pretty. I was thinking that day that last year this time I used to walk through the spring blossoms. Your photos made me very happy. Also the beet root raita will be a good healthy option and that I can make in India too!
Hope you had a lovely Holi. Your beetroot raita is so pretty. I love the intense pink color the beets give off. Lovely photos as well 🙂
That looks so beautiful!!!!Perfect spring recipe!Love the pics..:)
What a pretty way to welcome spring. I like how the cherry blossoms match the color of the beetroot raita. And I love raita, and this looks like a very creative and delicious version of it.
Really beautiful way to welcome pink by this beautiful pink beetroot yogurt., loved ur pictures and presentation !
lovely pictures, as always, Soma. See so much pink everyday with my daughter that I kind of don’t like pink anymore but I loved your very pink post.
This sounds fabulous since I love beets (and yogurt) and the pink color is just astonishing! Beautiful photos, especially love the one with the bee! 🙂
oh wow- awesome – epitome of creativity- love the colours
Your pictures are a treat for the eyes! They are so pretty!
The beetroot raita sounds as delicious as it looks beautiful!
That looks so incredibly pretty! I love the vibrant colors of that beetroot raita! I actually spotted the first bumblebee this week too.. Now only the blossom needs to come out and spring can begin in full!
I love the color of this! And, the blooming redbud. So pretty. I made a beet dip last weekend, and that pink color is so lovely. The walnuts in your raita sound great!
Gosh wat a lovely pink pink post and those flowers and raita alluring it is! I’m so J of the spring, here we are in -10 C waiting for sun and some greens…sigh…Keep enjoying 😀
Oh lovely pink! Love the recipe! I make something similar, its also on the blog but put coconut as well 🙂
Love that picture of your girls playing holi!
That is gorgeous! I bet it tastes even better than it looks. Great pictures too! 🙂
How perfect for a spring day! Great combination of colors!
That is such a gorgeous colour and I bet it tastes delicious too!
Your dip looks amazing. I love this dip and I make it often, but slightly different and the pink colour is just beautiful.
Beautiful pictures and adore the dips..happy to follow u…
Happy Holi (belated) to you all. This is one of my fav ways of eating beetroot but your recipe sounds even better. I must try this soon. excellent photos!
The photographs are simple gorgeous Soma! I had made a beet raita from Anjum Anand’s book, its very similar to yours but used raw grated beets instead. I just loved the color of the raita.
Soma….this is just a beautiful post- the recipe, the photos, your description of spring. And I’m glad you’ve finally posted a picture of your daughters 🙂 Happy Holi again!
Beautiful! Looks yummy. I love all the colors in your pictures.
That is an awesome collection of spring pictures. Love the raita color for the perfect season!
Great ! I will try that soon.
So pretty in pink! Love it!
Beautiful, Soma! Love the vibrant color and best thing is it’s natural. Congrats, again, on top 9 =D.
Your photos are all so well colour-co-ordinated 🙂
You’ve done an incredible job here – I love your interpretation of think pink
This is so pretty and I love how you’ve juxtaposed your salad with the blossom! Thanks for joining in with the Monthly Mingle!
What amazing pictures!
This is the most beautiful raita I´ve ever seen in my life, which btw, is just perfect because I love simple raita, but yours, I just can´t wait and give it a try.
Photography is gorgeous too, I specially enjoyed the one of your girls(?) during the Festival of Holi
What an amalgamation of food and color of nature!! Extraordinary! Really! 🙂
Gorgeous colours and photos – I especially like that diptych!
Greetings from another beetroot lover 🙂