Palak Raita - Spinach raita recipe

Yogurt Salad - Side dish - Indian Raita

This spinach raita recipe is one of healthy fresh spinach recipes. It's also an easy spinach dip recipe. It is one of the many wonderful yogurt recipes that I love.You can use Homemade Yogurt.

Palak is a Hindi word for spinach. Raita is a curd - yogurt based side dish. It is served with rice dishes such as vegetable rice, pulao, biryani or with any Indian breads.

How to make spinach raita - palak raita?

Ingredients for palak - spinach raita:

spinach - palak

Fresh Spinach (only leaves) - 1 cup
Curd (plain yogurt) - 1 ½ cup, lightly beaten
Salt - ½ tsp or to taste
Sugar - ¼ tsp or to taste
Black pepper powder - ¼ tsp
Garlic (optional) -1 clove or garlic powder -1/4 tsp
Cumin seed powder - ¼ tsp
Fresh coriander (cilantro) - 1 tbsp chopped fine.

Ingredients For seasoning:

Vegetable oil or ghee - 1 tsp
Asafetida powder - a pinch
mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Cumin seeds - ¼ tsp
Green chili (optional) - 1 slit in 2 pieces

Method to make spinach - palak raita:

Heat a pan and add spinach and 1 tbsp water.
Cook covered for 2 minutes on low heat.
Switch off the heat and let cool a little.
Purée the spinach if you wish or you can chop it finely.
Let cool completely.
In a bowl, mix yogurt, salt, sugar, cumin powder, chopped cilantro.
Add puréed or chopped spinach

Prepare tempering:

Heat oil over medium heat.
Add mustard seeds and fry for a few seconds. When the seeds start popping, add cumin seeds.
Add chopped green chili and asafetida. Take off fire.

Cool the tempering completely and add to the yogurt spinach mixture.

Serve immediately or refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.

This spinach raita recipe is an interesting way to eat your greens. You can make your variations by adding chopped onions, tomatoes etc. that would make it colorful too.

Tips

The plain yogurt(curds)should be fresh and sweet. Make sure it is not sour.
Add 1 tbsp fresh grated coconut to this raita if you wish.
Keep the raitha in the fridge if you are planning to serve it later. If left outside, it can get sour.
Adding tempering is optional.