Raita in India refers to a yogurt based dish often served on the side with Indian curries and breads. I guess traditionally it was made to balance out the spiciness in our curries and then it just became an integral part of our meals. Raita can be sweet or savory depending on what you add to it. Different fruits and vegetables are added to yogurt and then mixed with few spices. The most famous raita I would say is boondi raita [boondi are small deep fried balls made from gram flour (besan)], cucumber raita and onion-tomato raita. Pineapple raita is not what you will find in every household but I LOVE it! It’s creamy, sweet & salty and bursting with pineapples, what’s not to love?
For pineapple raita it’s best to use thick yogurt. So I put my yogurt in a strainer and let it stand for 15 minutes to get rid of all excess water. You can skip this step if your yogurt is really thick. Similarly you can let the yogurt strain for even an hour or two if there’s a lot of water in it. Creamy thick yogurt = creamy raita = Awesomeness! This raita is supposed to be sweet so other than the chopped pineapple [which were sweet] I also added some sugar in it. Other spices that went into the yogurt were cumin powder, black salt, smoked paprika and mint flakes. I love the flavor of mint in my yogurt, makes it so refreshing! You can of course use fresh mint, that would taste even better.
Ready in few minutes, this pineapple raita is creamy, delicious and the perfect side dish for just about any meal!
Method
Measure 1 cup of yogurt in a strainer and let it sit for 15 minutes. This is to drain excess water from the yogurt as pineapple raita tastes better when the yogurt is thick.
After 15 minutes, transfer the yogurt to a bowl and add black salt, smoked paprika, mint flakes, cumin powder and sugar.
Whisk the yogurt till spices are well mixed.
Add the chopped pineapple pieces to the yogurt and mix.
Finally add some chopped coriander leaves and mix.
Pour the raita into serving bowl and garnish with chopped pineapple pieces. Also sprinkle some mint flakes on top.
Chill the raita before serving. Pineapple raita is the perfect condiment to any spicy Indian curry and tastes best when chilled.
* I used canned pineapple for this recipe but you can use fresh pineapple too, in fact that would taste even better.
* Chill the raita before serving, it doesn’t taste half as good when it’s at room temperature.
Pineapple Raita
Ingredients
- 1 cup yogurt
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoons pineapple chopped
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
- ⅛ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ teaspoon mint flakes more to sprinkle
- ¾ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon black salt
- 10 coriander leaves
Instructions
- Measure 1 cup of yogurt in a strainer and let it sit for 15 minutes. This is to drain excess water from the yogurt.
- After 15 minutes, transfer the yogurt to a bowl and add black salt, smoked paprika, mint flakes, cumin powder and sugar.
- Whisk the yogurt till spices are well mixed.
- Add the chopped pineapple pieces to the yogurt and mix.
- Finally add some chopped coriander leaves and mix.
- Pour the raita into serving bowl and garnish with chopped pineapple pieces.
- Sprinkle some mint flakes on top and chill the raita before serving.
This is really yummy!