Spinach Raita is a refreshing and cooling Yogurt dip that is a must when serving with spicy Biriyani or Side dish.
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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.
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What kind of spinach to use for 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 few minutes to get rid of the moisture and then added it to the yogurt mixture.
I have many more spinach recipe in 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 additive 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 is pretty straightforward and basic Indian spices. I have used chili powder and red chili in the recipe. If you want milder flavor, skip the red chili powder. Roasted cumin powder is very important as it adds a lot of flavor. If you don't have ready made powder in hand, you could always roast a little cumin and grind it and then use.
If you are looking to make different Raita, check out few of my recipes here -
- Cucumber Peanut Raita
- Potato Raita
- Tomato Raita
- Radish Raita
- Okra Raita
- Plain Raita with no vegetables
Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 10 minutes
Difficulty level - Easy
Recipe 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 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.
Spinach Raita | Palak Raita
Ingredients
- 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 tsp optional
- Roasted cumin powder - ½ tsp
- Salt - to taste
- Sugar - 1 tsp
Instructions
- 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 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.
Poonam Bachhav says
Never tasted or made a spinach raita before but your post is tempting me to try one soon. Thanks for the interesting share.
Archana says
I love raita and palak raita is definitely new to me. Will try it out for sure.
Sujata Roy says
Raita looks superbly delicious. Perfect accompany with biryani. Both looks so inviting.
Preethi’scuisine says
This Palak Raita looks refreshing.I am a sucker for Raitas. Healthy and delicious treat Sandhya.
Ashima says
I like how India we have so many different varieties of raita! I've never had spinach raita yet and this looks so easy to try. Noting down the recipe to try it out soon!
sasmita says
Raita is an all time hit. Use of spinach in a raita is a lovely idea to incorporate for those who deny to have this leafy greens. Perfect to have with any biryani or even any other rice dishes...
Jolly says
Raita is the perfect accompaniment to help cool our palate and enhance the flavours with all my savoury dishes. This spinach raita looks so inviting and very very delicious. Perfect and lovely recipe!!
Kalyani says
Biryani and spinach raita are such a great combo. I love to dig into that meal, now !
Emmeline says
Oh I love raita! Maybe the best thing about Indian food?! Or one of my top... 20... or so.. at least. 😉 Anyway I never had it with spinac before but what a great idea! I love putting spinach in everything just because it's so healthy so why not in a raita. Thank you for sharing!
Danielle says
If I had to name my favorite raita, it would definitely be spinach raita. I just love this dip for its taste, consistency and simply for the way it is. Yum!
Pavani says
That is such an interesting raita recipe Sandhya. Looks so yummy with the veg biryani. I'm going to try this out soon.
The Girl Next Door says
The spinach raita looks so refreshing and delicious! I've never thought of using spinach in raita - should try this out soon. 🙂