Palak Pachadi | Spinach Raita

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.

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 1/2 cups
• Yogurt – 1 1/2 cups
• Milk – 1/4 cup
• Oil – 2 tsp
• Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
• Mustard seed – 1/2 tsp
• Dry red chili – 2
• Red chili powder – 1/4 tsp (optional)
• Roasted cumin powder – 1/2 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 TBSP of water. Microwave for 4 minutes or until the spinach has thawed and softened.

• Heat 1 tsp 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 TBSP 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 tsp 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.

5 from 5 votes

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Spinach Raita | Palak Raita

Spinach Raita is a refreshing and cooling Yogurt dip that is a must when serving with spicy Biriyani or Side dish. 

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Keyword cucmber raita for biriyani, How to make palak raita, how to make raita for pulao, How to make spinach raita, spinach pachadi

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings 4 Servings

Author Sandhya Ramakrishnan

Ingredients

• Spinach / Palak - about 8 oz / 1 1/2 cups
• Yogurt - 1 1/2 cups
• Milk - 1/4 cup
• Oil - 2 tsp
• Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
• Mustard seed - 1/2 tsp
• Dry red chili - 2
• Red chili powder - 1/4 tsp optional
• Roasted cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - 1 tsp

Instructions

1. I used frozen spinach to make raita. Place the spinach in a bowl and add 3 TBSP of water. Microwave for 4 minutes or until the spinach has thawed and softened.
2. Heat 1 tsp 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.
3. Let this mixture cook down.
4. In the meantime whisk the yogurt. Add milk to make it a little thinner in consistency. Start with a TBSP of milk and increase as you go and check what consistency you like the yogurt to be.
5. 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.
6. Add the cooled spinach to the yogurt and mix.
7. Heat a small pan and add 1 tsp of oil. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dry red chili to the oil and let it fry until aromatic.
8. Add the seasoning to the prepared yogurt mixture.
9. Refrigerate until ready to serve.