Easy Pomegranate Raita
Raita is a side dish made throughout India. It is often served as accompaniment to rice or side to any subji and roti meals. The most popular Raita is made with cucumber. But it is not limited in that sense. You can use many vegetables or sometimes fruits too. I love pineapple raita too.
In my home, we usually love onion/tomato raita, pineapple raita or pomegranate raita. There are different recipes of raita, some prefer spices or some fresh green chilies/ginger. Our family kind of likes a simple roasted cumin raita especially if it is a fruity one. Raita recipes can differ from region to region. In some families or regions, they give a ‘tadka’ or ‘vaghar’ to the raita. It changes the flavor ever so mildly but beautifully when you give it simple ‘vaghar’.
You can grate some vegetables like cucumbers, radish to add to raita or simply chop it up finely and use it. It provides some textural difference. I find roasted cumin to be quite essential to raita, I don’t know what others think.
I often roast cumin seeds at home, for ultimate freshness. I would grind it in my mortar and pestle by hands in small quantities’ and store it. I made this raita few years ago at FOOD52 potluck, yes we used to have Food52 related potlucks where Food52 would announce these potlucks and some community members would arrange them in their homes and some of us fellow foodies and bloggers would attend. I attended a couple of them at Suzanne’s home in NYC. I even hosted one at my place. I took some Biryani and pomegranate raita at one of the potlucks, and everyone seemed to like it and one of the attendee asked me if I could share the recipe. So, I came back home and shared the recipe on Food 52.
I am having some friends over this weekend for social distanced get together just 2 couples. I plan on serving this raita with some mini naan bites, and chips. Also, its great side dish for meat eaters, specially kabobs or lamb chops. Best served with spicy dishes as its has cooling and refreshing taste.
Easy Pomegranate Raita
Ingredients
- 1 cup thick plain yogurt
- ½ cup pomegranate arils/seeds
- 1 green chili
- 1 teaspoon roasted ground cumin powder
- Pinch chaat masala or pomegranate powder optional
- Salt to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves chopped
- Handful coriander leaves chopped
Instructions
- Remove pomegranate arils in a bowl.
- Take yogurt in another bowl, whisk it and make it smooth and add the rest of the ingredients one by one. Add most of the pomegranate and reserve some for garnish.
- Check if you need more salt or anything else.
- You can garnish the raita with mint and cilantro leaves, and reserved pomegranate arils.
- Serve it immediately or chill it before serving.
Notes
XO, Devangi