February 03, 2020

Pahadi Raita | Kumaoni Raita


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Raita(hindi) or thayir pachadi (tamil) is a very flavorful yogurt based side dish served along with meals and is very famous all over India.  Each region has a different style of flavoring their raitas.  The south Indian version of raita Is generally flavored with plain salt and is tempered with mustard and udad dhall seeds along with red chillies or at times ground coconut chilli paste is added to the whipped yogurt and mixed with either grated cucumber or tomato or a mix of cucumber,carrots and tomato . Sometimes fine bits of green chilli are cut and added to whipped yogurt along with slices of onion which is the most preferred dish for Biryanis or South style famous Parotta.
The version of raita made in the northern India is flavored using roasted cumin powder , chat masala, red chilli powder and salt .  The vegetables used are finely diced and added to the yogurt.
At our home we love raita or pachadi to go along with our meal .
This month when we selected the theme as cuisines of Uttarakand in our Facebook group Shhhh secret cooking challenge , I was attracted to this recipe of Pahadi Raita or Kumaoni Raita as it is called. 
It is a simple cucumber based raita but the usage of mustard and fenugreek powder as flavoring agent is what elevates the taste and flavor of this dish.

My partner for this month's theme was another fellow blogger Priya Mahesh of  at200deg blog and she gave me  cucumber and methi seeds as the secret ingredients to work with while I gave her turmeric powder and corriander with which she has prepared Chainsoo a dal based dish .

Preparation Time - 5 mins
Cooking Time - nil
Serves - 2 to 3
Complexity  - easy



Ingredients
2 cups thick whisked yogurt
1 medium sized cucumber grated
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/3 tsp methi powder
Pinch of salt
Pinch of red chilli powder
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch of roasted jeera powder

Method
Grate the cucumber, squeeze out the water and keep aside .
Whisk the yogurt well in a wide bowl and add in all the spice powders and salt and mix it well .
Add the grated cucumber, mix it and let it set for atleast 30mins before serving . This setting time is needed for the flavor of mustard and methi powder to seep into the yogurt mixture .

Notes
A drizzle of mustard oil is traditionally done over the raita , I skipped it as we didn't like the flavor of mustard oil .

Powder the mustard freshly in a mortar pestle before making the raita to get the fresh aroma . Yellow mustard if used is best or else we can use the regular black mustard also for making the powder .

12 comments:

  1. Pahadi cucumber raita with fenugreek and mustard powder flavoring sounds interesting ! I will give it a try soon and i guess we will love the mustard oil drizzle over this raita too.

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  2. I love adding roasted cumin powder to almost all the raita I make. It takes the taste up by several notches, I think.

    The Pahadi Cucumber Raita looks absolutely delicious!

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  3. An interesting recipe of cucumber raita. So different from the way I usually make it. With turmeric and fenugreek powder added to it, makes it sound very interesting.

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  4. I often make raita but this is different one. Would love to try this sometime soon during summer.

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  5. Pahadi raita looks very interesting with unique flavors from methi and fenugreek powder. Surely it tasted very yummy love to pair it with any pulao's.

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  6. Love this raita with the flavours of methi and fenugreek. I can just enjoy this as is. Yummy and delicious

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  7. Very delicious recipe of raita. Sure gonna try this one, thanks for sharing:)

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  8. A very different type of raita. This pahadi cucumber raita sounds super yummy and flavorful. Mustard and methi powder must be made it aromatic. I would love to drizzle little mustard oil too. Loved the recipe.

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  9. So cooling and refreshing raita with different flavors. Would love to try it sometime

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  10. Nice and simple raita. It is a perfect accompaniment with our meals.

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  11. Cucumber raita looks superbly delicious. Loved the use of methi powder and mustard powder. This spices definitely made it flavorful. I would love to have it bowlful without anything.

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  12. Thanks to all of you for such encouraging comments

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