We are in the mid of March and I can clearly see the mercury soaring to new levels with every passing week. I shudder to think of how nature will unravel itself in the months of April-May, which have been the conventional ‘hot months’ in India.
The best way to can protect oneself from this extreme heat is by staying well hydrated and including food items like salads, curd, coolants in the diet is one easy way of achieving the hydration goal. Curd is definitely one of the best comfort foods- that acts as coolant, and has great nutrition qualities, an exact diet that is required for scorching summers.
Curd or Dahi can be used in making dishes like lassi, buttermilk, raita, dips and several such versatile dishes. Having discovered the super food qualities in curd, many nutritionist advice featuring curd regularly in one’s diet. As summer arrives I become a big proponent of curd base dishes. So while salted buttermilk forms an important part of my afternoon lunch, tea is replaced with my summer drink-sweet lassi. Raita, is another important addition that I make to my meal. There are several raita recipes that feature in my repertoire that I like experimenting with- Aloo Pudina raita , Bhindi ka raita, Lauki ka raita or the versatile Veg raita. Boondi ka raita is a prime example of how we can experiment with raita to turn it from bland and tasteless inclusion to an absolute wow dish.
Boondi is a fried snack item made from chickpea flour- available in both variants sweet as well as salted. Though, it can be made at home, I usually prefer buying it- only reason being that it is such a common and easily available ingredient. Raita requires usage of salted boondi, curd and dry spice powders being the other ingredients for this recipe.
Boondi must be soaked in warm water for several minutes before it can be used in this recipe. Meanwhile, whisk the curd to remove any lumps and attain a smooth consistency. The whisked curd can be then spiced up with several interesting spices like red chili powder, pepper powder, cumin, fennel, black salt powder. The quantity of the spices can be tempered in the recipe to suit one’s palate.
Boondi raita serves as a perfect accompaniment for spicy biryanis and Pulao. Serve it to your guests and they are guaranteed to get wowed by this preparation.
If raita is your thing, find some more interesting raita preparations here.
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 3-4
- 300 grams curd
- 100 grams salted Boondi (store bought)
- 1 tsp roasted cumin powder
- 1 tsp roasted fennel powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- ½ tsp black pepper powder
- ½ tsp chat masala powder
- ¼th tsp black salt
- 1 tsp salt
- We will soak Boondi in warm water for 8-10 mins.
- Meanwhile, we will whisk the curd.
- We must add all dried spices like red chili powder, cumin powder, fennel powder, black pepper powder,chat masala,salt and black salt.Mix
- Keep whisked curd aside.Drain out water from soaked boondi. Squeeze gently.
- Add boondi to the whisked curd and mix.
- Boondi raita can be relished with biryanis and pulao
Click here to watch recipe video
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