Pomegranate raita

Posted onAuthorMina Joshi16 Comments

For centuries, Indians have been eating the pomegranate.   I can remember eating them in Kenya as a child and being told how good they were for you.  In the UK, at one time you could only get pomegranates in specialist ethnic stores.  However, for the last few years, the Western World has caught on on the goodness of pomegranates and now selling them as a super food.   In Kenya, we used to use the rind of pomegranate as a remedy against diarrhea. The juice was considered to be good tonic for you.

We all love pomegranates and often add them to salads, shrikands and raitas.  The sweet seeds add an unusual flavour to the dish.

Pomegranate raita is a yogurt condiment flavoured with  grated or finely chopped vegetables or fruit  with herbs or mustard to enhance the flavour.  In Gujarati  mustard is called “rai”.  “So a raita without mustard isn’t a raita”  according to my dad and father in law!  I used the ready made  English mustard which is fairly mild. You can add as much or as little as you like.

Raitas are great to have as an accompaniment with any curries.  It’s always part of the Gujarati Thali.   It can also be used as a dip for  papadams, bhajias, dhoklas etc.. There are lots of different variations of making raita. Variations of other raita recipes can be found below.

Ingredients for Pomegranate raita:

  • 2 cups plain yogurt (vegans can use any vegan yogurt)
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 -2 teaspoons of English mustard ( readymade).
  • 2-3 green chilies cut into small pieces ( use as per your taste)
  • 5-6 strands of coriander
  • half to one cup of pomegranates  you can add as much as you like…depending on personal preference)

Method:

1.  Transfer yogurt to a mixing bowl and  add the salt, mustard, chilies, coriander and pomegranates to the yogurt.  Mix well using a fork or wooden spoon.

2.  The raita is ready.  Please keep it in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

How do you make raita?

More raita recipes on my blog are:

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