Nutrient-Loaded Rainbow Raita

Healthy eating is our family’s focus, but that’s obviously too broad. In our meal share group, we consistently strive to make highly nutrient-dense dishes (i.e. more bang for your buck-and efforts!) for the three families. I’ve been cooking like this long before the meal share group began. Indian food doesn’t have to be any different. I’ve devised recipes that aren’t shortcut recipes for traditional Indian cooking, but they are health-conscious Indian recipes. Well, for the most part. Dessert never counts in my opinion!

Raita is a must-have side dish (not a dip, people!) for all Indian food nights. If you don’t know what it is and you’re new to my site, raita is a savory (not-spicy) yogurt dish. A raita is one of the BEST accompaniments to spicy Indian food.  Not only does it have the advantage of cooling down the capsaicin in chilies, it has probiotics, and this one is loaded with colorful (i.e. anti-oxidant rich) veggies. Read this article to see all the benefits each color carrot provides. Why wouldn’t you make this? 🙂

Rainbow Raita

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Nutrient-Loaded Rainbow Raita

You've labored all day over several pots of curries and other Indian food to eat "real Indian style". You want to eat like we do in India, right? On your plate: at least a few curries (vegetable, meat, or lentil), a bread, a rice, a pickle, etc.. etc.. The list actually goes on, depending on the region of India you're trying to imitate. But you have made all these dishes and you're tired and hungry. You want raita and need something QUICK. This raita recipe will literally take you 10 minutes to prepare, food processor or not. Really try to make the ground toasted cumin powder in advance and keep a jar of it on hand. It’s the best spice to have in raita, but can be an acquired taste, so leave it out if you are new to savory yogurt dishes!

Ingredients

• 1 quart plain lowfat or full fat yogurt (not Greek yogurt), Wallaby brand is good
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 ½ teaspoons ground roasted cumin powder (optional) See note below.
• ½ cup finely chopped cilantro
• 2-3 rainbow carrots (like orange, yellow, and purple), shredded

Instructions

1. Whisk together the yogurt, salt, and roasted cumin powder.
2. Stir in chopped cilantro.
3. Stir in the rainbow carrots.
4. Taste for salt. This should be a somewhat salty savory yogurt. It should not taste too tart.
5. Garnish with extra cilantro if you wish.

Notes

Notes:
To make the roasted ground cumin powder: Heat a cast iron or stainless skillet over medium heat. Wait patiently for the pan to heat evenly. Pour in ¼ cup regular cumin seeds. Using a metal spatula, stir the seeds up evenly and continuously for a few minutes until the aroma is released and the seeds are beginning to darken. Immediately take off heat and remove to a cool bowl or plate. Allow to cool completely before grinding to a fine powder in a spice grinder (or on a cutting board under a rolling pin)

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