Here is a collection of the best raita recipes to pair up with your meals. This is a vegetarian side dish made with curd and other ingredients.
10 Best Raita Recipes
Get a list of best raita recipes and their health benefits.
What is Raita?
Raita is an Indian condiment/ side dish made with curd as a primary ingredient. This is one of the most popular accompaniments in our everyday meals and even on special occasions. No menu is complete without raita.
To make raita, you can combine beaten curd with raw or cooked vegetables or even mix fruits. You can also make it savory or sweet. In all forms, these are just so delicious. It will be equally delicious even if you don't add anything other than salt and crushed roasted cumin seeds.
Raita is a must if we have pulao, biryani, or any rice preparation. Since curd helps in digestion, this is great from a health point of view as it helps digest heavy food.
Read my best rice recipes that go well with these raita recipes.
Health Benefits of Raita
If you are trying to find the answer to your weight-loss diet, you are in the right place. Raita helps with weight loss and is packed with essential nutrients and vitamins and minerals.
Raita is made with curd. Curd is a dairy product made by the curdling of milk. This is rich in protein, calcium, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Iron, Folate, Magnesium, Manganese, and many more minerals.
This high protein and low bad fat diet keeps us full longer and stops craving food. The probiotics in curd help in keeping our gut healthy. This helps in the proper absorption and digestion of food.
The high calcium content keeps bone and skin healthy and boosts thermogenesis. This, in turn, increases metabolism and helps burn extra fat.
If you are on a weight-loss diet, you must consume salads and raita as part of your meal. This is really effective, and this high-protein food will keep you full for longer. Indian diets have always been the best option for including these healthy raita recipes in their diet meal plans.
Which raita is beneficial for weight loss?
Though raita is good for health, if you are on a weight loss diet, you should take care of a few things.
- Replace boondi raita with veggies raita.
- No sugar or sweet raita for weight loss.
- Add rock salt or pink salt and limit salt intake.
- Don't add sweeter veggies and fruits (like onions and pineapple) and replace them with much healthier fruits and veggies.
Best raita for weight loss are: Lauki raita, Vegetable Raita, Oats Raita, Eggplant Raita
If you are on a weight loss diet, then try my Oats Coriander Buttermilk.
Also, read my Oats Diet Plan to Lose 5 Kg
Best Raita Recipes - An Easy Side Dish
1. Veg Raita
Combine hung curd with our all-time favorite cucumber, tomatoes, onion, and green chilies. Add salt and spices and serve with rice, biryani, pulao, etc. This is one of the most common raitas. You may add some coriander or mint leaves for extra flavor.
2. Carrot & Cilantro Raita
I make carrot raita from raw carrots. I finely grate carrots using a fine cheese grater. Then, I mix them with finely chopped coriander leaves, salt, pepper, and whatever spices you want to add.
3. Lauki Raita
This is a specialty of North India. This raita is made with grated and boiled bottle gourd. Again, combine with hung curd and spice up with your favorite seasonings. Also, this is excellent for weight loss because of the additional fiber-rich bottlegourd or lauki.
4. Sweet Raita
Sweet raita is generally made on fasting days. This is, again, very simple to make. So here I add half milk and half curd to dilute the raita. And that tastes best also. It will not taste excellent in a very thick consistency. Also, add whatever fruits you want to add to it. Add a pinch of black pepper powder, and you will be amazed by the taste.
5. Onion Raita
This is one basic raita I make almost daily. Only 2 - 3 ingredients, and the raita is ready in minutes. But if you want the onions to be a little crunchy, you must soak them in cold water for 5 minutes before adding them to whisked curd. Then, you add all your favorite spices. But I like to keep it simple with salt and little chilies as I like spicy food.
Bhindi raita is my childhood favorite. In this raita, we will fry okra/ bhindi first and then add tempering. This is almost similar to the South Indian Pachadi recipe but with slight ingredient variations.
Well, this is one of my popular posts. Dahi Baingan. This is made in 3 different ways. Read the complete list of dahi baingan here.
There is another way to make low-fat baingan raita for your weight loss diet. It involves two steps: roast the brinjal and mash it (remove the skin after roasting). Then, add beaten curd and spices. This will be equally tasty, and without oil and fat, it will promote fat loss.
I think Boondi raita is more popular than other ones. Boondi is tiny deep-fried chickpea flour droplets. So adding these crunchy, spicy, savory boondi to the hung curd takes this to another level. Again, this is quick and delicious, with little crunchy bites of boondi.
Bathua raita is an extraordinary winter dish; we get bathua or pigweed leaves only during winter. Usually, the leaves are blanched and pureed, and then we add them to beaten curd. Add a dash of hing and cumin tampering with no oil for the best taste.
10. Oats Coriander Buttermilk
This is a bonus raita/chaas recipe for a weight-loss diet. Ingredients are roasted oat flakes, coriander leaves, pink salt, and curd. Read more on the page.
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NIMITA Ajmera
Very clearly mentioned n healthy raita as well
Ipsa Faujdar
Thank you so much. I'm glad you liked it.