Beetroot raita– a healthy and refreshing summer special south Indian dip with grated beets and yogurt. This raita is a winner in many ways- attractive, delicious , easy and healthy!
With typical south Indian flavors this raita or yogurt dip goes very well rice or as a simple snack. Here is how to make best beetroot raita to home.
Beetroot as to be one of the tuber vegetable that you either love or hate. At our home we all luckily love beets and I use it in many ways like soup, cutlet, cookies, halwa, chips , juice etc. Fresh and juicy beets are so versatile and you can utilize them in many more ways than just salad or poriyal.
I always get a stash of lovely organic beets with leaves during my vegetable shopping. With immense health benefits and loaded nutrition, it is always good to include beets in our diet on regular basis.
Come summer this beetroot raita often makes an appearance on our table. Raita is Indian yogurt dip with or without a tempering.
This raita with beetroot has a typical south Indian tempering and goes very well with rice like biryani, pulao or masala rice. Basically you can serve this cooling raita with any spicy food.
It also goes well with aloo paratha, palak paratha, paneer paratha etc.
This Beetroot Raita Is
Gluten Free & vegetarian
Healthy & wholesome
Very delicious & flavorful
Can be made vegan by using non dairy yogurt
Very attractive for kids.
Ingredients
The ingredients you need to make beetroot raita are very basic and pantry staples.
Beetroot– Use fresh and tender beets for best tasting raita. I like to roast the beets briefly and pulse in the food processor. If you beets are very tender you can even use it raw.
Instead of roasting the beets you can also steam or even pressure cook the beets. We like the slight caramelized taste and flavor of roasted beets.
Yogurt– Plain thick and fresh yogurt is the base for this raita. I use homemade curd.
Peanuts– Roasted peanuts add a nice crunch here.
Other than that you will need salt, green chilies, mustard, curry leaves and urad dal.
As beets are sweet in nature, I like to make this raita a bit spicy by adding more chilies. While you make this raita for toddlers and kids you can reduce the chilies or just skip them altogether.
Step By Step Method
Rinse, peel and cube the beets.
Heat a cast iron with few drops of oil. Place the beets and roast for 8-12 minutes. Let cool.
Place in a food processor jar and pulse coarsely.
In the same pan add the peanuts and roast until aromatic. Rub off the peels if needed.
Whisk 2 cups fresh thick curd until smooth. Add the pulsed beets, salt to taste and roasted peanuts. Mix.
Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small pan. Add cumin seeds and curry leaves. Fry for few seconds.
Add to the prepared raita and
Mix well.
Serve beetroot raita immediately.
Variations
- With boiled beets- instead of sauteed beets you can boil the beets and finely chop them. You can also puree the boiled beets and add to the curd. Make the tempering separately and add to the beetroot raita
- Roasted beets- You can oven roast finely chopped beets and puree them for a different flavor.
- Onions- saute 1/2 cup finely chopped onions along with beets for flavor variation
- Carrots- use 1 cup grated carrots along with beets for colorful raita
Some Tips To Make This Recipe Perfectly
- Beetroot raita tastes best when served chilled. Keeping the raita refrigerated also prevents the curd from turning sour.
- For any raita recipe use fresh thick curd for best result
- You can double or triple the recipe proportionately
- Store any leftovers in refrigerator and use within a day.
More Raita Recipes
Beetroot Raita Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large beetroot peeled and cubed
- 1.5 cups Yogurt
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup peanuts roasted
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 10 curry leaves
- 2 green chilies slit
Instructions
- Rinse, peel and cut the cubes into big cubes
- Heat a cast iron with oil. Place the beets and roast for 8-12 minutes. Let cool.
- Place the roasted beets a food processor jar and pulse coarsely.
- In the same pan add the peanuts and roast until they turn aromatic. Rub off the peels if required.
- Whisk 2 cups fresh yogurt until smooth. Add the pulsed beets, salt to taste and roasted peanuts to the yogurt and mix.
- Now heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small pan. Add the cumin seeds, slit green chilies and curry leaves. Fry them for few seconds.
- Add the prepared tempering to the prepared raita and mix well. Serve beetroot raita immediately or chill until serving.
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