Boondi Raita Recipe (Classic)
Boondi raita is a North Indian raita variety made with curd (yogurt) and melt-in-the-mouth boondi (fried gram flour balls) together with a few ground spices and herbs. Making this raita is a breeze. Serve boondi ka raita with your favorite Indian mains as a tangy and delicious side.
About Boondi Raita
Boondi is the hero ingredient in this raita variant. Wondering what is boondi?
Boondi are tiny fried gram flour balls. They are round, spherical and hence the name boondi – derived from the Hindi word “boond”which means water droplets.
Making homemade boondi is easy or otherwise they are available in most grocery or sweets shops in India. They are crunchy, crispy and are generally sold in 2 variants:
- Salted Boondi or Plain Boondi
- Masala Boondi
Boondi raita is made with salted boondi or plain boondi. If you live outside India you can buy boondi from Indian grocery stores or online.
Boondi are often served with chaat recipes like Dahi Bhalla or Dahi Vada or added in Jal Jeera or mixed in the pani (spicy water) of the Pani Puri.
The unsalted boondi goes in the making of Boondi Ladoo or Motichoor Ladoo Recipe. They are also used in making fried snacks like Kara Boondi and Mixture Recipe.
In the below photo you see the fried and crispy boondi.
To make this side dish the boondi is not directly added to the yogurt. These crisp tiny balls (boondi) are first soaked in warm water.
As a result, they swell a little in size and become so soft. Their entire crispiness is lost. They are squeezed off the excess water and then added to the spiced yogurt. So you have a spiced yogurt with the soft boondi melting in your mouth.
Cucumber raita, Onion raita and spiced boondi raita are three of the most sought after raitas in the Indian cuisine.
If you like to pair your meals with raita then do check this collection of many Raita Recipes on the blog. I make raita almost every day in summers and I have shared many of them on the blog.
Boondi raita is very easy to make. You can serve it with any North Indian dish. But mostly this raita goes very well with rice dishes like biryani or pulao and they actually pep them more.
I served this spiced boondi raita with biryani rice along with an aubergine/brinjal curry. When hard pressed for time, you can just have the raita with some steamed basmati rice along with a side veg salad.
To make this raita you can use dairy curd or a plant based yogurt like cashew yogurt or almond yogurt.
How to make Boondi Raita
Prep Boondi and Curd
1. First warm 1.5 cups of water in a pan on stovetop or in the microwave or in an electric heater. Take the warm water in a bowl.
2. Then add the boondi to the warm water.
3. Allow them to get soaked for 9 to 12 minutes. Cover the bowl with a lid. Make sure not to soak them for a longer time or else they become pasty and mushy.
4. Meanwhile, whisk the curd (yogurt) in a bowl till smooth. Preferably use fresh homemade curd and ensure that the curd is not sour. The curd can be cold or at room temperature.
5. Drain all the water from the soaked boondi.
Make Boondi Raita
6. Lightly press the boondi in your palms, to squeeze the excess water from them. However, don’t mash them up. Add the boondi to the whisked curd and mix gently with a spoon.
7. Add the following dry spice powders and seasonings mentioned below:
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon chaat masala powder
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder or cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder – optional
- ½ teaspoon fennel powder – optional
- black salt or regular salt or edible rock salt as required
8. Stir and mix the ground spices evenly. Do a taste test and add more of the ground spices or salt according to your preferences.
9. Lastly mix chopped coriander leaves or mint leaves. You can add about 1 to 2 tablespoons of chopped coriander leaves or 1 tablespoon of chopped mint leaves.
10. The boondi raita can be served cold or at room temperature. You can also garnish the raita with sprigs of mint or coriander leaves. It also goes well with biryani or pulao or any rice based dishes like jeera rice or saffron rice or biryani rice.
You can also choose to serve boondi raita with stuffed paratha varieties like aloo paratha, gobi paratha or mooli paratha.
Expert Tips
- Curd: Use fresh homemade curd or yogurt. Make sure that the yogurt is not sour. If using packaged curd, check the expiry date.
- Consistency: If the curd is thick or if using greek yogurt, then add some water to thin the consistency.
- Soaking boondi: For a soft, melt-in-the-mouth boondi, always soak them in warm water. Soaking fried boondi in water also pulls out some of the oil from them in the water. If you add the crispy boondi directly to the yogurt, they won’t soften completely and you will get to taste their crunchy bits when eating. But if you like crispy boondi in the raita, then do not soak them.
- Spices: You can skip or alter the ground spices according to your taste preferences. Try to use roasted cumin powder as it gives a nice earthy, nutty aroma and taste to the raita.
- Boondi: Preferably use plain or salted boondi to make this raita. For a slightly spicy raita, add some finely chopped green chillies or increase the red chilli powder by a bit. You can also choose to add both green chilies and red chilli powder.
Step by Step Photo Guide Above
Ingredients
- ½ cup boondi – plain or salted
- 1 cup Curd (yogurt) – dairy or plant based
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon Chaat Masala
- ½ teaspoon saunf powder (fennel powder) – optional
- ½ teaspoon Roasted Cumin Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Red Chili Powder or cayenne pepper
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder – optional
- 1 to 2 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves (cilantro) or 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves
- a few coriander leaves or mint leaves for garnish
- black salt or edible rock salt or regular salt as required
Instructions
Preparation
- First warm water in a pan on stovetop or electric heater or in the microwave.
- Take the warm water in a bowl. Add the boondi in the warm water. Cover the bowl with a lid. Let them get soaked for 9 to 12 minutes.
- Drain all the water and lightly press the boondi in your palms, to squeeze the water from them. Don't mash them up.
Making boondi raita
- Whisk the curd in a bowl.
- Add the boondi and mix gently.
- Add all the dry spice powders, chopped mint leaves or coriander leaves, including salt as required. Mix and stir the raita well.
- Check the taste and add more salt or ground spice powders if needed.
- Garnish the raita with mint leaves or coriander leaves.
- The boondi raita can be served cold or at room temperature. They go well with biryani or pulao or any rice based dishes like cumin rice.
- You can also serve boondi raita with stuffed paratha variants like gobi paratha, aloo paratha, paneer paratha or mooli paratha.
- Refrigerate the raita if not serving immediatedly. I would recommend to eat the raita in the same day or at the most you can store for 1 day in the fridge.
- If in case after refrigeration the raita has become thick then add a few teaspoons of water to thin the consistency slightly.
Notes
- If the yogurt is thick, then whisk with some water to make a slightly thin consistency.
- The spice powders can be adjusted as per your taste.
- You can also add finely chopped green chilies and a bit of finely chopped ginger to get some spice and pungency.
- Make sure to use fresh curd which has not become sour. I would suggest to use homemade curd.
- You can also temper the raita by frying cumin seeds, green chilies or dry red chilies (seeds removed) and a pinch of asafoetida (hing) in a bit of oil.
- Use salted or plain boondi to make this raita. If you live outside India you can buy them from Indian grocery store or online.
Nutrition
Boondi Raita recipe from the archives was first published on April 2013.
Hi Dassana
Can you post a recipe for veg enchiladas. I have wanted to try them since I saw that one episode of Schitt’s Creek but all the recipes I have seen have all these inaccessible ingredients that I will never get in my city. Please help.
Hi Bhavya, the recipe is in the drafts but I do not have enough time to work on the photos or post. But keeping your request in mind, I will try to post the recipe in some time.
Hi Ma’am,
Thanks for so wonderful recipes… I have been trying most of the recipes. I would like your help for how may I be able to keep the raita fresh if it is long made… And also need to travel. Like I will be making the raita at home and take it to friends house after 2-3 hours.
Please help.
Your honest recipe follower
Dipti
thanks a lot dipti. boondi raita will stay well for a couple of hours without fridge, especially in a cold season you can keep raita for a few hours at room temperature. however onion raita or onion-tomato raita or cucumber raita are best refrigerated.
Hi dassanaa
Hope u doing well.
I m just a big fan of u…and any new recipe I think of making ….if the recipe I get is the one from vegrecipesofindia then I m damn sure if will be a sure shot success.
Thanks a ton..as you have given us immense confidence to try out new things and bring a smile on sooo many faces…God bless you and keep doing the good work ☺
Just wanted to ask you whether we can add pineapple or apple…just a variety
thanks a lot vidhi for this encouraging comment. felt nice reading your comment. of course you can add pineapple or apple. you can even adding veggies in the raita.
Instead of red chili powder, can we add degi mirch in boondi raita? What is degi mirch powder meant for in recipes? How is paprika different from other chili powders? Thanks a ton for sharing your wisdom! I have got more confident since I have started to follow your recipes. Thanks for all that you do for women like me who are married to a foodie ?
you can add deghi mirch powder. deghi mirch is made from red peppers and kashmiri red chilies. hence the color is bright red color. deghi mirch as well as kashmiri red chili powder is is added mostly in north indian gravies and other recipes where you want to give a nice red or bright orange color in the dish, without making it too spicy or hot. paprika is made from pepper varieties that belong to the capsicum family. and thanks a lot krishna 🙂
Very easy recipie. Your blog always comes in handy whenever I want to make something interesting. Thanks a lot.. I would like to give you credit for making me want to try and learn new things… I have started to love cooking. Thank you once again.
pleased to know smruti you started to love cooking 🙂 thankyou for your kind words and you are welcome.
Really appreciable your Raita Recipe.
Thanks a lot.
welcome yash
Thanks for sharing recepie boondi Raita very testyyy..once again thenks
welcome karina
Hi Dassana ,
I have prepared many dishes from your blog and i simply loved all of them.. Today I wil try tye boondi raita.You r simply amazing and your recipes are easy to understand and follow as well.. thanks a lot…
welcome garima. glad to know this. thanks for sharing positive feedback on recipes.
Hey Dassana,
I have made this pulao today … followed step by step and surely it is a treat. .. Also prepared bhoondi ka raita with it now waiting for my husband to taste it …. He is a pure meat eater and I just hope he approves it.. thank you once again for sharing
xoxo
thanks aimen for the feedback. hope your hubby likes the recipes you have prepared.
It’s really yemmmmy …dies
Hey looks yummy 🙂 thanks for sharing recipe.
Thanks Dassana for such a quick reply.
Today i prepared boondis at home, because i could not find where i live.they ve turned out quite good. i wanted to store some to be used later. should i refrigrate them.
hi bushra. no need to refrigerate them. just store them in an air-tight box or jar. they will stay crisp.
with the burning sun and scorching heat, this looks soothing to even look at. my all time fav! yumm
Namaskara Dasanna,this is raju from Dubai,received ur recipes,please send me more of veg.dishes because we r PURE vegetarians.we r settled in margao goa,i belive u r also in goa,please send mewhere exactly u r,so that we will make sure to visit ur restaurant to taste ur specialities,thanks Dasanna once again,waiting for ur new recipes,namaskar.
namaskar raju ji. thanks. we don’t have any restaurant in goa. you can browse the indian vegetarian recipes on the blog in your free time. there are many of them. if looking for a particular recipe than search with the word like ‘dal’ ‘paneer” etc on google search bar on the top left corner. or look for categories in the side bar.
hey dassana..how r u..the raita looks so good..what rice is served in the pic..is it yakhni pulav..looks delicious..
how are you suhani. the rice served in the pic is biryani rice. it is spiced rice that goes very well with any north indian or mughlai curries, hyderabadi curries and even dal tadka. its often called as biryani rice or biryani chawal. in the south its called as khuska/kuska rice which means “khusk” translating to dry in english. there are many variations. this recipe is made with whole garam masala and shahjeera along with mint. its different in taste than jeera rice or yakhni pilaf.
Boondi raita is my daughter’s favourite. If there is a vegetable that she is refusing to eat, I just have to offer her raita and she polishes off the meal.
Love the clicks and your presentation 🙂
Good one..