spiced boondi raita recipe with step by step photos – cucumber raita, onion-tomato raita and boondi raita are three of the most sought after raitas in indian cuisine. its strange but true, that i don’t have much raita recipes on the blog.
i make raitas almost every day in summers and somehow i am not able to take pics and update on the blog.
boondi are tiny fried gram flour balls. they are very easy to make at home or otherwise they are available in most grocery or sweets shops. they are salted and crisp.
boondi are often served with chaat recipes like dahi bhalla or dahi vada or added in jaljeera or mixed in the pani (spiced 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.
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 of the excess water and then added to the spiced yogurt. so you have a spiced yogurt with the soft boondi melting in your mouth.
boondi raita is very easy to make. you can serve it with any north indian dish. but mostly boondi raita goes very well with rice dishes like biryani or pulao and they actually pep them more.
i served the boondi raita with biryani rice along with a muslim style aubergine/brinjal curry. i have used cashew yogurt to make it but you can use normal curd also. when hard pressed for time, you can just have the boondi raita with some steamed basmati rice along with a side veg salad.
boondi raita recipe
Ingredients (1 cup = 250 ml)
- ½ cup plain salted boondi
- 1 cup curd (dahi or yogurt) - vegan or dairy
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon chaat masala
- ½ teaspoon saunf powder (fennel powder) - optional
- ½ teaspoon bhuna jeera powder (roasted cumin powder)
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper powder (kali mirch powder)
- 2 to 3 teaspoon chopped coriander leaves (dhania patta) or mint leaves (pudina patta)
- a few coriander leaves or mint leaves for garnish
- black salt or rock salt as required
How to Make Recipe
preparation to make boondi raita
- first warm water in a pan on stove top or in the microwave.
- add the boondi in the warm water and let them get soaked for 9 to 12 minutes.
- drain this 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.
- add all the dry spice powders, chopped mint leaves/coriander leaves, including salt. stir the raita well.
- garnish boondi 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 rich based dishes like jeera rice.
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.
preparation to make boondi raita
1. first warm water in a pan on stove top or in the microwave. take the warm water in a bowl.
2. add the boondi in the warm water.
3. allow them to get soaked for 9 to 12 minutes. cover the bowl with a lid.
4. meanwhile, whisk the curd/yogurt in a bowl till smooth.
5. drain the water from the soaked boondis.
making boondi raita
6. lightly press the boondi in your palms, to squeeze the excess water from them. don’t mash them up. add the boondi to the whisked curd and mix.
7. add all the dry spice powders and salt.
8. stir the raita well.
9. lastly mix chopped coriander leaves or mint leaves.
10. the boondi raita can be served cold or at room temperature. you can also garnish boondi raita with sprigs of mint or coriander leaves. boondi raita also goes well with biryani or pulao or any rich based dishes like jeera rice.
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.