Beetroot raita is a beautiful and delicious Indian yogurt-based side dish made with beets, yogurt, and a few spices. This raita tastes amazing with rice-based dishes and makes a great side for parathas.
Jump to:
- What is Raita?
- About Beetroot Raita
- Different Variations of Beetroot Raita
- The Very Famous Alia Bhatt's Beets Raita
- Is Beetroot Raita Healthy?
- Expert Tips to Make Beet Raita
- Ingredients to Make Beet Raita Recipe
- Serving Suggestions
- Storage Instructions
- FAQ's for Beetroot Raita
- More Raita Recipes from the Blog
- More Recipes From The Blog
- Beetroot Raita
What is Raita?
Raita is an Indian- Pakistani yogurt-based side dish. This recipe makes for a great accompaniment to all South Asian Food.
The raita is made with traditional Indian yogurt or whole milk yogurt. This yogurt is whisked into creamy deliciousness that is further mixed with grated or chopped vegetables/ fruits ground spices and fresh herbs.
About Beetroot Raita
Beetroot Raita is also popularly known as Beet Raita or Chukander ka Raita. Chukamder in Hindi are beetroots. The fresh beautifully lush red beets are boiled and grated, mixed in yogurt with black salt and cumin powder. This is then tempered in oil, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, and green chilies.
I like to serve Beet Raita with Biryani, and Pulao. This raita makes a great accompaniment with Plain Steamed Rice, Dal, and Parathas.
Different Variations of Beetroot Raita
You can make this raita recipe with fat-free yogurt to make it healthy.
Try adding finely chopped onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers along with beets. It is my favorite because growing up, I ate this version all the time.
You can use cooked or uncooked beetroots, it is completely your choice. For using uncooked beets, finely grate them using the box grater.
I so love adding shredded carrots and cabbage along with julienned onions to this raita recipe. The crunch from the cabbage is delicious.
I also like to add crushed roasted peanuts to this recipe, because of the nutty flavor and crunch it adds to this recipe.
If you are feeling lazy, skip the tempering!
The Very Famous Alia Bhatt's Beets Raita
I think very highly of Alia Bhatt as an actor, and her homely food choices too. I believe yogurt is a great accompaniment to include in your diet every day. Although my recipe is different from what she makes, I think both the recipes are quite similar.
She added boiled grated beetroots to the whisked yogurt and added black pepper, chaat masala, and simple tempering. I love the choice of spices added to the raita because they will add the zing the raita needs.
Is Beetroot Raita Healthy?
I have come across this question quite a lot and I wonder why? Beetroots are one of the many underrated superfoods. I know, the taste of raw beets is not the best, so we boil them and eat them. But, how about steaming them? You want to preserve the nutritional quotient of the beets as well as make sure they taste sweet and delicious.
Beets are a great source of antioxidants, help repair cells, repair DNA, and have anti-inflammatory properties, also they are great for the skin.
Indian Dahi, is given the utmost importance in Ayurveda. It provides cooling effects in your body, to regulate your body temperature. It acts as a probiotic and improves your gut function.
You can either use fat-free yogurt or vegan yogurt to make this recipe healthier.
Add only a teaspoon of oil in the tempering or even less, to further make it even more healthier.
Expert Tips to Make Beet Raita
- The beets taste best when they are cooked. They add a delicious sweet earthy flavor, to the tart yogurt.
- You can either grate the beets or chop them finely. I wouldn't cut the beets into bite-sized pieces though.
- Use soy or coconut yogurt to make this recipe vegan.
- The tempering adds a beautiful flavor to the recipe. Adding urad dal in the tempering renders the most delicious crunch in this recipe. So don't skip it. You can replace it with peanuts, or any other nuts of your choice.
Ingredients to Make Beet Raita Recipe
- Beetroots - You want to use luscious red beets for this recipe, or for that matter any recipe that uses beets.
- Yogurt - I use plain whole milk yogurt, but you can use any plain low-fat yogurt too. Use any plant-based yogurt of your choice to make it vegan.
- Green Chilies - I like to add Thai green chilies to add the zing to this recipe. Skip it, if you don't tolerate spice.
- Ground Spices - I use cumin powder and black salt to spice this recipe. You can add Kashmiri red chili powder, chaat masala, or black pepper powder.
- Tempering - Peanut oil has a beautiful nutty flavor, that works well to temper the yogurt. I add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafetida (skip it to make it gluten-free), urad dal, green chilies, and curry leaves.
Serving Suggestions
Serve this beet raita chilled. Chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.
This raita will taste delicious with Tomato Rice, Mushroom Biryani, and Hyderabadi Veg Biryani.
Storage Instructions
Beetroot raita stays fresh in the refrigerator for up to 2 days in an airtight container. The raita doesn't freeze, as when you thaw the raita, the yogurt can curdle.
FAQ's for Beetroot Raita
Instant Pot - Add 1 cup of water in the instant pot insert. Then place a trivet or an egg trivet in it. Wash the beetroots thoroughly and place them on the trivet. Close the instant pot lid. Make sure the vent is secured in the seal position. Press the pressure cook button. And manually adjust the time to 13 minutes. Pressure cook the beets for 13 minutes on high pressure. Do a quick pressure release once the beets are cooked and rested for 5 minutes. Let them cool down. Peel the skin and grate the beets to use them for this recipe.
Stovetop - Grate the beetroots and cook them on medium flame in a pan until they soften. Once cool, add it to the yogurt.
No, it is not necessary to cook beets at all. You can just finely grate them using the box grater, and add it to the whisked yogurt and spices, finish it off with a tempering.
Beetroot raita for babies is very healthy. Depending on your baby's age, puree or finely grate the beetroot and mix it in yogurt. Add cumin powder, a pinch of black salt and mix. You can skip black salt if you don't want to add it. You can add a drizzle of honey if the yogurt is very tart.
More Raita Recipes from the Blog
More Recipes From The Blog
Beetroot Raita
These nutrional values are automatically generated. Use them for estimation only.
Ingredients
For Beetroot Raita
- 2 Medium Beetroots
- 2 Cups Plain Yogurt
- 1 Thai Green Chili Finely Chopped
- 1 Tsp Black Salt
- 1 Tsp Cumin Powder
For Tempering
- 2 Teaspoons Peanut Oil
- ½ Teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- ½ Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- ⅛ Teaspoon Asafetida
- 1 Teaspoon Urad Dal
- 7-8 Curry Leaves
- 1 Thai Green Chili Slit in half
Instructions
Cook the Beetroot
- Instant Pot - Add 1 cup of water in the instant pot insert. Then place a trivet or an egg trivet in it. Wash the beetroots thoroughly and place them on the trivet. Close the instant pot lid. Make sure the vent is secured on the seal position. Press the pressure cook button. And manually adjust the time to 13 minutes. Pressure cook the beets for 13 minutes on high pressure. Do a quick pressure release once the beets are cooked and rested for 5 minutes. Let them cool down. Peel the skin and grate the beets to use them for this recipe.
- Stovetop - Grate the beetroots and cook them on the medium flame in a pan until they soften. Once cool, add it to the yogurt.
For Raita
- Add 2 cups of yogurt in a mixing bowl. Whisk it smooth. Add 1 tablespoon of water, if you think the yogurt is very thick.
- Now add grated beetroot, finely chopped green chilies, cumin powder and black salt. If you are using uncooked beets add ½ teaspoon sugar to balance the tartness of the yogurt.
- Mix i well.
Prepare the Tempering
- In a small pan, add oil, once hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafetida and urad dal.
- Once the mustard seeds splutters, turn off the stove, and add slit green chili and curry leaves.
- Add the tempering to the prepared raita. Mix it.
- Serve chilled.
Notes
- You can use uncooked beets too for this recipe.
- If you don't get time to cook the beets, use love beets (precooked beets from the grocery store) I buy mine from any local American grocery store.
- Grating the beets in the raita gives a beautiful texture to the recipe.
- You can cook the beets ahead of time. You can refrigerate cooked beets for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
Anonymous
Tried and tested. Tastes great!