Pickled Beet Raita

Raita (रायता) is a yoghurt-based cooling condiment served to balance spicy Indian dishes. The most common raita simply combines strained yoghurt with a little cucumber, cilantro and ground cumin. Recipes for beet raita have been circulating recently. While I don’t associate beets with Indian cooking the combination makes sense: tart yet creamy yoghurts goes wonderfully with sweet and earthy beets. We tend to pigeonhole ingredients and dishes to their place of origin but there’s no reason not to develop a multicultural palate. So here we go, my recipe for Pickled Beet Raita combining the flavors of Central and Eastern Europe (pickled beets) and India.

•    1 cup full-fat strained (Greek or Indian style) yoghurt
•    1 tablespoon cilantro leaves
•    1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds, dry roasted and ground
•    Pickled beets, 4-5 slices or to taste, drained
•    Pinch of salt

Simply process the ingredients until smooth in a blender, food processor or by using an immersion blender. TASTE (we so often forget to do this when cooking) and season with additional salt or cumin seeds if needed.

Serve as an accompaniment to an Indian meal…or as a sandwich spread, a dip for crudités, as a base for potato salad…or whatever your heart desires!

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