The task of a raita is to add a cooling accompanyment to a curry. Nevertheless, I often use raitas with western food as a salad, usually on a hot hot summers day. They never fail to excite with their difference and their slight tang of India.
Try one today. There is a great one on my website using carrot and yoghurt. Here is another carrot one, but without the yoghurt. Both the carrot and the lemon juice help to control the fire of curries. It is not generally known that lemon juice has that property - you can even add it to a too hot curry to temper it down (or stir in some yoghurt).
Gajjar Raita
| 2 tspn ghee, or you can use olive or canola oil | 3 large carrots, grated | 0.5 tspn brown mustard seeds |
| 2 Tbspn lemon juice | 1 small red chilli, broken or cut in half lenthwise | 0.25 tspn celtic sea salt |
Heat the ghee or oil and fry the mustard seeds until they pop. Immediately add the chilli and then the grated carrot. Remove the ingredients from the heat without further cooking. Add the lemon juice and salt. Serve at room temperature (and you can remove the chilli!).
Enjoy!
