Roasted Beetroot and Garlic Raita
If you have been to Indian restaurant, you would always find raita in the menu. Raita is an essential part of the Indian food, as raita has cooling effect which is needed to balance the heat and bold flavors coming from different spices and chili which are very commonly used in our food.
It is one of the simplest dishes to make. One can easily call it a yoghurt dip, commonly made with vegetables or fruits, which is seasoned with black pepper or my favorite, roasted cumin.
Even though I love the raitas made commonly in India with cucumber and boiled potatoes, I have been lately thinking to try something new. As a foodie looking for inspiration, very often I find myself starring at the food sections in grocery store. I just wonder how it would feel to strangers if I am standing in one spot for a while and just starring veggies…must be funny.
It is summer time and I absolutely love the outside vegetable markets in the city. I mean the produce is so fresh and it just tastes amazing. Last week I was walking in one of these outside markets and as you guessed while starring at the veggies, fresh beetroots caught my eye and there I got my idea of trying something new for raita.
While coming back home, I was thinking how will I make it and then decided to roast the beetroots. I really love to roast the veggies as I believe you really concentrate the flavors. At that moment I was just imagining the color of beetroot raita.
I just fell in love with this color..isn’t it such gorgeous color?
Here is the recipe.
Ingredients
2-3 small beetroots
250g greek yoghurt
Water, as required
½ tsp. fresh garlic, finely grated
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp. salt, according to taste
½ tsp lime juice
¼- ½ tsp. roasted cumin, roughly crushed
Note
I have used greek yoghurt and then adjusted the thickness by adding water. You can always use runny yoghurt and then add less water.
Adjust sugar and lime juice amounts according to the sweetness of the beets
Method
Preheat the oven to 180ᵒC. Place the beet in an aluminium foil and wrap it around. Place it in a baking tray and roast it is until cooked. It should take around 45 minutes. It will be done when knife goes all the way through.Let the beets cool down completely.
Peel the beets and then chop them into pieces. Place the roasted beet pieces in a hand blender and pulse them to get a smooth puree. Add water if needed.
Transfer the pureed beets to a bowl and mix yoghurt with it. Using a spoon mix until everything is well combined. Add some water to the mixture. It could be of thick or thin consistency. I like it to be a bit thicker.
Add salt, sugar, cumin powder, garlic and lime juice and mix well.
Chill it before serving.
Preparation: 5 minutes, extra for roasting beetroots
Serves: 4 portions