Boondi Raita

Boondi Raita - A very tasty raita, made of boondi and spicy curd. Goes well as a side dish with Rice / Rotis / Pulao varieties.

Serves : 2 - 3

Time required : 10 minutes

Ingredients

200 ml 1 cup / 8 oz  medium thick curd

1/2 teaspoon cumin ( jeera ) powder

Black pepper powder and salt to taste (or ¼ teaspoon each)

½ teaspoon chilli powder

2 pinches teaspoon rock salt

1 small bowl (or 3 tablespoons) kara boondi (reserve 1 teaspoon for decoration) Kara boondi or normal boondis available @ all supermarkets or please follow the recipe given below.

2 teaspoons chopped coriander leaves

Method

Beat curd well with an electrical beater or with Tupperware quick shaker. Add cumin powder ( reserve a little for later use ), black pepper powder, salt, red chilli powder, rock salt and kara boondi to the beaten curd and gently mix well.

Refrigerate raita till serving time. Garnished with coriander leaves, reserved boondi and a pinch of cumin powder. Serve with rice / rotis / pulao ..

How to prepare Boondis for Boondi Raita?

Boondi Maker / Flat ladles with holes available @ Santhosh Super Store, Anna Nagar, Chennai (or other steel utensil show room). Boondis are small and round if using boondi maker. Boondis will be big in perforated ladle.

Boondi - A very crispy deep fried snack, made of gram flour batter and spices.

Ingredients

1 cup / 200 ml (Indian standard measuring cup of 200 ml / 8 oz capacity) gram flour (besan / kadala maav / chone pitti), sieve flour

¾ cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

2 pinches red chilli powder

1 pinch hing (asafoetida)

200 ml oil (to deep fry)

Method

For the  batter:

In a bowl, mix sieved gram flour, red chilli powder,turmeric powder, hing and salt with water (first start with 1/2 cup (100 ml) water. If the batter is thick then adjust with extra 1 - 2 tablespoons of water. It depending upon the quality of the gram flour and texture) and make a smooth batter. Batter should be slightly thinner than dosa batter and bajji batter / pouring consistency. Keep aside for half an hour.

Final preparation:

Heat oil in a frying pan / kadai. Reduce the heat to medium and pour the batter over boondi maker  or perforated ladle and gently shake the ladle or spread the gram flour batter on top the perforated ladles with the help of tablespoon (Maintain a safe distance from the gas stove). Then the batter will fall through the holes of the ladle evenly into hot oil. Fry till golden color and crisp. Drain out from oil and place on kitchen towel to absorb extra oil well. Keep aside to cool for 15 minutes and later store in an airtight container. Serve as a snack with tea / coffee. This boondis are also very useful to make boondi raita / Kerala mixture / Aval mixture / or the preparation of North Indain chaats.