Boondi Raita

A quick and easy North Indian side dish made of store bought Boondi and yogurt. Boondi is a fried snack made of chickpea or gram flour which is also used to stuff Pani Puri.

Ingredients:
Boondi - 1 cup
Yogurt/Curds/Dahi - 1 cup
Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs
Red Chili Powder/Cayenne Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1/2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/4 tsp
Asafetida/Hing - 1/4 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp
Kala Namak/Indian Rock Salt


How to prepare Boondi Raita:

• Whisk yogurt, red chili powder, salt and jeera powder well in a mixing bowl. Add salt keeping in mind that Boondi has salt too. If Kala Namak is not available, regular salt would work just fine. You can add 1/4 tsp sugar or jaggery too if you like.
• Heat oil in a small pan for tempering/tadka. Add mustard seeds and asafoetida. When mustard seeds pop, turn off the heat and pour this tempering in yogurt.
• Now add Boondi and finely chopped cilantro leaves to the yogurt. Let the boondi soak in yogurt for 20 - 30 minutes. Soak it for a longer time if you want the boondi to turn too soft.
• To reduce a few calories, you can soak the boondi in water, drain the water and then add soaked boondi to yogurt. This way a little oil from the fried boondi can be removed. 
• There is no standard recipe for this raita. Feel free to add any of your favorite seasonings and/or spice mixes - black pepper, aamchur, chat masala, garam masala, kasuri methi and so on. Also, you can add finely chopped onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, same as in Koshimbir (Veggie Yogurt Salad).
• Top the raita with a handful of Boondi which will add a little crunch and serve it as a side dish with roti or rice.