How to make yoghurt raitha, the mandatory biriyani accompaniment

Yoghurt raitha (raita per Merriam Webster) or as we say in Tamil – Thayir Pachadi is the single mandatory accompaniment (IMHO) to biriyani. Typically, this side dish is all one would make/consume with Biriyani. There are numerous versions of the same thing but the base is almost always the same. Yoghurt based, tart, cold deliciousness.

Here’s the simple version. Of course, depending on the day, mood, season of the year and ingredient availability, this dish can be morphed/embellished every which way.

Primary Ingredients For Yoghurt Raitha:

Plain Yoghurt – 1 Cup
Green Chillies – 2 small, finely chopped
Red Onions/Shallots – 1/2 of a medium onion/2 shallots, very thinly sliced or finely chopped
Salt – To taste
Lime Juice – 1/2 a lime
Cilantro – A couple of sprigs, chopped

Secondary/Alternate Ingredients:

Tomato – 1 medium, diced
Yellow/White Onions – These can be used as alternates but aren’t the same as red
Shredded Carrots – 1/4 cup
Diced, ripe papaya – 1/4 cup
Diced/Shredded Cucumbers – 1/4 cup

Recipe:

This is the simplest recipe you’ll ever make!

In a clean bowl, add the yoghurt, salt and lime juice. Use a whisk to whip these ingredients into a smooth paste. Add water as needed to get a viscous consistency (Neither too runny nor too thick).
Add the chopped onions and green chillies. If adding any or all of the alternate ingredients, do so now.
Mix everything together.
Refrigerate until it is time to eat!

This dish is so simple that it doesn’t really need a written recipe (almost). Obviously I’ve made this primarily with Biriyani. But, this is also a solid accompaniment to pulao, pilafs and sometimes even rice/chapathi & korma dishes that tend to be spicy. This dish offers the cooling reprieve to the spicy aspects of many Indian main course dishes. Kids even like these as dips for chips.

Raitha Gallery:

Pic 1: Red Onion and Tomato Raitha; Pic 2: Cucumber Raitha

If you’ve never tried it before or haven’t recently, give it a go and let me know how you like it. Also, if you have other suggestions for uncommon ingredients you’d throw into this dish, comment below.

Interesting Personal Tid-Bit:

The first time I tried anything sweet in a raitha was back in the later 1990s when my dad made this one time as a side for biriyani. We all started eating the meal and were pleasantly surprised by the sudden pop of sweetness in the dish. No one could identify the secret ingredient and were blown away by how it complemented the other spicy dishes on the table. Dad finally let us in on the secret. There was some over-ripe papaya sitting around that we hadn’t finished off. He decided to chop it and drop it into the raitha. It was a hit! And, it opened my mind to flavor combinations that are usually taboo.

I’ve tried to experiment similarly with ingredients with mixed success – Spaghetti sauce sambar (kids nicknamed it Spambar). This was deemed a disaster never to be repeated again. Green apple sambar, however, was a pleasant surprise. Using raw mango to add sourness to sambar is pretty common in Indian cooking. I tried it with sliced green apples and it was equally delicious.