Cuisine
Chill Out With This Hot Raita
by PUSHPESH PANT
Some like it hot, even in the height of summer.
Well, truth be told, this isn’t a scorcher or palate singer. The recipe packs all the benefits of chillies that stoke a sluggish appetite and help the digestive system and so on but the pungency is beautifully tempered by sweet curds.
The dish is colourful, quickly fixed and the besan lends it some body and bouquet. You can treat it as a raita or a thandi sabzi. The lady who gifted us this recipe was from Rajasthan and sang paeans of praise claiming that the ingredients besan, mirch and dahi were the trio time-tested to combat and defeat heat. Isn’t karhi and khata for that matter not an irresistible temptation when we lose our cool as the days heat up?
We didn’t pick up the gauntlet then but decided to test the proof of the proverbial pudding. Well, we have since sent a letter of thanks to our host acknowledging our debt for this gem.
BESANI MIRCH KA RAITA
Ingredients
Curd (whisked) 200 ml
Plump red chillies (long variety) two
Plump green chillies (long variety) two
Besan 2 tbsp
Jeera powder ½ tsp
Red chilli powder ¼ tsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Salt to taste
Method
Wipe clean the chillies
and cut into about 1 inch long round pieces. Prepare a batter of
thick pouring-consistency with besan. Blend the salt and
powdered spices in the batter. Heat oil in a pan and put in the
chillies. After stir-frying for 30 seconds, pour in the batter
and keep stirring briskly. The chillies should be well coated
with batter but not resemble pakora or mirchi bada!
Cook till the besan exudes a pleasant well done aroma. Remove
from flame and cool. Then put in a bowl and mix with curd. Treat
yourself and the guests perhaps in reverse order.
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[Courtesy: Tribune]
June 23, 2011