Spicy food warrants a mandatory raita accompanying all meals and what better than an okra or bhindi raita to keep you cool while enjoying something delicious. Why not step out of the ordinary and prepare this unique traditional Bhindi Raita recipe? Our easy bhindi raita is cooling and is just rightly spiced to enliven your meals.
For the bhindi raita recipe, besides bhindi (okra) and yogurt, you will need onion and curry leaves. You will also need vadavam, a delicious sundried masala comprised of shallots, garlic, urad dal (black gram), toor dal (split pigeon peas), and a medley of spices with castor and gingelly oil. Tip: If you do not have vadavam at home you can try to procure it from your local South Indian grocery store.
The raita is seasoned with salt and gets a hint of heat from the green chillies. It is the tempering of vadavam and other ingredients that makes this okra raita recipe different from the rest. The very flavourful tempering when added to yogurt makes for creamy subtly spiced mouthfuls with a burst of texture from the bhindi.
Raita is a side-dish or accompanying dish made from dahi (yogurt) to which vegetables or dumplings, spices (such as roasted cumin powder, mint powder, chaat masala), and herbs can be added. Sometimes, fruits make an appearance too like in our super easy Pomegranate Raita. Raita can be sweet or savoury, but most often it is savoury. Unlike other accompaniments, raita is served with a meal or a dish for its cooling effect. Boondi raita is a household favourite in parts of northern India wherein small crunchy dumplings of fried chickpea flour are mixed with the yogurt along with basic spices and served with meals.
A Raita can be made from entirely raw ingredients or a mix of raw ingredients and a tempering of mustard seeds, curry leaves, cumin seeds etc.
In India, raita is often served with spicy biryanis, pulaos, and kababs along with a host of other condiments such as chutneys, pickles, papads or appalams, etc. It is also served alongside stuffed parathas to make a complete meal.
The Hindi word Raita is known to have been first used in the 19th Century. The versions of raita made in southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala are called 'pachadi' or ‘thayir pachadi’ and are equally delicious.
This bhindi raita South Indian style stays in the fridge for a day in the summer season and for two days during winter, though we prefer eating it fresh. We are often asked ‘Can we eat raita at night?’ yes, you can eat bhindi raita at night if eating yogurt at night suits you. But if you’re prone to cough and cold, Ayurveda says that raita or any form of yogurt must be avoided at night as it leads to mucus formation.
Garnish the raita with chopped coriander leaves and an optional sprinkling of red chilli powder.
Serve the bhindi ka raita with a side of flaky Malabar parottas along with green beans poriyal, chicken tomato masala, and avial – mixed vegetable curry. Bhindi raita goes well with tomato rice, coconut rice, or any pulao you like and make.
For a Yummefy-ed and richer version of our bhindi raita recipe, you could add two tablespoons of ground coconut paste and one teaspoon of poppy seeds or khus khus.
Learn how to make Bhindi Raita at home with our step by step instructional video above and easy detailed recipe below.
If you liked this recipe you may want to try a few of our yogurt-based recipes:
Eggplant Raita
Mango Shrikhand
Drumstick Raita
Dahi Wale Aloo
Dum ka Murgh
Badal Jaam
Mishti Doi
Chilled Fruit Yogurt
Homemade Yogurt
Or see all our Vegetarian Recipes right here!