3.7/5 rating (7 votes)

Boonthi Raita

Yoghurt with Gram Flour Balls

Heat Mild
Serves 4
Dietary Info VEGETARIAN WHEAT-FREE GLUTEN-FREE
Prep 10 mins
Cook 10 mins

Hari says
Every Indian meal is served with some cooling yoghurt to ensure that the meal is balanced and all the food groups are represented at each mealtime.

Indian people hate to waste food so everything is always used and essentially 'boonthi' is the name given to the little bits of gram flour batter that come away when you are frying anything coated with a gram flour batter.

The little golden crisp balls of gram flour (which look a bit like Rice Crispies) are kept and then soaked in milk for about 20 minutes and like little sponges they swell and soften up. They are then ready to be mixed into the spiced yoghurt where together with a they add a wonderful texture and a new dimension to plain old yoghurt.

Boonthi can either be made fresh by mixing gram flour with a little water to make a batter and then sprinkled gently into hot oil to make little crisp balls. Or they are readily available in any Indian grocery shop.

This raita is a lovely accompaniment for any north Indian dish.

Ingredients
Method

1 handful of boonthi
100ml milk
300g Greek yoghurt
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp black pepper, ground
¼ tsp salt (or to taste)
1 tbsp corinder leaves, chopped

Method

Place the boonthi into a bowl and pour the milk over them. Leave to soak for about 20 minutes until soft.
In a bowl whisk the yoghurt and add cumin, chilli, pepper and salt
Stir in the boonthi with a little of the milk so the yoghurt has a slightly more runny consistency. Stir through.
Top with the chopped coriander and refrigerate until required.

Nutritional information

Typical values*	per Serving
Calories	96
Fat (g)	3
of which saturates (g)	1
Carbohydrates (g)	8
of which sugars (g)	4
Fibre (g)	0
Protein (g)	10
Salt (mg)	301

*Based upon calculated values, supplied by myfitnesspal.com. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated.