Broccoli raita
I don’t remember if I have dedicated a post before this one but there’s always a first and this one is probably it. I have mentioned about my niece Tasha (I call her Tash) in multiple posts and about her mom (Malathy) as well. I dedicate this post to both these lovely ladies. I knew of Tasha from when she was 3 months old & I met her when she was around 7 months old. She is now 7 years old. For the last 7 years we have lived mostly in the same city and she’s more like a habit of mine :). When I got married & moved to Dubai, she was 1 and uber cute. I didn’t have a job at that time & I took it as my main job to meet & play with her every single day :). Honestly, I just love love that phase & would gladly go back to that. She had just started with all her talking, walking & all those merry things and I am just getting totally nostalgic out here that I am probably missing the reason as to why I started to write about this :). Cutting to the chase, I love her. I know that still doesn’t cut to the chase of the ‘why’ of this post hehe. Anywho, she’d gotten into this phase of asking her mum to make multiple different food based on what she sees on TV & this broccoli raita was one such. She was & is a huge broccoli fan similar to Adya. Maybe this just runs in the family :). There is/ was a show called ‘Mummy ka magic’ on a channel called Food Food. The host had made this raita once & being the broccoli fan that she is/ was, she demanded/ requested (potatoes/ potaaaatoes) her mum to make this. I didn’t get to taste it at the time that my co-sister made it but I remember how much Tash loved it and she raved about it to me quite a bit. My co-sister continues to make this every now and then for her. When I had a bunch of broccoli florets on hand & didn’t wanna do the usual stuff that I make, just remembered about this raita & I am uber glad about my memory power cos boy, this one was absolutely delectable. I wonder what took me so long to try this out (now this has become a very common sentence in most of my blog posts now I think :)). This one is simple, takes less ingredients & time to make it; super healthy; super super tasty; super super super liked by the resident toddler that he finished a whole batch by himself (I didn’t even make it for him to begin with) and I made another batch for me & D (documented it in the process). Now, in case you need one reason to try this out or many, you got them all :).
- 1.5 cups broccoli (cut into very small pieces)
- 1 cup whisked curd
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 1 no green chilli (chopped finely)
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp dry roasted and ground cumin optional
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In a pan, heat some oil & add the cumin seeds.
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Once the cumin seeds start to crackle, add the green chilli & grated ginger.
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After a few seconds, add the broccoli pieces, 1 tsp water, some salt & let the broccoli cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.
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Once the broccoli is cooked (needn't get mushy or over done. a little bit of crunch is the perfect consistency), turn off the heat.
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Once the broccoli is cooled down, add this to a bowl of whisked curd.
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Garnish with some roasted & ground cumin for an extra punch. Yummmm.
- If you like your raita watery, then add 0.5-1 cup water to this.
- You can cook the broccoli to the level you like - you can even let them brown a bit.
- You can add 2 chopped garlic. The flavour addition should be good. I plan to do this the next time.
- You can have the broccoli just as is without mixing in curd. My son had this broccoli mixed in rice - it was seriously yum.
Stepwise pictures
In a pan, heat some oil & add cumin seeds. Once they start to crack, add the chopped ginger & green chillies. Saute till they start to release their flavours.
Add the finely chopped broccoli & a tsp of water, some salt. Mix well, close with a lid & let the mixture cook.
Once the broccoli is cooked (takes only a few minutes), turn off the heat. The broccoli should still be a bit crunchy and not mushy.
Once the broccoli is cooled down, mix it into whisked curd. Garnish with freshly roasted & ground cumin seeds for an added oomph! Serve alongside any simple pulao or have it as a side for roti. Yummmmmm!!
