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| bathua Raita with Mustard-Curry Leaf Tempering |
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| Bathua Raita |
The common names are really undeserved names bestowed on Bathua, as it is rich in Iron, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin A, B6, C and thus very nutritious and I would say very tasty. Bathua is grown in northern India and harvesting starts in winter season. It is used either alone to make savories like raita, sabzi and stuffed parantha or mixed with mustard leafs, spinach to make Sarson ka Saag. Today I am writing the recipe of most loved raita of winters in my family “Bathua Raita”. This raita if made in skimmed milk curd (Yoghurt) then the fat content becomes extremely low and the nutrients present in milk and Bathua complement each other.
Preparation Time: 10 min.
Cooking Time: 2- minutes
Servings: 4 large servings (400
gm approx..)
Nutritional Value of Bathua
raita: (made from skimmed milk curd)
Cal: 180
Carbs: 26 gm.
Fat: 0.8 gm
Cholesterol: 5 mg.
Sodium: 230 mg
Potassium: 452 mg
Sugars: 19 gm
Protein: 18.2 gm.
Dietary Fibers: 4gm.
Vitamin A, B6, C
Minerals: Calcium, magnesium, Iron
Ingredients Required For making
Bathua raita:
- 1 Big Bunch of Bathua Sprigs
- 250 gm Fresh Thick Curd (Full cream/Skimmed milk)
- 1/2 Lemon
- 1 Green Chili or to taste
- 1/2 Teaspoon Mustard seeds
- 2-3 Sprigs of Fresh Coriander leafs
- Salt to taste
Directions For making Bathua
raita:
- Clean coriander sprigs in flowing water and keep aside.
- Separate leafs of Bathua from its stem. The top soft crown can be taken as it is if it does not have flowers or seeds.
- Wash the separated leafs in flowing water. Drain water from the washed leafs.
- Take 10ml. ((lesser the water taken better it is) in a thick bottom pan and heat it. When the water heats up add the washed Bathua leafs to it and cover.
- Let it simmer for a minute then switch off the heat and allow it to cool.
- There will be very little water left in the cooked leafs and they will be of bright green color. If cooked on high flame and for longer time then they will gain darker color and the taste will not be so good.
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| Cooked Bathua Leafs |
- Pulse the cooked leafs of Bathua with cleaned and washed leafs of fresh coriander leafs and green chilies.
- The paste should be fine and smooth. The thick paste should be a bowl of 200 capacity full (or slightly less, too less paste will not give full taste of bathua)
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| Cooked Bathua Paste |
- Beat the curd with the help of a beater or fork.
- Add paste of Bathua to the curd and mix.
- Add freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon (Not more than 2 teaspoon).
- Add salt to taste and mix nicely.
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| Bathua Raita |
- In a pan take 1/2ml of oil and heat till it smokes. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter.
- Top the mixture with the tempering of mustard seeds.
Raita is ready to be enjoyed with
stuffed parathas, dal-chawal, roti etc.
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| Bathua Raita With Mustard Tempering |
Tips:
- The Bathua stems remaining after removing the leafs for raita should not be thrown. The soft portion should be separated from hard part and used in making soup with tomato or can be added to spinach while making savory.
- Bathua leafs should not be cooked for longer that 2 minutes as they are delicate and the delicate flavors will be lost along with the green color.
- Curd should not be sour and thin. Thick fresh curd is required for raita.
- Very little oil is required for tempering; excess oil will make the raita unnecessarily oily.
- Check the green chili for the hotness. Else you will end up with bland or very hot raita.
Suggested Variations:
- 1 teaspoon powdered sugar can be added to balance the salt and acidity.
- Curry leafs can be added to hot oil along with the mustard seeds while preparing tempering. The crisp curry leafs add great texture to the raita.
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| bathua Raita with Mustard-Curry Leaf Tempering |
