Onion tomato raita recipe for biryani and pulao also makes a simple and easy to prepare yet creamy and delicious salad or side dish that can be served with rice dishes like vegetable rice pilaf or Indian breads. Onion tomato raita is Indian style yogurt based salad with fresh onions and tomatoes, garnished with fresh cilantro leaves, which is a very cooling and refreshing yogurt salad and it is often served as a dip, sauce or condiment along with Indian dishes.
When it comes to raita, cucumber raita using cucumbers and yogurt is one of the most popular raitas, as both cucumbers and yogurt are naturally very cooling. However, onion tomato raita is the one I am more used to, as this was a regular raita I enjoyed while growing up. It is often made with Indian breads, rice etc & other side dishes. In fact, raitas or yogurt based salads made with cucumbers, onions, tomatoes etc are very popular in many cuisines including Indian cuisine.
what is raita?
Raita is basically Indian style yogurt based salads made with vegetables and also sometimes using fruits and other ingredients. Curd or dahi is more popular in India and so mostly curd is used to make raitas as well. Curd is very similar to yogurt, but slighty different in texture. However, it is also a matter of availability and personal preference and I actually prefer using yogurt to make raitas, as yogurt is most creamy in texture and best in flavor.
Raita is made using vegetables like onions, tomatoes, cucumbers etc and sometimes fruits like pineapples are used as well, to make sweet raitas. There is no one perfect recipe for raita, and the preparation of raita varies from place to place and every family has their favorite kind of raita. However, any raita is basically made of creamy yogurt or curd and vegetables/fruits etc. These raitas play a very important role in Indian cuisine as they are mostly served along Indian dishes like Indian bread or rice pilaf.
Raitas are served cold as you can guess, and they are delicious and easy to make! With any dish which is usually made with spices, raita which is mainly made using fresh yogurt or curd is very cooling and refreshing. Onion tomato raita is one of the most popular raita varieties and you can easily and quickly prepare this raita in very few minutes. Make sure to use fresh and clean vegetables as we are using raw veggies to make the raita.
As you can guess, fresh yogurt, onions and tomatoes are the main ingredients to make onion tomato raita at home. I also add fresh chopped cilantro leaves (coriander leaves) and a pinch of dry roasted cumin seeds powder (make sure to dry roast the cumin seed powder prior to adding to the raita) to add more flavor to the onion tomato raita.
There is really not any cooking involved in making this onion tomato raita other than the roasting of cumin seeds powder, and so the five minutes of cooking time shown in the recipe is for roasting the cumin seeds powder. The remaining 10 minutes of preparation includes whisking the yogurt, washing and chopping the veggies and mixing all ingredients until well blended and garnishing with cilantro leaves.
I always use a good amount of creamy yogurt to make the onion tomato raita which I highly recommend to make the best, cooling and refreshing raita. Always use thick and creamy yogurt for the most delicious onion tomato raita!
So here is how you can make this simple and delicious onion tomato raita at home!
how to make onion tomato raita or yogurt salad with onions and tomatoes?
We use the following ingredients to make easy, creamy and delicious onion tomato raita for biryani, pulao and more at home.
ingredients to make onion tomato raita or yogurt salad
- Onion 1 medium sized
- tomatoes 1 medium sized
- thick yogurt 4 cups chilled (or curd known as dahi in India)
- green chilies 1 optional
- chopped cilantro leaves (coriander leaves) 1 tablespoon
- roasted cumin seeds powder ½ teaspoon optional
- Salt a little
step by step instructions
- Wash the onion, peel and slice thinly in small sized pieces (not very long).
- Wash the slice the tomatoes in small sized pieces.
- Gently rinse the sliced onions and tomatoes again in fresh water, drain the water and transfer chopped onions and tomatoes to a large bowl.
- Slice the green chilies and add this to the pan, avoid using the green chilies if making for kids.
- Add the salt and roasted cumin seeds powder, mix well.
- In another small bowl, beat the yogurt very well without any lumps.
- Add the beaten yogurt to the bowl containing chopped onions and tomatoes, mix everything very well.
- Now the onion tomato raita is ready to serve, you can transfer this to a serving bowl.
- Once the raita is transferred to the serving bowl, add the chopped cilantro leaves to the raita for garnishing or you can gently mix in the leaves if you wish.
- Serve the refreshing and cooling onion tomato raita with rice or any flatbread.
how to store raita?
Raita is made using chilled yogurt and vegetables and they can be served immediately after preparation. If you are not serving it right away, you can also chill it in the refrigerator for few more hours until ready for serving. It is important to serve the raita chilled for best results. Raita will stay fresh in refrigerator for about a day or two, if stored properly. I do not recommend storing raita more than a couple of days in refrigerator as well, since they may not stay fresh for so long.
Below you can get the recipe for simple, easy and delicious onion tomato raita for biryani in detail.
Onion Tomato Raita - Yogurt Salad With Tomatoes, Onions
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized onion
- 1 medium sized tomatoes
- 4 cups thick yogurt or curd (chilled)
- 1 green chilies optional
- 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro leaves (coriander leaves)
- ½ teaspoon roasted cumin seeds powder optional
- salt a little, adjust to taste
Instructions
- Wash the onion, peel and slice thinly in small sized pieces (not very long).
- Wash the slice the tomatoes in small sized pieces.
- Gently rinse the sliced onions and tomatoes again in fresh water, drain the water and transfer chopped onions and tomatoes to a large bowl.
- Slice the green chilies and add this to the pan, avoid using the green chilies if making for kids.
- Add the salt and roasted cumin seeds powder, mix well.
- In another small bowl, beat the yogurt very well without any lumps.
- Add the beaten yogurt to the bowl containing chopped onions and tomatoes, mix everything very well. Now the onion tomato raita is ready to serve, you can transfer this to a serving bowl.
- Once the raita is transferred to the serving bowl, add the chopped cilantro leaves to the raita for garnishing or you can gently mix in the leaves if you wish.
- Serve the refreshing and cooling onion tomato raita with biryani, pulao or any spicy rice variety or with chapathi or poori as you wish.
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