Name: Okra Raita | Easy Bhindi Raita | Spiced Okra in Tempered Yogurt
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 tbsp oil; 1.5 cups okra (chopped (I cut them into slightly big pieces (1.5 to 2-inch approx shown in the picture)); 1 tsp cumin powder (divided); 1/2 tsp red chili powder; 1 cup yogurt; 1/2 cup water; 1 tsp salt; 2 tbsp cilantro (chopped); 1 tsp oil; 1/2 tsp mustard seeds; 1/4 tsp hing/asafoetida; 1/2 tsp chana dal; 1/2 tsp urad dal

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Are you looking for simple vegetable sides? Then try this flavorful okra raita or the bhindi raita recipe. This spiced okra in the tempered yogurt is a perfect rice accompaniment or you can just relish this as a dip too! Check out this easy-peasy okra raita recipe with step-wise pictures.

Raita:

When time is pressing, raita is my go-to rice accompaniment option. Wondering why?

It’s quite easy to prepare with minimal ingredients.
Not much chopping involved. Mostly we use grated vegetables and I personally feel grating is easier than chopping.
Not much sauteing is required. (As always there are few exceptions)
and of course, it tastes delicious.

So what is raita? Raita is a popular condiment or an accompaniment popular in the Indian Subcontinent. It is primarily made with vegetables and fruits (raw or cooked) and yogurt along with some spices. Oh, let’s not forget the boondi raita where no fruits or vegetables are used. Boondi raita is prepared by adding fried chickpea flour balls in yogurt.

Many of you would have tasted the very simple onion raita in the restaurants. Onion raita is usually served along with pulav and biryani. To make simple onion raita, you need only four ingredients – onion, yogurt, salt, and some cilantro. That’s all. Usually, for onion raita, we don’t add any tempering.

Pachadi:

Coming to Tamil cuisine, raita is popularly known as pachadi in Tamil. A festive thali is incomplete without it. It’s true with all the South Indian cuisines. In kannada, raita is popularly known as Tambuli and in Telugu, they call is as perugu pachadi. In Malayalam also, it is known as pachadi. You can make a variety of pachadis with vegetables and fruits.

In our household, we always make raita with vegetables and freshly ground coconut paste. Yes, we use coconut in raita too. I can cook without onion and garlic, but it’s hard for me to cook without coconut. :-) You can always find a frozen coconut pack in my freezer. :-)

I have an assorted collection of raitas on my blog. Some of the popular ones are,

Okra Raita:

Now let’s come to the okra raita. When I buy okra, I usually make curry and save three to four okras for sambar or any kuzhambu varieties. But this time I wanted to try something different and that’s when I stumbled on this okra raita recipe. Raita with cumin powder and red chili powder was intriguing and I tried with my own twist. And that’s what I am going to share today!

Like other raitas, this okra raita preparation is also simple.

All you have to do is chop the okra and roast them. While roasting, I added the cumin powder and red chili powder. Just roast until the okra pieces are crispy and crunchy. I let the okra pieces to brown a bit but that’s completely optional. Then let it cool and add it to the yogurt. And finally, temper the yogurt.

It might sound like a lot of steps, but you can do them all in parallel. In less than 20 minutes, you can make this raita. Now without any further ado, here is the recipe.

How to Make Okra Raita?

Cook the Okra:
Heat a pan and add 1 tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add the chopped okra, ½ tsp of cumin powder and ½ tsp of red chili powder.

Mix thoroughly and make sure the spices are coated evenly.

Now cook the okra over medium-low heat until it is nicely roasted and charred like below. The okra should have a crunch. It took me approx 8 minutes.

Turn off the heat. Let the okra cook a bit
Prepare the Yogurt:
Meanwhile, in a bowl add the yogurt, water, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Now add the cooked okra pieces to yogurt. Gently mix.

Prepare the Tempering:
In a tempering pan, heat 1 tsp of oil. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds, urad dal, chana dal, and hing. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, turn off the heat.
Mix the Raita:
Now add this tempering and chopped cilantro to the okra-yogurt mix.

Gently mix them. Add the remaining ½ tsp of cumin powder and serve it with any rice variety.

Recipe Notes –

You can chop the okra into small pieces also. While sauteing, make sure they don’t stick to each other.
Tender okra works well for this raita. They turn crispy fast.
After tempering, instead of adding ½ tsp of cumin powder, you can add ½ tsp of chaat masala or dry mango powder for a tangy flavor.
Adjust the spices and salt according to your preference.
You can skip asafoetida to make this recipe a gluten-free one or use gluten-free asafoetida.

Serving the Okra Raita:

You can serve this okra raita with vaangi bath, pulav, sambar rice or you can relish this as a dip. A South Indian thali is incomplete without a raita/pachadi. You can serve this as a side on the regular thali and that’s what I did.

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📖 Recipe

Updates Notes: Earlier posted in 2014. Updated with fresh content and pictures.

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