Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Fuji Apple Salad or Raita


A recipe for green apple raita on the Internet caught my attention because all of the ingredients are always available in our home. Flavorful Fuji apples, I decided, would work really well here and that turned out to be true. We try to avoid sugar in our household, so that was replaced with agave nectar. The garnish was another of my adaptations to the original recipe.

Raita is a common part of an Indian meal and is identifiable by its white yogurt dressing. This salad is usually made with cooked vegetables (e.g. boiled potatoes & fried okra) and uncooked vegetables (e.g. diced cucumber & grated carrots). Raita is served chilled and cools the palate during a spicy meal. Rather than serving it as a first course, it is eaten in between and after more spicy items and helps digest the meal.

I’ve used Greek yogurt which is much higher in protein than regular yogurt and is what I had in the fridge. Vanilla flavored yogurt (Danon Lite & Fit) also makes a good dressing for raita, in which case the sweetener should be omitted.