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Indian cooking / Dishes / Green Apple and Fennel Raita
Green Apple and Fennel Raita ()

Green Apple and Fennel Raita

Vegetarian

A chilled Indian yogurt side made with sweet-tart grated green apple, crushed cumin and fennel, ginger and a little sugar. It tastes cooling, lightly sweet and aromatic.

Raita spices

3.1 gMixed into the thinned yogurt with ginger, sugar and salt (step 2)
01
Cumin seed · Jeeracoarsely crushed
1.1 g½ teaspoon
spice
02
Fennel seed · Saunfcoarsely crushed
2 g1 teaspoon
spice
Keep coarsely crushed; add both to the bowl with the other raita ingredients.

Everything else

01
517 g500 ml
dairy
02
6 g1½ cm
aromatic
03
13 g1 tablespoon
sweetener
04
Green apple · Sebcoarsely grated
180 g1 apple
fruit
05
to taste
salt

Method

  1. Put 517 g yogurt in a mixing bowl and stir in a couple tablespoons water until slightly thinned.
  2. Add the raita spices (1.1 g cumin seed and 2 g fennel seed), 6 g fresh ginger, 12.6 g granulated sugar and salt to taste to the yogurt; mix well.
  3. Grate 150 g granny smith apple coarsely just before adding it.
  4. Fold the apple through the raita and serve chilled.

Don't have something?

Yogurt
  • Plain yogurt

    Use 100% of the weight. Whisk thoroughly until smooth before stirring into warm gravies to prevent curdling.

  • Single cream

    Use 90% of the weight combined with 10% lemon juice to replicate the lactic tang and rich body in marinades and curries.

Cumin seed
  • Ground cumin

    Use 70% of the weight; add with ground spices or sauce bases rather than hot oil tempering, where it scorches quickly and turns bitter.

  • Black cumin seeds

    Use equal weight for oil tempering. Delivers an earthy profile with an additional musky, smoky, and slightly bitter edge.

  • Fennel seed

    Use 60% of the weight for tempering; offers comparable warm aroma, but leans sweet and liquorice-like rather than savoury and earthy.

Fennel seed
  • Aniseed

    Use 75% of the weight. Fry in hot oil or ghee; has a sharper, more pronounced liquorice flavour, so use a lighter hand.

  • Ground fennel seed

    Use 60% of the weight. Stir into the sauce with ground masalas; provides identical sweet aniseed flavour without whole seed crunch.

  • Star anise

    Use one point (single carpel) per 1 g of fennel seeds. Simmer in gravies and remove before serving; gives a deeper, woodier liquorice aroma.

Fresh ginger
  • Ginger paste

    Use equal weight. Sauté in hot fat until the raw allium smell disappears; slightly wetter, but provides identical warmth and pungency.

  • Ground ginger

    Use 20% to 25% of the weight (1 g for every 4 to 5 g fresh). Stir into the gravy; adds peppery heat and warmth, though it misses the crisp, zesty kick of raw root.

Granulated sugar
  • Jaggery

    Use equal weight; grate or shave finely so it dissolves rapidly, giving a warm, caramel-like sweetness and slightly darker sauce.

Green apple
  • Apple

    Use the same weight, peeled and diced; slightly less tart.

  • Pear

    Use the same weight, firm and diced; softer and sweeter.

  • Raw green mango

    Use the same weight, peeled and diced; much more sour, so adjust sugar.

Similar dishes

Mattha/Chaas
Cooling Yoghurt Drink
Mattha/Chaas tastes lighter and tangier than this dish, with a green-chilli spice kick rather than this dish's cooling, lightly sweet apple-and-fennel aroma.
  • Same: Mattha/Chaas shares with this dish a chilled yogurt base seasoned with cumin and fresh ginger and salted to taste.
  • Different: Mattha/Chaas is a thinned drinking yogurt made with Greek yogurt and water, plus green bird's-eye chilli and coriander, while this dish lacks water, chilli and coriander and instead contains grated green apple, fennel seed and sugar.
Mirch Tadkewalli Dahi
Mustard Seed, Cumin and Crispy Chilli Raita
Mirch Tadkewalli Dahi tastes tangy, savoury and gently hot with crunchy whole spices, while this dish tastes cooling, lightly sweet and aromatic.
  • Same: Both are chilled salted yogurt raitas seasoned with cumin and a little sugar.
  • Different: Mirch Tadkewalli Dahi adds water, a mustard-oil tempering of black mustard seeds and dried Kashmiri chillies, and lacks this dish's grated green apple, fennel seed and ginger.
Meethi Lassi
Sweet Yoghurt Shake
Meethi Lassi tastes lightly sweet and floral from cardamom, rosewater, and saffron, while this dish tastes cooling, tart-sweet, and aromatic from green apple, fennel, and cumin.
  • Same: Meethi Lassi shares with this dish a chilled yogurt base, 517 g yogurt, and added sugar.
  • Different: Meethi Lassi is a drink thinned with 795 g water and flavored with cardamom, rosewater, and saffron, while this dish is a spoonable raita with grated green apple, fennel, cumin, ginger, and salt.
Pineapple Raita
Pineapple Raita tastes creamy and pineapple-sweet with pepper-cumin warmth, rather than tart and fennel-ginger aromatic like this dish.
  • Same: Pineapple Raita shares a chilled yogurt base, sugar, and crushed cumin with this dish.
  • Different: Pineapple Raita uses canned pineapple chunks instead of grated green apple, adds black peppercorn and coriander leaves, and lacks fennel seed, ginger, and salt.