Indian cooking
Indian cooking / Dishes / Matar ka Raita
Matar ka Raita (Green Pea Raita)

Matar ka Raita

Green Pea Raita
Vegetarian●●●Origin AwadhPrep 15 minutes, plus chilling timeMakes 750ml / 1¼ pints (3¼ cups)

A refreshing yogurt-based side dish studded with tender sweet peas and laced with toasted, warming spices. It offers a creamy, cool texture with mild earthy heat.

Raita spices

4.7 gMixed into the yogurt base (step 1)
01
2.1 g1 teaspoon
spice
02
2.6 g1 teaspoon
spice
Keep ready to blend into the raita.

Everything else

01
507 g500 ml
dairy
02
Pea · Matarlightly cooked
250 g
vegetable
03
4.2 g1 teaspoon
sweetener
04
Spring onion · Hara Pyaztrimmed and chopped
15 g1 onion
vegetable
05
to taste
salt

Method

  1. In a wide mixing bowl, combine 507 g plain yogurt with 250 g pea, lightly cooked, the raita spices, 4.2 g granulated sugar, 1 None, trimmed and chopped, and salt to taste, folding gently until uniformly distributed.
  2. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to allow the flavours to develop before serving.

Don't have something?

Plain yogurt
  • Yogurt

    Use equal weight, whisked thoroughly until smooth before adding to hot dishes to prevent curdling.

  • Coconut milk

    Use equal weight with 1 teaspoon lemon juice mixed in. Provides rich creaminess in curries, but adds a noticeable coconut flavour.

  • Single cream

    Use 80% of the weight plus a squeeze of lemon juice for acidity. Enriches sauces nicely, though it is richer and less tangy.

Pea
  • Green pea

    Use equal weight directly from fresh or frozen. Toss into the pan near the end of cooking to preserve sweetness and bright green colour.

  • Chana dal

    Use 70% of the weight, boiled until tender but holding shape. Adds pleasant body and starch, though it lacks the juicy sweetness of fresh peas.

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.

Granulated sugar
  • Jaggery

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

Chilli powder
  • Red chilli powder

    Use 100% of the weight. Provides direct, sharp heat and red colour in equal measure.

  • Kashmiri chilli powder

    Use 150% to 200% of the weight if matching colour, but add a pinch of black pepper or hot chilli if you need equivalent fiery heat.

  • Cayenne pepper

    Use 75% to 100% of the weight. Offers a sharp, clean heat with slightly less earthy depth and less crimson colour.

Spring onion
  • Spring onion green

    Use the same weight; use only the green parts, so the dish loses some of the white onion base.

  • Onion

    Use 60% of the weight, finely sliced; stronger and sharper, so cook it down more.

  • Chive

    Use the same weight; milder and best added late or as a garnish, not as a cooked base.

Similar dishes

Khoya Matar
Peas with Thickened Milk
Khoya Matar is much richer, heavier, and more deeply spiced, lacking the cool, tangy freshness of this dish.
  • Same: Khoya Matar also features green peas as a core ingredient, seasoned with cumin seeds and chilli powder.
  • Different: Khoya Matar is a hot curry cooked in ghee with rich khoya, fresh ginger, green chillies, and warm spices like cloves and garam masala, whereas this dish is an uncooked, chilled yogurt-based side sweetened with sugar.
Zimikand-Matar
Elephant’s Foot Yam with Green Peas
Zimikand-Matar is much richer, tangier, and more heavily spiced than this cool and sweet-tinged dish.
  • Same: Zimikand-Matar also pairs green peas with plain yogurt seasoned with cumin seeds, chilli powder, and salt.
  • Different: Unlike this uncooked, chilled yogurt raita, Zimikand-Matar is a hot curry cooked in ghee with tomatoes, amchoor, turmeric, coriander seeds, asafoetida, and garam masala.
Gajar Matar
Peas & Carrots
Gajar Matar tastes savory, warm-spiced and dry with carrot sweetness and green-chilli heat, while this dish is creamy, cool and tangy from yogurt with mild earthy heat.
  • Same: Gajar Matar shares peas, cumin seed, chilli powder and salt with this dish.
  • Different: Gajar Matar adds carrot, onion, tomato, green chilli, garlic, ginger, ground coriander, ground cumin and oil or ghee, and it is braised as a dry vegetable, while this dish is a yogurt-based side with sugar and spring onion.
Samosa
Samosas
Samosa is hot, crunchy, and intensely savoury, whereas this dish is cool, creamy, and mildly sweet.
  • Same: Samosa also features green peas seasoned with cumin seeds, chilli powder, and salt.
  • Different: Instead of folding peas into uncooked yogurt, Samosa combines them with potatoes, ginger, fresh chillies, turmeric, and coriander inside a pastry deep-fried in ghee and vegetable oil.