Pineapple Raita

The boy and I both like Raita, and I’m always looking for versions that go beyond diced cucumber in yoghurt. The boy always thinks he can take curries, hotter than he actually can, so a cooling raita is often essential.

This version has two selling points – it’s quite sweet and it uses canned pineapple so there is no tiresome prep. Pineapple usually comes in small cans which is what you want.

500ml plain yoghurt

3 slices tinned pineapple

½ tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp sugar

Salt to taste

Toast the cumin seeds is a hot frying pan and crush the pepper corns in a pestle and mortar. Chop the pineapple slices quite small. Drain it well on kitchen paper and add to a bowl with all the other ingredients. I think pineapple can take quite a bit of salt. 

This recipe is from Pushpesh Pant’s wonderful “India Cookbook” which has 1000 recipes from the subcontinent. Interestingly, none of his raita recipes include the cucumber variant so I wonder if it is traditional at all? 

The boy likes this with Garlic Chilli Chicken, though he has to change into a dark coloured T shirt first. For obvious reasons!