Bathua Raita {Gluten Free Winter Recipe}

This humble green Bathua Raita made with freshly sorted and boiled Bathua leaves is rich in savory flavors. Rich in Vitamin A, this Bathua ka Raita is made in winters in North India as these green leafy are for warming the body.

Bathua Raita or Curd Dunked with Bathua leaves is a easy recipe to include nutritious leaves in your daily meals. Bathua is consumed during winters as it naturally keeps the body warm. In winters, I prefer consuming homemade fresh curd (not refrigerated ones).

These blended bathua leaves when added to room-temperature fresh curd, flavored with Pink salt, Black pepper and chopped green chilies, make the plain curd amazingly delicious.

Winters are most awaited by me for creating delightful recipes with the leafy greens. Bathua or Chenopodium Album or Lamb's quarters is one of the popular winter greens of India. Amazingly rich in fiber, these leaves can be used for many recipes. One of the family favorite from my blog is - Bathua Paratha.

In winters, my day begins with Bathua Paratha topped with white butter. Team this green bathua raita with rice, paratha or poori for a hearty meal!

Jump to:

• Why Would You Love This Recipe?
• Ingredients
• Benefits of Bathua
• Variations
• Storage Suggestions
• What to Team With This Bathua Raita?
• Expert Tips
• FAQs
• Detailed Recipe With Steps
• Stories From Kitchen
• Bathua Raita | Bathua Curd Dip

Why Would You Love This Recipe?

• Exotic savory and spicy flavors.
• A perfect healthy Dip.
• Gluten Free.
• Can be made Vegan.
• Diabetic Friendly recipe.
• Popular Traditional Winter Recipe.
• Rich in iron, calcium and Vitamin A & C.
• Simple ingredients and a quick recipe.
• Kids Friendly.
• Weight-Loss Recipe.
• The Best Bathua Ka Raita Ever!

Ingredients

• Fresh Bathua Leaves- Lamb quarter's leaves work best for this recipe. Freshly sorted leaves add vibrant color and flavor to this curd. You may purchase already sorted leaves to save your time. We in India prefer to cook our greens and don't consume them raw. For this recipe, blanching bathua leaves would be fine. I have added blanched and blended leaves. If you don't have bathua leaves, mint leaves would work well too.
• Homemade Curd- The homemade curd has perfect creaminess, though you may use store-bought as well. In winters, I prefer using freshly made homemade curd (without keeping in refrigerator). I make curd at night and consume the next day. If you have refrigerated curd, that works well too. For making this recipe vegan, you may use any good quality vegan curd.
• Green Chili (optional)- Green chili add a spicy kick and our family simply loves it. If you don't like a spicy curd, feel free to omit it. A simpler way to reduce heat is to add chopped green leaves in a tea strainer and leave it in curd for some time. This ensures that chilies are not added in the curd, though their heat is added mildly.
• Pink Salt (Kala Namak)- Indian Raita is soulless without the addition of kala namak. It adds amazing savory touch to the curd. If you don't have it, table salt would work too.
• Black Pepper- The earthiness that comes from black pepper in curd is mind blowing. I would highly recommend not skipping it. The best swap can be red chili powder or flakes.

Benefits of Bathua

Bathua also known as Lamb's quarter or pigweed is consumed in India since ages. Packed with micro-nutrients- iron, calcium and potassium and Vitamins A, C and B6, including bathua in meals is an inexpensive way of having a healthy diet. As per Ayurveda, bathua helps clear body toxins as its a blood purifier.

This super food is a winter specialty as it is warm in nature and keeps body warm naturally for the season. [1]

Variations

• Mint Raita- Another popular Indian curd is Raita made with Mint leaves. You may use fresh leaves boiled and blended, like in this recipe. If you have dried mint leaves, crush them with hand and add to beaten curd.
• This recipe adds boiled and blended bathua leaves in curd. You may add the boiled leaves without blending as well. I wished to create this recipe for kids and didn't want them any reason to avoid this healthy dip.
• Make it a Dip- If you use greek yogurt or hung curd, the curd would be very creamy. This raita can be made as a green dip that can be spread over a sandwich or teamed with finger foods or just fresh salads!
• Add another spice- Normally all my raita include cumin (Jeera). I dry roast Jeera on Iron tawa and blend it on rolling pin for adding to curd. In recipe, I missed adding it. Feel free to add it. You may add red chili if you wish to add red tinge and make this curd spicy.

Storage Suggestions

This curd would be good in the refrigerator for about 3 days in winters. Store it in airtight container with a lid. In summers, the curd becomes sour soon and I don't consume sour curd. We make Kadhi using old sour curd.

For consuming again, let it rest on the kitchen counter for about half an hour.

Freezing of the curd is not recommended.

What to Team With This Bathua Raita?

Serve this delicious Bathua Raita with rice or paratha for a healthy breakfast!

• Jeera Rice
• Indian Lemon Rice
• Bathua Paratha
• Ragi Roti or Paratha

Expert Tips

• Since this curd is winter special, use a fresh homemade curd. If you have a store-bought curd, make sure to let it attain room temperature for best results.
• To have a smooth and creamy raita, I prefer blending it. Don't blend curd too much. We in India use wooden churn (Madhani) which is held in hands and moved in the bowl of curd. If you are using electric blender (hand or others), a pulse of 2 sec would be fine.
• My version of spicy may vary a lot from yours. Start with low quantities of chili and then increase gradually as per your heat tolerance.
• Let the boiled bathua leaves cool down before blending.

FAQs

Detailed Recipe With Steps

Step 1 Wash and Boil Bathua

Washing the bathua leaves is an important step. The leaves are very muddy. In a large pot of water, add raw sorted chopped leaves. Let them soak in water. Take out leaves and transfer them to another pot of water. You would notice a layer of mud settled down at the bottom of the pots. Do this a couple of times using fresh water at every swap. Then transfer them in a colander and let it again be washed under tap water.

Boil the water in a pot. Add washed leaves in it and let them boil on a simmer flame for about 3-5 min. They would change color from light green to dark.

Note: If you would blend the leaves for adding to curd, you may skip the chopping part or roughly chop them.

Step 2 Blend and Add to Curd

In a colander, add the boiled leaves and let them drain out excessive water. Squeeze a bit and add the cooled off leaves to blender to make a smooth green paste.

While the leaves are cooling off, in a another pot, add curd and blend it with hand churn. Add the boiled bathua leaves puree. Spice the curd and add salt. Mix with a spatula.

Step 3 Serve It

Top the green Bathua Raita with chopped green chilies and serve it!

Stories From Kitchen

As a kid (for that matter grown up), I had avoided greens in meals. I couldn't swallow the leafy veggies and born in Punjabi family meant that each day in winters would be full of leafy meals. Eventually, I stopped eating them. It's only after my marriage that I started having the greens. Thanks to the elegant recipes of my mother-in-law. She would knead the dough in boiled leaves instead of stuffing them in paratha. I can totally understand how difficult it would be for a kid to like the leafy veggies.

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