10-Minute Mint Raita (Restaurant-Style)
The condiment of choice at Indian & Pakistani restaurants – Mint Raita. This is a restaurant-style recipe that I actually got from a restaurant owner. It is THE perfect raita for biryani, pulao, kebabs, and so much more! Make in less than Make it in 10 minutes using any blender!
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“So good! Reminds me of the chutney I would eat with my Biryani at weddings (before covid).”
Sadia
The Restaurant-Famous Mint Raita
I’m still not sure what to call this recipe. I suppose the yogurt makes it a raita yet the herbs and blended texture pull it into the Chutney category. Restaurants are divided about its naming too. Some call it Pudina (mint) Chutney, others simply Raita. On Instagram, a 60% raita/40% chutney vote led me to the final, inconclusive decision of calling it both – Mint Raita OR Yogurt Chutney.
Whatever you’d like to call it, order kebabs, biryani, pulao, or any ‘dry’ menu item at restaurant and you’ll likely get this refreshing light-green raita/chutney alongside it. (You could even try dipping Pakistani Chicken Patties in it!) Restaurants love to serve this as a side dish because it:
- Keeps well (no vegetables releasing water like cucumber raita).
- Goes with everything (try it with dal!).
- Is often diluted with water, which makes it runnier & versatile (not to mention makes it go farther!).
More cooling sides: Kachumber Salad, Cucumber Raita, and Dahi Bhalla.
Ingredients for Mint Raita
This recipe requires 7 easy-to-find ingredients:
- Yogurt – Plain, whole milk yogurt is perfect here. You could use Greek yogurt but you’ll need to add more water or milk to dilute it.
- Fresh Cilantro & Mint Leaves – Even though it’s called Mint (pudina) Raita, it requires much more cilantro than mint. Mint is stronger than cilantro, so too much mint can be overpowering and even bitter. Try to use just the leaves of the herbs and not the stems.
- Serrano pepper – Adds flavor and heat. If you use a smaller Thai chili pepper, use about half. Feel free to use more if you’d like to add more heat.
- Garlic – Use a small garlic clove or half of a larger one. We’re going for a very muted garlic flavor.
- Cumin Seeds – You can either toast and grind seeds or simply use ground cumin powder.
- Lemon – Lemon juice (or substitute with lime juice) is a key ingredient to diluting it and making it last longer. Restaurants will often use bottled lemon juice, which you can use if that’s what you have on hand.
How to make Mint Raita
- Optional – Toast cumin seeds. I usually wouldn’t bother toasting such a small quantity, but it adds great flavor. If skipping this step, use an equal amount of ground cumin powder.
- Blend everything except yogurt. You can use a small blender like a Nutri-Bullet (best), a spice grinder (okay), or even a regular sized-blender. Blend/grind until the herbs are very finely chopped, scraping down the sides as needed. Add water if needed to get it to blend.
Tip: Make sure the herbs are very well blended. If you’ve had it at restaurants, you’ll notice the herbs don’t have a bite to them. That’s what we’re going for here.
- Whisk Yogurt & Combine. Whisk the yogurt until completely smooth before adding the green chutney.
- Taste and adjust, adding water for a thinner, restaurant-like consistency. You can also dilute it with more lemon juice if you’d like.
How to Store (or Freeze)
This raita keeps well in the refrigerator as-is or in the freezer before adding the yogurt.
- To refrigerate: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- To freeze: Freeze before adding yogurt. After grinding the herbs (Step 2), place in an airtight bag or container and freeze. When ready to prepare, thaw the frozen solid at room temperature (don’t microwave!). Then add it to the whisked yogurt (Step 3).
Final Tips
- As I mentioned earlier, the most important tip is to make sure the herbs are very finely ground so that no leaves are visible. You want to ensure that there’s no bite to the herbs in the final product.
- Whisk the yogurt until it’s smooth and no longer grainy before adding the herbs.
- Don’t add yogurt as a thinner along with the herbs into the grinder as it’ll lose its silky smooth texture. Instead, use water or lemon juice to help grind the herbs.
FAQ
I use a spice/coffee grinder because this recipe uses a small quantity of herbs. You can use a small blender or regular-sized blender. If using a regular-sized blender, you may have to add extra water to ensure the herbs are well-blended. For this quantity, a food processor will not work.
Use your favorite plain, unsweetened non-dairy yogurt in place of whole milk yogurt.
Sometimes the ingredients themselves such as lemon, garlic, herbs can be bitter, which can cause the final chutney to be bitter. Using too much of an ingredient can also cause bitterness. With these ratios, I hope you won’t have any problem with bitterness.
Variations & Add-Ins:
This is one of those recipes in which the quantities don’t have to be precise at all. Feel free to play around with the ratios and add in whatever spices and ingredients you’d like. Some add-ons I’ve tried & liked:
- chaat masala
- freshly ground black pepper
- black salt
Serve this Mint Raita with:
- Easy Pakistani Aloo Ki Tikki – Potato Cutlets
- Seekh Kebab
- Biryani!
- Easy Shami Kabob (Instant Pot and Stovetop)
- Chapli Kabab
- Chana Pulao (Chickpea Pilaf)
- Pakistani Chicken Pulao (Yakhni Pulao)
10-Minute Mint Raita (Restaurant-Style)
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Ingredients
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds, (preferably toasted) and ground (See Step 1) or sub 1/2 tsp ground cumin powder
- 1/2 cup (~12 g) cilantro leaves, loosely packed (try not to use stems)
- 3 tbsp (~3 g) mint leaves, loosely packed (try not to use stems)
- 1 slice Serrano pepper or small Thai green chili pepper, deseeded (choose how thick the slice depending on how spicy you’d like)
- 1 small (~2 g) garlic clove, or 1/2 medium
- 1/4 tsp sea salt or table salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice, or to taste
- 3/4 cup (~184 g) plain, whole milk yogurt
Equipment
- Small blender like a Nutri-bullet or regular-sized blender narrow blender (or a spice grinder)
Instructions
- Optional – Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and toast, stirring and shaking the skillet often, for 1-2 minutes. The seeds will deepen in color and become highly aromatic. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Then use a mortar and pestle to grind to a powder. Set aside.
- Add the cilantro leaves, mint leaves, Serrano, garlic clove, ground cumin, salt, lemon juice, and 2 tbsp water into a (preferably small) blender. Blend, scraping down the spice grinder/blender as needed, until it reaches a fine consistency. If needed, add another tablespoon or two of water to make it easier to blend. It should become a runny paste, with the leaves no longer visible.
- In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt until smooth and no longer grainy. Stir in the crushed green paste. Taste and add salt or more lemon juice, if desired. For a thinner, restaurant-like consistency, add ½-1 tbsp of water. See notes for how to store.
Notes
- To refrigerate: Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- To freeze: Freeze before adding yogurt. After grinding the herbs (Step 2), place in an airtight bag or container and freeze. When ready to prepare, thaw the frozen solid at room temperature (don’t microwave!). Then add it to the whisked yogurt (Step 3).
- Feel free to play around with the cilantro & mint ratios. I like much less mint than cilantro because I find too much mint can get quite strong and bitter.
- Substitute lime juice instead of lemon for a slightly different flavor.
- Feel free to add any spices or ingredients you’d love here. See post for optional add-in ideas.
20 Comments on “10-Minute Mint Raita (Restaurant-Style)”
i omitted cilantro altogether, basically just mint, spices, lime and yogurt. still delicious.
thank you so much, bless.
Glad to hear you enjoyed the Raita!
Such a wonderful accompaniment to many hot dishes. I skipped the cilantro, used a half a thai chili and it was great. Thanks Izzah!
Hi Gabrielle, So glad to hear you enjoyed the Raita! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I made about 6x the quantity, but 1 garlic clove sounded like enough .. even that was a bit sharp. Also I used 2 thai peppers and it’s a bit much, next time I’ll use one. It’s a good recipe as far as ratio of cilantro, mint, lemon but other ingredients seem out of proportion. I used less salt and a bit less cumin. Overall turned out nice. I wonder if adding a little sugar may bring out flavours.
Hi Yas, Sorry to hear the proportions weren’t to your liking. Did you de-seed the thai chili peppers before using? Would love to hear back how it turns out with the addition of sugar. I have heard of people adding a touch of sugar to balance the heat although I haven’t tried it myself.
I made this for our chapli kebabs. I used whole milk yogurt from my local grocery store, and ended up having to add more water than the recipe suggested for this yogurt. But I really enjoyed the freshness and taste, wonderful flavor! Thank you for sharing!
Oh yes, yogurts vary so much in water quantities. Thank you for sharing, Shelly!
I’ve made this a dozen time. I can’t imagine using any other recipe. The mint is a must.
So happy to hear that. Thanks for sharing, Nisha!
This is such a delicious accompaniment to Pulao and is an absolute hit at our home.
Thanks so much for sharing, Ayesha!
The amount of people who have asked for this recipie! I am so happy I can share it with them.. you have changed our lives! This is absolutely finger licking stuff! While being super duper easy!
Thank you for your generous comments. You’ve made my day!
Delicious! Very easy and tasty recipe.
Thank you for sharing!
Loving the ratio, Izzah… perfection ❤️
Thanks so much, Andi!
So good! Reminds me of the chutney I would eat with my Biryani at weddings (before covid). I accidentally added two too many Thai Green chilli peppers. I threw everything into one large blender and it was too little so I had to double the recipe – no regrets though, it tastes delicious 😋
Yay! First review! So glad you liked it, Sadia. I know the quantity is too small for just about anything except small blenders like nutribullet, spice grinders, etc.