Vegan Raita - Spiced Coconut Yogurt Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups Coconut Yogurt
- ½ cup coconut water
- ½ cup cucumbers, chopped
- ½ cup onions, chopped
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- ½ tsp garam masala
- ¼ tsp red chili powder
- drizzle of pomegranate sauce
- drizzle of date sauce
Instructions
- Mix the coconut water with the coconut yogurt.
- Mix the chopped cucumbers and onions with the coconut yogurt and spices.
- drizzle with the sauces and serve.
- NoteIf you do not wish to make your own coconut yogurt at home, then choose Culina Yogurt found at most health food stores. It’s an amazing dip for pakoras or bhaji and great to go with pulao and other dishes as well.
Looking for an easy, healthy dipping sauce that will bring to life so many dishes? Well, look no further; this Vegan Raita is the perfect complement to Pakoras and countless other dishes.
What is Raita?
It is a condiment composed of yogurt combined with spices and some vegetables to make a delicious side sauce. Typically Raita is made with dairy. This plant-based version is made with coconut.
This lite, flavor-filled raita provides the perfect cooling contrast to a hot and spicy traditional Indian or Pakistani dish. In addition to being simple and easy to make, this raita is light, easy to digest, and filled with healing ingredients.
Coconut
Coconuts are a life-changing food. Medical Medium states in his book, Life-Changing Foods, that “coconuts enhance the power of anything they touch,” which means, when combined with healing foods, coconut supercharges those benefits. Coconut water is very similar to human blood. Coconuts help with insomnia by providing the right blend of mineral salts for neurotransmitter production in our brains. “Coconut meat is highly antipathogenic,” and “when coconut drops from the stomach into the intestinal tract, it kills off any pathogen it touches.”
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are an alkalizing food that hydrates on a deep cellular level through its beneficial electrolytes. This hydration factor makes cucumber juice ideal for bringing down a high fever. They are rich in vitamins A, C, K, magnesium, silicon, and potassium and are packed with antioxidants and enzymes that help your food digest and kill tapeworms and parasites.
The skin of the cucumber is rich in chlorophyll, making it a powerful anti-cancer food – particularly helpful with estrogen-based cancers such as breast, uterus, prostate, and ovarian.
Cucumbers are an excellent diuretic, helping waste excrete through the kidneys as it dissolves uric acid that contributes to the creation of kidney and bladder stones. Additionally, their high silica content promotes healthy, strong, beautiful hair and nails.
Onions
Onions contain sulfur compounds that strengthen the immune system, brain, and nervous system. These compounds also help to detoxify heavy metals from the body such as mercury, cadmium, and lead.
Furthermore, onions are the highest food source of quercetin, a potent antioxidant that can help prevent blood clots, asthma, sinus infections, bronchitis, atherosclerosis, and diabetes.
Pomegranate
Finally, the addition of pomegranate seeds really raises the nutritional bar for guacamole.
Pomegranate seeds strengthen the blood as they help to raise both red and white cell counts. They also restore glucose reserves to the liver. Thus the glucose can then be released as needed into the bloodstream.
By the same token, it is these glucose reserves that protect your adrenal glands. Furthermore, the high-quality glucose in pomegranates makes them excellent for the brain, helping with focus and concentration.
Cumin
Cumin is an incredible spice for digestive disorders such as indigestion, dyspepsia, stomach cramps, gastritis, bloating, constipation, nausea, and flatulence. Cumin seeds also contain vitamins E, A, and B-complex in addition to being abundant in minerals such as zinc, selenium, iron, calcium, and manganese.
Cumin is known to help the body absorb and assimilate nutrients. Furthermore, it contains anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties that have been shown to reduce the risk of stomach, colon, and liver tumors. Cumin is also known to help with colds, flu, insomnia, asthma, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, muscle spasms, and arthritis.
Dates
Dates are great at improving your energy and brain function. They are packed with nutrients such as vitamin A & B-complex, as well as minerals such as iron, calcium, manganese, copper, and potassium. Dates have been used by athletes for thousands of years to help build bone and muscle strength while also improving physical endurance.
Because dates contain anti-inflammatory and anti-infective properties, they are a wonderful food choice for anybody suffering from chronic infections and auto-immune disorders. Additionally, dates help protect against strokes and coronary heart disease as they help to control heart rate and blood pressure. Dates have also been found to help prevent certain cancers such as colon, prostate, lung, endometrial, and pancreatic.
Dates are an easy snack to bring with you on-the-go.
Whether served alongside my baked onion pakoras or any other dish, this raita improves the flavor and provides diversity to the meal.
Please leave me a comment and let me know if you try this raita – or if you change it up a bit. I’d love to know how it turns out.
To your health & happiness,
Muneeza
