Raita Recipe: Aligarh's Smoky

Sannata Raita

, Unlike Any You've Had

Most raita recipes are thick, cooling, and fairly mild and always that side dish, like the cool and composed friend who puts out fires everywhere, but not this one! Sannata raita is from the streets of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh and thin enough to drink, fiery with red chilli, and finished with a smoking technique called dhungar that gives it a distinct charred aroma that most raitas lack. It's less a cooling side dish and more a bold, smoky counterpart to the heavy, fried food it's served with. The base is quite simple, with fresh curd whisked and thinned out with chilled water until it reaches a thin, flowing consistency, closer to a spiced buttermilk than a typical thick raita. Red chilli powder, black salt, coarsely crushed roasted cumin, and a pinch of hing go in next, building the raita's signature bold, tangy heat. The roasted, coarsely crushed cumin also adds that oomph that simple jeera powder cannot. Dry roast the jeera (cumin), grind it to a fine powder, and use it in this raita recipe. As for the dhingar technique used in the sannata raita recipe, it involves heating a small piece of coal over an open flame until red-hot, then placing it in a small steel bowl set in the centre of the raita. Mustard oil and a little hing are poured over the hot coal, and the whole bowl is immediately covered so the smoke has nowhere to go but into the raita itself. Left covered for 5-10 minutes, the raita absorbs a deep, smoky aroma that's impossible to recreate with any spice, giving it the restaurant-style smokiness often added to dishes like biryanis and dal makhani.