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Raita, chutney & salad

Podina Raita Recipe

پودینے کا رائتہ بنانے کا طریقہ

Bright green podina raita: fresh mint, coriander and green chilli ground to a paste and whisked into chilled yogurt with roasted cumin, perfect with BBQ.
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Illustration of Podina Raita

Prep

10 min

Cook

0 min

Total

10 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Spice

Mild

Podina raita is the green, tangy yogurt sauce served with tikka, seekh kabab and biryani at every Pakistani barbecue. Instead of chopping the mint, it is ground with coriander and green chilli into a paste, so the whole raita turns pale green and the flavour spreads evenly. It takes ten minutes and keeps the heaviest Eid-ul-Adha meal in balance.

Ingredients

4 servings

For 4 servings

Measures

Method

  1. Dry-roast the cumin in a small pan on low heat until fragrant, then crush it.

    ⏱ 2 min

  2. Grind the mint, coriander, green chillies, garlic if using, and the cold water to a smooth paste.

  3. Whisk the yogurt until smooth, then whisk in the green paste, salt, sugar and most of the cumin.

  4. Taste and adjust salt, sprinkle the rest of the cumin on top and chill until serving.

    ⏱ 15 min

Tips for the best result

  • Grind the herbs with cold water, or a couple of ice cubes, so they stay bright green and do not darken.
  • For a thicker dip for kababs, hang the yogurt in a muslin cloth for an hour first.

Common mistakes

  • Using the mint stalks. They are bitter and fibrous; pick the leaves only.
  • Making it hours early. The green colour dulls and the mint loses its freshness.

How to serve

Serve cold with tikka, seekh kabab, biryani, samosas or pakoras.

Storing and reheating

Best within a few hours; keeps 1 day in the fridge.

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories
80kcal
Protein
5g
Fat
4g
Carbs
7g
Fibre
0.5g
Sodium
350mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 32

Whole dish ≈ Rs 125 · 93% of ingredients by weight priced

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Podina Raita: questions people ask

Why does my mint raita turn dark?

Mint oxidises when bruised and warmed by the grinder. Grind it with ice-cold water, mix into the yogurt straight away and serve within a few hours.

Serve it with, and similar recipes

All raita and chutney recipes

Read this recipe in Urdu: پودینے کا رائتہ بنانے کا طریقہ

https://handi.danixsoft.com/recipes/podina-raita · Handi, DanixSoft