Wild Garlic Leaves Raita (Yoghurt)
Jungli Lahsun Patte ka Raita
Note from Mamta: The idea for this dish came after I saw a chef on BBC's Saturday Kitchen talking about making garlic butter from ground wild garlic leaves. I have a lot of wild garlic growing in my garden so I thought why not a wild garlic leaves raita? It tastes quite refreshing. The recipe is based on my elder sister Abha's mint raita recipe.
Wild Garlic leaves can be steamed and frozen, either whole or blended and put in small pots. See last 4 pictures.
Wild garlic grows across the UK from late winter until the end of spring. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked and they taste milder than regular garlic. Lily of the Valley leaves look similar, but are poisonous. Before you start picking, check to make sure that the leaves you are picking smell of garlic.
Serves 2-4
Edited March 2020
Ingredients
- 250 ml./1.2 litre fresh, natural yoghurt or dahi
- A handful wild garlic leaves, washed and pureed in a blender
- 1/2 tbsp. cumin seeds, dry roasted and coarsely ground
- 1/2 tsp. chilli powder/black pepper (optional)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Steam garlic leaves in microwave or in a pan, until soft; 2-3 minutes only.
- Chop very finely.
- Add leaves, salt, cumin seeds, chilli powder/black pepper to yoghurt and beat it lightly.
- If the leaves look a little big, blend it with a stick blender for a few seconds.
- Adjust seasoning to taste.
- Serve chilled with an Indian meal.
- You can add finely chopped red onions/cucumbers/green chillies.