Pineapple (Avnasa/ Ananas) Raita / Curd Salad.

"Pineapple (Avnasa/ Ananas) Raita/ Curd Salad" ... A delicious sweet and sour raita /salad with addition of curds often served with spicy Biryani ... you can garnish them with glazed cherries and they not only look attractive but tastes great too .... try it out ... it's Yummilicious .....

** Salads are a delight to relish with spicy dishes, specially pulav or biryani. Pineapple raita is a favorite in my home and it is always a hit at functions. The best part of the salad is it can be prepared into a thick consistency and left overnight in the fridge which means less burden of work the next day. Also the flavor when rested mixes well with the curds and tastes gets enhanced when served chilled.

** This is my Mom’s favorite and she can have this as main dish too or enjoy it like dessert after lunch. Way back in 70’s we had this at one of the topmost restaurant Moti Mahal in Mangalore, my home town and loved it to the core. My Dad was always encouraging us to try out new dishes so it was tried at home but did not turn out the same. Those days one relied on cookery books but we could not come across the right method.

** Only then did we pursue a chef and came to know that the curd used should be very thick, not sour and had to be strained a little bit, so that when you add in a little bit of the pineapple juice it would not thin out. Sigh, nowadays, its much easier to learn, but those days it was fun, as it was sort of a challenge to get it the right way. You can garnish them with glazed cherries as shown in collage pics. they not only look attractive but tastes great too.

** Try this one when you have guests at home as young, old and children, all love this raita a lot and its is also very easy to prepare. And as I said, it saves on time too as it tastes great served cold, so you can just prepare it before hand. I use homemade curds as I do not know what goes into readily available ones. You can also make the milk thick by adding on milk powder and then set it to curds overnight, that way too you will get thick curds.

** Note : This is a re-edited version, with a few changes in written matter and addition of new pictures, however the recipe remains the same and there are no changes ...

** Here is the recipe for "Pineapple (Avnasa/ Ananas) Raita/ Curd Salad" ... My own way that I learned to prepare 4 decades back ....

** Slice off the thick outer skin of the pineapple and do away with the eyes on the outer side of the fruit. Slice it lengthwise and there is a thick inner pith to the pineapple, cut it and keep it aside for removing juice. Cut the soft edible portion of the pineapple into small pieces. I have used one small sized pineapple which gave me about 4-5 cups of pieces approximately.

** Note : In Mumbai we get it all ready when purchasing the same too from the fruit vendor, who neatly slices off the thick outer skin and then gives slant cuts over the outer surface lengthwise about 1/2 inch deep that runs keeping in the eyes on the outer skin in row and discards the same. All we have to do after coming home is slice it. You can check any You tube or ask you fruit vendor to do it for you the first time if you need to do the same at home.

** Beat one full cup of thick curds to a smooth texture. The curds should be very thick and just set and not sour in taste. If the curds are slightly thinner in texture, then strain 2 cups of the curds through a muslin cloth for ten minutes and use thick curds you retrieve. You can also add in milk powder to the milk and mix well and then set it into curds, to get it thick.

** Remove one cup of the pineapple and put it in a mixer grinder and grind to a fine paste as it is or you can use 2-3 tblsp of water if need be. Strain this through a fine sieve to get fresh pineapple juice. Now add this to the beaten curds along with 2 tblsp of sugar, 2-3 green chillies chopped to medium sized ring pieces and a pinch of salt and mix well.

** Add in remaining pineapple pieces and mix well. Once the raita has been mixed well put it in air tight box and keep it in fridge to cool. You can prepare the same and keep it overnight too as it gets chilled well and the flavors get mixed properly. Just remove 5-10 minutes before serving time, garnish it with handful of finely chopped coriander leaves.

** "Pineapple (Avnasa/ Ananas) Raita/ Curd Salad" is done and ready to be served. Just before serving you can garnish it with glazed cherries along with finely chopped coriander leaves which is optional and is entirely upto individual liking. Many times I skip them and only do so if I have guests dropping over as in my home we do like to relish it just spiced up with pineapple pieces along with spicy Non-Veg. Biryani the combo of which is unbeatable. 

** Do try out this delicious Pineapple Raita and serve it with some spicy biryani or any other rice item and enjoy the same with your family and friends. I am sure this will be loved by one and all, as I myself have yet to come across anyone who has not loved it when I served the same. My mother loves this raita very much and though we prepare it at home, she always insists we order it in restaurants too.

** In all this is a very delicious and universally loved raita that tastes heavenly specially during the summer months when the heat is high and you would love to have something chilled and healthy at home for dinner. All you got to do is prepare this in the morning and leave it the fridge before you go to work or go about your other duties and it is there are chilled and yum during dinner time.