Dahi Tadka-curry yogurt sauce

Indian style tempered or tadka yogurt, served as a side or a dip. Spicy, cooling, soothing, and ready in just 5 minutes, this will be a workhorse side dish in your kitchen!

Different regions in India call it different things—redu in Himachal, tikhari in Gujrati and masale wali dahi or tadka raita in Hindi. A direct translation would be tempered dahi, but it can also be called yogurt curry sauce or tempered yogurt.

You can make this dish with just yogurt and your spice box. It's one of those quick recipes you will make when you return after a long trip but want some homemade comfort food. Serve this simply with roti or steamed rice; your meal is complete!

It tastes like the North Indian kadhi, but instead of simmering the kadhi for 1-2 hours over low flame, this one is ready as soon as your tadka is ready which is about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

In most simple terms, it's whisked dahi with a tadka or tempering. If you are new to the art of tadka, you can read more about it in my detailed tadka post.

Ingredients for Tadka Raita

To make dahi tadka, you will need curd or yogurt, herbs, and spices. You can choose the combination of spices and herbs. A lot of recipes also call for peanuts and whole chilies but I have kept it simple here.

See the recipe card for quantities.

Yogurt/Dahi

You can make it at home or use store-bought. Homemade curd is rich in probiotics. Greek yogurt and skyr are made with different yogurt strains but taste a lot like Indian yogurt while being high in protein.

For a vegan option, use unflavored peanut or soy yogurt.

One thing to always remember while making any kind of raita or yogurt dish is to always whisk the yogurt. We do this while making chaat and my famous yogurt party dip too.

Herbs & Spices

Basic tadka spices from your indian spice box like cumin, turmeric, mustard, asafetida(hing), and ground chili. You can change the flavor profile of dahi tadka by using Bengali panch phoran instead.

Fresh herbs add a lot of texture and fragrance to the dahi tadka.I use thinly sliced garlic, curry leaves, and green chilies. Oh, did you know you can freeze curry leaves too? They last 3-4 months!

Making curd or dahi in an Instant Pot

I thought I would quickly pop in and explain how I make yogurt or Indian curd in the Instant Pot.

I won't lie. I rarely made curd in India. It was very easily available, and I didn't give much thought to it. But since we have moved to the US, I make it twice a week.

You can make this even without a starter by using ends of chilies—red or green—and fenugreek seeds. This is the same principle as making dosa batter.

Just microwave the milk till it's warm. Add 1-2 tablespoon of starter yogurt or three ends of chillies and a few seeds of fenugreek. Cover it. Place it on a trivet. Add water to the instant pot , place trivet inside. Set to yogurt mode for 8 hours.And your yogurt will be ready.

I suggest against using storebought yogurt as a starter because it results in a weird, slimy yogurt. I prefer the chili method, after which I use the yogurt from the first time again and again.

How to make Dahi Tadka

Step 1: Whisk the yogurt & prep ingredients

Always whisk the yogurt before adding any raita elements. Make sure its the right consistency. You might have to add more water to skyr and greek yogurt to get it to a flowy consistency.

As always, make sure your tadka or tempering elements are ready before you heat the oil.

Step 2: Temper in Ghee

In a tadka pan or a small frying pan, heat ghee. Test the ghee with one single seed of mustard.If it pops, the ghee is ready. The sequence you add the elements is important.

Working quickly, add the whole spices- mustard and cumin first.Followed by whole herbs like garlic, curry leaves, and green chilies.

Add the onions and saute till they are lightly brown. Add the dry spices next- turmeric, chili powder, and coriander powder. Saute on low heat for 20-30 seconds.

Spoon it over the whisked yogurt. Mix, season with salt and serve cold.

I kept some aside for garnish, but it's not necessary. Some recipes call for heating the yogurt in the tadka. I find that step unneccasary, plus there is a danger of the yogurt spliting.

Variations

You could give this recipe so many different delicious twists-

• Dahi baigan from Orissa using tawa fried sliced eggplant.
• Dahi Aloo or chukouni from Nepal using boiled potatoes.
• Added veggies- microwaved chopped cabbage, raw cucumber
• There are a lot of variations of this dish. Different types or tadka dahi. Some make it with coarsely ground peanuts and whole red chilies, some with green onions. Seasonally, it's also made with garlic scapes.
• Healthier versions would be with veggies like chopped green capsicum and grated carrots. If you add sauteed baigan, it becomes dahi baingan. Dahi Bhindi, though, is slightly different. The yogurt is cooked with besan.
• Other raita and yogurt dishes that we love are boondi raita, biryani raita, a garlicky onion yogurt dip for parties, curd rice, and my easy chaat dip.

Serving Dahi Tadka

You can serve this as a yogurt course for a big dinner, a humble side with rice when short on time, and as a curry yogurt dip with chips. It's a literal chameleon of a dish that can be served in any setting.

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Related

Here are some more Indian raita and yogurt recipes