Capsicum Raita is one of my mom’s favorite dish. It is easy to make and yet very tasty. It can be prepared in a jiffy. Goes very well as a side dish with sambar rice or any other main course. Try it out !

INGREDIENTS:

Capsicum : 1-2, diced

Curd : thick curd, as much needed

For Seasoning :

Oil : 1-2 tsp

Mustard seeds : ~1/2 tsp

Asafoetida: pinch

Turmeric : pinch

Curry leaves

Coriander leaves : diced

METHOD :

Make the seasoning and add diced capsicum and cook slightly, it should be crunchy and not full cooked and mushy. Turn off the heat, add salt and thick curd. Serve it as a side dish

Preparation time : 10-15 min

INFORMATION :

Diet info :

Vegan diet : yes, if curd is substituted with vegan ‘curd’

CALORIES : This is a low calorie dish with minimal fat/oil.

Capsicum : 30 Cal/cup

NUTRITIVE VALUE :

Bell pepper is a good source of nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Consuming ~150 gram of bell pepper offers 120 mg of Vitamin C, 0.334 mg of Vitamin B6, 0.098 mg of Copper, 11 µg of Vitamin K, 0.182 mg of Manganese, 0.085 mg of Vitamin B1 and 2.5 g of Total dietary Fiber. Also contains many amino acids.

HEALTH BENEFITS :

Bell peppers have been implicated with the following health benefits: Eye health, Healthy Skin, Mucilage, Psoriasis, Hypoglycemic, Strengthens Hair Follicles, Supports the Immune System, Cardiovascular Health, Anti-inflammatory properties, Weight Loss, Prevention of Anemia, Anti-Cancer Benefits

ORIGIN :

Chilles are among the many edible plants that originated in South America (Mexico and Latin America). Bell pepper is one of the forms of Capsicum annuum (family Solanaceae). Wild varieties have been reported as far back as 7000 BC in Mexican caves. By 5200 to 3400 BC, Chillies were reported to be cultivated. They must have entered India very early as it has been alluded to by Purandaradasaru (1480-1564) in one of his music compositions

WATER FOOTPRINT (is litres of water needed to produce the food) :

Chillies and peppers : 272 L/Kg

DID YOU KNOW :

Vegetables like Capsicum (when not grown organically) are sprayed with lot of pesticides and hence not advisable for use in salads. Cooking, storage, washing, soaking, and even low temperature are known to degrade pesticides. It is better to refrigerate and cook capsicum to reduce the pesticide levels. While it may be possible to remove most of the external pesticides, there would be some (systemic type) that would have entered in to the vegetable/fruit, which can not be removed.
If chillies and capsicum are grown together, they could cross pollinate and produce both chillies and capsicum in 3:1 ration, in the second (F2) generation.

REFERENCES :

BGL Swamy (1978), Namma hotteyalli dakshina America. Prasaaraanga, Bangalore University, Bangalore.

https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/health-benefits-of-bell-peppers

https://waterfootprint.org/media/downloads/Report47-WaterFootprintCrops-Vol1.pdf