Finally, London is experiencing temperatures worthy of a summer! Now, as much as we want to live on a diet of ice cream (in yummy waffle cones!) when summer hits, the Grown Up versions of us know that we should probably try to aim for some nutrition too. Growing up in India, plain homemade yoghurt was always on any table you sat to eat at and was actually necessary for us for many years until we could handle extreme spice.

Plain live yoghurt is super nutritious and great for digestive health, which is why it continues to be a regular part of our diet. We thought we’d produce a summery version of Indian spiced yoghurt (or raita) by adding another ingredient, papaya (or papita in Hindi) which our mother used to feed us insisting that it was good for us. Now, papaya isn’t everyone’s cup of tea because it isn’t super sweet but for that reason, we think it works really well in savoury dishes. We also added some chillies to give a nice kick, but you can omit these.

You can have this on its own, with papad, with naan, with anything really! It’s a very versatile main or side dish and incredibly refreshing. Just what we need when it hits 29C!

Makes 1 big bowl of yoghurt

1 cup plain yoghurt
1 medium-sized papaya, cut into chunks
1 small red chilli, chopped
1 tbsp milk (approx)
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp butter
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/4 tsp cumin seeds

1. Mix the yoghurt, papaya and chilli together in a bowl until incorporated, adding the milk to thin the mixture to a desired consistency.
2. Melt the butter in a small pan. Once melted, add the mustard and cumin seeds to roast until they pop.
3. Then add the roasted spices to the yoghurt mixture.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Enjoy as an accompaniment to rice, Indian bread or with crackers.

So what do you think? Feel free to share your questions and comments below! We’d love to hear what you have to say.