Raita With Coconut Milk Yogurt Alternative

Asked by Clairette. Answered on 4th May 2020

Full question

For the raita using coconut milk yogurt, can I use a mix of coconut milk and plain or greek yogurt instead? Coconut milk yogurt is diifficult to find where I live. Thanks.

Image of Nigella's Mung Bean Dal — Photo by Jonathan Lovekin

Softly Spiced Mung Beans with Mint and Coriander Yogurt

By Nigella

Our answer

Nigella's Mung Bean Dal With Mint And Coriander Raita (from AT MY TABLE) is a vegan dish made with mung (sometimes called moong) beans and red lentils. The dal is served with a herby raita sauce.

Nigella uses coconut milk yogurt partly as it keeps the dish vegan and partly as this type of yogurt has a rich taste. However if you can't find it then Greek yogurt is the best alternative. We would avoid adding coconut milk as it could make the raita a little too thin, though you could use the thick coconut cream from the top of a can of coconut milk. We would also prefer to use full-fat (whole milk/5% fat) Greek yogurt as it is richer in taste than the lower fat versions.