Dips for playdates: Easy 5 Ingredient dip with no cooking! #31daysofactivities

Planning snacks for a kids playdate can be cumbersome, dips are a perfect solution for playdates. This is a super quick dip that you can have your kids make themselves for their friends coming over. This is another of our ideas for you for our 31 days of activities; this time from Deepti from Indian Kitchen and Spices.

A fun little activity for the kids to keep them busy and excited for their friends and playdates.

The best part is that it is

• Gluten Free,
• No cooking skills needed,
• Safe for kids (Make sure you use kiddie knives),
• Fresh and healthy,
• Easily available ingredients,
• Less than 10 mins to make, and
• 5 Ingredients including salt.

This dip is also called Raita in Indian cooking and is filled with probiotics and the freshness and antioxidants present in cucumber and cilantro.

The nutrition of the vegetables and herbs is preserved as we are using them raw.

It has a cooling effect on the body and is a perfect condiment for warm, sunny days.

Ingredients

• Cucumber 
• Cilantro
• Salt
• Pepper
• Yogurt

How to make your playdate dips

• Make sure that the cucumber and cilantro are chopped well,
• If the kids are younger, you can also have them remove the leaves from the stem and grate the cucumber instead of chopping it,
• For older kids, you can have them chop them safely with kid safe knives that are slightly more blunt than the usual kitchen knives. The chopping is the hardest part and the only one where you might want to keep an eye on them as they are working on this recipe, and
• Once chopped, add cilantro and cucumber to the yogurt. 

• Add salt and pepper to it as per taste and mix them well. Well done, your fresh, quick, easy and healthy dip is ready.

How to store this dip?

You can store it in the refrigerator and serve it chilled for the extra fresh taste. Once salt has been added, do NOT store it at room temperature as this will cause cucumber to lose water. It will make the dip runny and watery.

Substitutions

This recipe is very forgiving. 

• You can substitute cucumber with any other vegetable like carrot, onion, bell peppers and tomatoes. You can also use all the vegetables at the same time as well.
• For herbs you can replace cilantro with mint if you prefer the fresh mint taste in your dips.
• This dip can also be made using fresh fruits like strawberry and mangoes.

Tips

• Make sure the yogurt that you use is not watery or runny. If the water content for the yogurt is high then drain it well before using it.
• You can keep the skin on cucumber instead of taking it off as the peel is filled with antioxidants and nutrients.
• Make sure that the ratio of yogurt to veggies is 2:1. This ensures that all the vegetables are well covered with yogurt and have a creamy texture.

Health benefits of dips

• Aids in digestion as yogurt is filled with gut friendly bacteria or probiotics
• A cup of sliced cucumber has just 16 calories. Cucumbers are low in calories but high in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals
• Low calorie compared to other dips like ranch dressing etc
• Cilantro is rich in immune boosting antioxidants, something we all need more of in our diets for sure.

While this recipe has all the advantages mentioned above, the icing on the cake is its delicious fresh nature. This is a family favorite for sure and is best enjoyed with tortilla chips.

Do try it and share your feedback.

We think that this is the perfect playdate dip, because is it so easy to make. It provides a great activity for the kids before the playdate too. If you like this activity, why not sign up for our newsletter, where we give you an activity a day?

There are many more recipes for you on the site, so do take a look.

There are also more ideas from around the web for some great family recipes, so take a look.

Thanks for stopping by,

Helen

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