Cucumber Raita is a simple and easy dip / accompaniment to masala rice varieties and also to Roti (Indian flat bread). As this is no onion / no garlic recipe, this is also one of the common dish made during fasting season. It's creamy, cooling and tangy dip made using Yogurt and Cucumber as the key ingredients.
Raita is a wonderful yogurt dip that is usually served as an accompaniment for Pulao, Biryani, Parotta and many more main courses. Most of the Raita varieties are no cooking dip that can be made so quickly and easily and serves as a dairy accompaniment for the main courses. We can make different varieties of raita by enriching with vegetables, fruits or even with plain boondi. One such easy and popular raita is Cucumber Raita.
Chopped Cucumber is added to beaten yogurt which is then enriched with roasted cumin powder, crushed mint, green chili, salt and coriander leaves. Adding mint enriches the flavor but its optional. I usually wash 10-15 mint leaves and wipe with a paper towel and then I will keep in microwave for 1 min. This will make the leaves crunchy and then we can crush the leaves to powder and add it to the raita. A North Indian friend of mine, taught me this and I follow adding crushed mint leaves to all raita. Sometimes, I even make simple mint raita and kids love to have it with Pulao. This Cucumber Raita tastes so good when served with Biryani, Pulao, or even with Roti/pulka.
Point to Remember when making Raita:
Yogurt should be thick. We can even strain he yogurt in a muslin cloth and use it for making raita. Yogurt will become less thin in consistency after adding salt and other spices so we need thick yogurt for raita
Cucumber and mint releases moisture when added to curd. So use a whisk or spoon to combine the raita instead of using a half blender
We can add red chili powder and black pepper powder for spicer version
Refrigerate Raita till you serve that will help the yogurt becoming sour and watery
Cucumber Raita is a simple and easy dip / accompaniment to masala rice varieties and also to Roti (Indian flat bread). As this is no onion / no garlic recipe, this is also one of the common dish made during fasting season. It's creamy, cooling and tangy dip made using Yogurt and Cucumber as the key ingredients.
