A five-minute cucumber raita with roasted cumin, mint and a pinch of chilli. The cool yogurt side that goes with biryani, kebabs and spicy curries.
Raita is cool, lightly seasoned yogurt, and it is the reason a hot plate of biryani never feels like too much. Roasted cumin is what makes it taste of India rather than tzatziki, so don’t skip that step.
Variations
- Boondi raita: stir in a handful of crisp chickpea-flour pearls (boondi) just before serving.
- Onion-tomato raita: swap the cucumber for finely diced onion, tomato and green chilli.
- Mint raita: blend a handful of mint with a green chilli and stir it through.
Recipe
Cucumber raita in five minutes
Ingredients
- 1½ cups (360 g) whole-milk yogurt, cold
- 1 small cucumber (about 6 oz / 170 g), grated and lightly squeezed
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp salt, or to taste
- A pinch of red chilli powder or black pepper
- 1 tbsp chopped mint or coriander
- Optional, a little finely chopped red onion
Method
- Roast the cumin. Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan until a shade darker and fragrant, about a minute. Crush them in a mortar or with the back of a spoon.
- Whisk. Whisk the yogurt until smooth. Loosen with a tablespoon or two of cold water if it is very thick.
- Mix and season. Stir in the cucumber, salt, most of the cumin and the herbs. Taste and adjust the salt.
- Finish. Sprinkle with the remaining cumin and the chilli powder. Chill until serving.
Home-style recipe from the Biryani Pot Indian Bar & Grill Journal. It is not our restaurant's own recipe; for that, visit us.