Raita is a yogurt dish used as a sauce or dip. The yogurt is usually seasoned with ground red mustard seeds, ground cumin, coriander (cilantro), salt and optionally sugar. Vegetables such as cucumber and carrot and even fruits like grapes and banana are used. The mixture is served chilled. Raita has a cooling effect on the palate that makes it a good neutralizer for spicy Indian dishes. In this recipe we will be using cucumber and grapes and adding sugar for sweetness.
Ingredients
2 cups yogurt
3/4 cucumber peeled and grated
1/2 cup grapes chopped into quarters
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp ground red mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin seeds
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Directions
- To an empty medium sized mixing bowl, add 2 cups of yogurt. Mix lightly just until the yogurt is of smooth consistency.
- Squeeze all the water from the grated cucumber. Add to the yogurt. Mix gently. Avoid mixing too much or too rigorously as this will cause any remaining water to be released from the cucumber making for a watery raita!
- Add the spices – salt, sugar, ground red mustard seeds, ground cumin. Mix gently.
- Add the grapes, mix gently. Garnish with cilantro.
We want the raita to be a nice balance of sweet and sour. Upon tasting if you feel one over powers the other feel free to make some adjustments.
Enjoy!
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We’re going to tackle Indian for real in January! There just may be raita on the menu. It’s always good.
This goes excellently with those spicier East Indian dishes.
Thank you for posting one of my favorite recipes using yogurt. I make yogurt on a pretty regular basis and will just have to file this one for future use. I make mine a bit different. Thanks for sharing…
I also make yogurt all of the time. I am delighted to find this recipe and a video asa well. Thank you so much. When I make it – I will let you know how it goes! I make some pretty delectable yogurt cheese balls almost every week. They are addictive. This will be a nice change.
:)
Valerie
Where did you get the red mustard seed – and how is it different than brown or yellow in flavour… I have everything else – and was just going to make it – but no red mustard seed.
Help
Valerie