Raita. Cucumber and garlic relish

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Raita is a simple relish most often found in Indian cookery. It is very easy to make yet with hot food or rich curry it is cooling and seems to enhance spiced flavours.

Although this is a condiment from India that works beautifully with a big Indian curry it is equally good with stirfried vegetables and chilli or other hot spicy dishes. Don’t typecast it though because it also works perfectly with a roasted vegetable and couscous salad adding a creamy dressing element without adding extra calories. It’s extra good with a bowl of pumpkin soup or a stew. There’s really no rules. Try it with my Tray baked Butter Chicken

Raita couldn’t be any easier, in fact, its probably one of the simplest accompaniments you could make. It can be whipped up in minutes and that’s my kind of side dish. It’s just cutting and mixing to get the most wonderful creamy relish. There are many variations on the method for Raita but I like to keep it simple.

1. and 2. Cut a cucumber in half and scrape the seeds out then slice into sticks

3. Cut the cucumber into dice.

4. Use a grater to mince up the garlic

5. Add the yoghurt, cucumber and garlic to a bowl

6 and 7. Adding cracked black pepper and salt adds extra depth to the Raita

8. Flatten out mint leaves and slice them to add to your Raita. You could add chopped coriander if you like too.

9. Once the mint is mixed in the Raita is ready go. It will keep for 2 to 3 days but it’s best eaten the day it is made.

Other ways to make Raita

I use thin skinned sweet Lebanese cucumbers but you can use other cucumbers. This is a great relish if you have a bumper crop of fat thick skinned cucumbers. Just peel them, remove the seeds and grate, squeezing out some of the excess water before carrying on with the recipe. You can also add more or less garlic and spices are the go in here too. Add a 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin or 1/2 a teaspoon of ground garam masala.

Some people add lemon or lime but I prefer the cool creamy taste of Greek style yoghurt without the addition of lemon. If you can only get your hands on mild almost sweet plain yoghurt then add a Tablespoon of lemon or lime juice. Just don’t use sweetened yoghurt or this will be a great disappointment

Some people prefer to add cooked garlic. You can do this by mincing the garlic and cooking it lightly in oil in a frypan. I actually prefer just a bit and for it to remain fresh. The cooked garlic tastes a little like store bought relish to me, but hey that’s all up to you. Try my version first and see.

Try these condiments too:

Beetroot and Tahini Dressing

Smoked chilli sour cream

Print Recipe

5 from 3 votes

Raita. Cucumber and garlic relish

This creamy relish is very easy to make and it pairs so well with curries or hot spicy foods or roasted vegetable salads, couscous or grains.

Prep Time15 mins

Course: condiment, Dip

Cuisine: Asian Inspired

Keyword: dip, side dish

Servings: 6 people

Author: Tania

Ingredients

• 250 gm greek yoghurt plain
• 1 clove garlic crushed or grated
• 150 gm cucumber Lebanese soft skinned cucumbers approx 1 large
• 1/4 bunch mint about 12 leaves,
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt or to taste

Instructions

• Cut the Lebanese cucumber down the centre longways and scrape out most of the seeds with a teaspoon. Discard the seeds. Please see below for other an explanation of other cucumbers for this condiment
• Cut the cucumber into thin strips and then into small dice and put into a bowl.
• Add grated or crushed garlic to the cucumber
• Add yoghurt, pepper and salt. Stir well and taste. it should taste nice and creamy and lemony with a nice hint of salt.
• Flatten the mint leaves on a chopping board and slice finely (chiffonade). Add this to the yoghurt and mix through
• The Raita is ready to use on hot curries, stirfries or sauces. It's cooling and adds a nice lemony flavour. See notes below for variations

Notes

I like to use thin skinned Lebanese cucumbers and I remove the seeds and just chop them finely. Thats because I like the chunky fresh taste of cucumber and because I am lazy!

Some recipes call for peeled, grated and squeezed cucumber. This is probably something you may want to do if you can only find the stumpy thick skinned cucmbers.  If you have a bumper crop of Cucs and are looking for a way to use them, then go ahead and peel, grate and squeeze them. Add them to the yoghurt and continue with the recipe as is.

You can add chopped coriander to your recipe too if you like. I love coriander and I often do this. chop the leaves finely. For a more pronounced taste add some of the chopped stems too!

Some people love to add garam marsala or even ground cumin. I say go ahead and add one of those spices too if you like. I usually make the basic creamy lemony Raita and let my curry have the spices. This, however, is entirley up to you!

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