Easy Indian Raita Recipe for a Cooling Side to a Spicy Dish (2024)

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This easy Indian raita recipe makes a deliciously refreshing yogurt based side or salad of diced cucumber, tomato and red onion with fresh fragrant mint and coriander. It’s the perfect cooling accompaniment to any spiced dish, from curries to biryanis, but can be eaten with pickles, relishes, flat breads or papadams. Super easy to make, it’s also very versatile.

We made this wonderfully easy Indian raita recipe on the weekend to enjoy with this Indian-style Burmese curry we make regularly, along with papadams, chilli and lime pickles and a spicy mango chutney. It’s also a perfect side to this Punjabi chole or chickpea curry and tamarind eggplant.

Raita is the deliciously cooling dip, salad or side, depending on what you eat it with, as it’s incredibly versatile. You could use it as a dip for papadams or flatbreads, serve it as a refreshing accompaniment to anything from grilled kebabs to spicy curries and savoury biryanis, and even use it as a spread.

You probably already know and love raita if you’re a lover of Indian cuisine – and I should say Indian cuisines, because Indian food, like Chinese food, Italian food and Thai food, to name a few, is a regional cuisine, with ‘Indian cuisine’ being an umbrella for a number of regional cuisines.

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Easy Indian Raita Recipe for a Cooling Accompaniment to Any Spicy Dishes

This easy Indian raita recipe is one of my favourites. We’ve been making variations of it, most often in its simplest form, just with yoghurt and fresh mint, for as long as we’ve been cooking Indian food, which is several decades.

Although I make this raita recipe not only when we cook Indian food but when we make Indian-influenced Burmese dishes, such as the Indian-style Burmese curry I linked to above.

I adore all those cooling fermented milk-based dips, sides, salads, spreads, and soups around the world that are made with yogurt, sour cream or kefir, fresh herbs such as mint, coriander or dill, and typically cucumber, although other vegetables are used.

Easy Indian Raita Recipe for a Cooling Side to a Spicy Dish (1)

The Nordic countries all have fresh dill-flavoured fermented milk dips and sauces. In Iceland, there’s skyronnes made with skyr, a traditional Icelandic yogurt; in Finland, tillikastike is prepared with kermaviili, a Finnish curd cream, and the Swedes have dillsås, a dill sauce made with gräddfil or sour cream.

In nearby Russia, there’s okroshka, a kefir-based soup not too far removed from raita, and in the Caucasus, it’s called ovdukh. In Poland, it’s mizeria, which is very similar to tarator from the Balkans and talattouri in Cyprus, which is similar to Greek tzatziki, made with yogurt and cucumber.

In Turkey it cacik in Turkish, which is pronounced as jajeek, which is the name of the same dish in Iraq. In neighbouring Iran, there’s ash-e doogh, which has a greater variety of herbs, along with raisins, black pepper, and sometimes nuts.

But back to this easy Indian raita recipe, for which I have just a few quick tips.

Easy Indian Raita Recipe for a Cooling Side to a Spicy Dish (2)

Tips to Making this Easy Indian Raita Recipe

I only have a few quick tips to making this easy Indian raita recipe as it’s a cinch to make, but let’s start at the beginning with the base, yogurt, which in India is called curd.

Make sure you use an all-natural whole milk yoghurt. I like a creamy Greek-style yogurt although I know in India raita is often thinner and Indian cooks will often thin out the curd with a little milk.

While ground cumin and chilli powder are probably easy to find, chaat masala may be trickier to source. If you don’t have a supermarket with a well-stocked Indian food section, as we’re lucky to have, you’ll find chaat masala online.

Use fresh crunchy cucumbers – if the skin is bitter, peel it; if there are too many seeds in the centre, discard them – and sweet ripe red tomatoes. Whether you remove the tomato seeds or not is entirely up to you. I like them, but many don’t.

Indian raita recipes call for white, brown or red onions. I use red onions or the easier to find purple shallots for colour as much as flavour.

Our Indian raita recipe calls for fresh mint and dill, but I’ve also spotted dried herbs in some recipes. Fresh is best but use what you can source.

Easy Indian Raita Recipe

Easy Indian Raita Recipe for a Cooling Side to a Spicy Dish (3)

Authentic Easy Indian Raita Recipe for a Cooling Accompaniment to Any Spicy Dishes

AuthorEasy Indian Raita Recipe for a Cooling Side to a Spicy Dish (4)Lara Dunston

This easy Indian raita recipe makes an authentic yoghurt based salad of diced cucumber, tomato and red onion. It’s the perfect cooling accompaniment to any spiced dish, from curries to biryanis, but can also be eaten with pickles, relishes, flat breads or papadums. Super easy to make, it’s also very versatile.

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 0 minutes mins

Total Time 20 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Servings made with recipeServings 2

Calories 102 kcal

Ingredients

  • 200 g plain yogurt
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ tsp chaat masala
  • ¼ tsp chilli powder
  • ¼ tsp white pepper
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 100 g cucumber - peeled and diced
  • 50 g red tomato - ripe, finely diced
  • 50 g red onion or purple shallots - finely diced
  • 2 tbsp mint leaves - fresh, roughly chopped
  • 2 tbsp coriander leaves - fresh, roughly chopped

Garnish

  • fresh mint leaves

Instructions

  • In a mixing bowl, use a whisk to combine the yogurt and ground spices so that the spices don’t clump together.

  • Add the diced cucumber, tomato and onion and chopped fresh herbs and combine well. Taste and adjust seasoning and spices to suit your palate.

  • Transfer to an air-tight container and refrigerate to chill until you’re ready to eat then serve as a side to spiced Indian curries, rice, pickles, relishes, and flat breads or pappadums.

Nutrition

Calories: 102kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 12gFat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0.3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.2gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 5mgSodium: 640mgPotassium: 348mgFiber: 2gSugar: 7gVitamin A: 463IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 146mgIron: 1mg

Please do let us know if you make this easy Indian raita recipe in the comments below as we love to hear how our recipes turned out for you.

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Easy Indian Raita Recipe for a Cooling Side to a Spicy Dish (2024)

FAQs

How do you reduce the spice in raita? ›

Add Dairy

Milk and dairy products contain a protein called casein that is able to bind with capsaicin before it reaches our tongue, so it can reach fewer receptors, and lessens the sensation of spice. If your dish is too spicy, try adding heavy cream, yogurt, sour cream or butter to help mellow it out.

What is raita sauce made of? ›

Ingredients
  • 250g Greek yogurt.
  • 1 garlic clove.
  • thumb-sized piece ginger, finely grated.
  • ½ small pack coriander, chopped.
  • 0.25 small pack mint, leaves chopped.
  • juice 0.5 lime.
  • ½ tsp garam masala, plus a little extra to serve.
  • ¼ cucumber, grated and lightly squeezed.

What's the difference between tzatziki and raita? ›

Raita is made with plain yogurt and tzatziki is made with thicker Greek yogurt. Raita is thinner while tzatziki has a thick consistency. They're used in different ways. Raita is a more versatile dish with many different recipes.

How long does raita last in the fridge? ›

Add chilled water, a little at a time while mixing gently until you get the consistency you desire. Your raita should be thick and creamy. Chill the raita in the fridge for at least 1-2 hours before serving. It will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3 days.

How to fix a dish that is too spicy? ›

6 Quick Ways to Tone Down a Dish That's Too Spicy
  1. Add more ingredients to dilute the spiciness. The easiest way to tone down a dish that's too spicy is to add more ingredients to lessen the proportion of the spicy element. ...
  2. Add dairy. ...
  3. Add acid. ...
  4. Add a sweetener. ...
  5. Add nut butter. ...
  6. Serve with bland, starchy foods.

How do you tone down spicy Indian food? ›

Top five ways to make a curry or chilli less spicy
  1. Lemon, lime or vinegar. Adding a squeeze of citrus, a splash of vinegar or some salt may also work (for both coconut-based and other curries like this goat curry) as they will balance out the flavour.
  2. Yogurt or soured cream. ...
  3. Sugar or ketchup.
Dec 21, 2020

What do Indians eat raita with? ›

Raita is served as a side dish to be eaten with main course dishes.
  • Biryani.
  • Pulav (pilaf)
  • Seekh kabab.
  • Paratha.
  • Pav bhaji.
  • Indian Thali.

What is raita called in English? ›

ˈrä‧ētä plural -s. : an Indian side dish made of yogurt, usually diced cucumber, and seasonings.

Can you eat raita on its own? ›

Raita can be served as a dip or a side dish. In the latter case, it is easiest to view it as a salad. In India, people snack on raita between courses to cool the mouth, or they mix it first with rice before eating it with a curry.

How healthy is raita? ›

Raita is a nutrient dense food with high quality protein and it is a potential source of vitamins and minerals. It contains live bacteria such i.e., lactobacillus bulgaricus, streptococcus thermophilus. 3. These active bacteria act as probiotics known to have positive effects on digestion.

What is the shelf life of raita? ›

Storage: Raita keeps well in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

How to tell if plain Greek yogurt is bad? ›

*If liquid gets cloudy, thick or slimy - don't eat. *If yogurt smells or is unusually lumpy - don't eat. *If yogurt has an orange/pinkish colour on top - that's the start of mold - don't eat. *If yogurt has any signs of mold - don't scoop out the mold - the whole container is unsafe.

Can I freeze raita? ›

Raita can be kept in the freezer for up to three months. The best way to freeze the sauce is in sealable freezer bags. Lay the bags on a tray in the freezer until frozen through, then remove the tray and store the raita until it's time to defrost it.

What is the name of the Indian yogurt? ›

Curd, also mosaru or dahi or Thayir or Perugu, is a traditional yogurt or fermented milk product, originating from and popular throughout the Indian subcontinent. It is usually prepared from cow's milk, and sometimes buffalo milk or goat milk.

How do you neutralize spice? ›

Adding something sweet to a too-spicy dish is another great way to reduce spiciness. A sprinkle of sugar or honey should do the trick. Or add a touch of sweet ketchup. If it's a tomato-based sauce, stir in a little more tomato sauce and maybe a touch of sugar.

How do you reduce the spice in cabbage curry? ›

There are a few ways to reduce the spice of a curry:
  1. Add a dairy product: Coconut milk, heavy cream or yogurt can help to cool down the spiciness.
  2. Add a starch: Rice, potatoes or bread can help to absorb the heat from the spices.
  3. Add a sweetener: Sugar, honey or other sweeteners can help balance the heat of the spices.
Mar 7, 2018

How do you reduce the tanginess of curd in curry? ›

Add Sugar

Sugar is one of the most effective ingredients when it comes to adjusting flavours in a dish. This is also true for reducing sourness from curries. Add half teaspoon of sugar to your curry and give it a nice mix. You can add more sugar if you feel the curry is still sour.

How to cool down a spicy curry? ›

Yogurt or sour cream can cool down the curry. Adding a pinch of sugar or ketchup can counteract the spiciness. Starchy foods like potatoes or rice can absorb heat. Acidic ingredients like lemon juice, lime juice, or vinegar can cut through the spiciness.

References

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