Cucumber Mint Raita

Love the raita you get at your local Indian takeaway? Well now you can make it at home with this delicious homemade Cucumber Mint Raita recipe! It takes just 5 minutes to make and is so much better than shop-bought raita! Raita is especially delicious with poppadoms, onion bhajis and Chicken Tikka Kebabs – but it also tastes great with any of your favourite curries.

Course Dip, Side, Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Servings people

Calories 45kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

½ cucumber (roughly 150g/5oz – See Note 1)
250 g Greek yogurt (I use Yeo Valley Greek Yogurt – see Note 2)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons fresh mint chopped finely, plus extra for garnish
Salt and pepper to taste

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Start by grating the cucumber on the coarse side of your grater onto a board.
Then, take a handful of the grated cucumber and squeeze the grated cucumber over a bowl to get rid of as much of the moisture as you can.
Put the squeezed cucumber into a new bowl and repeat, until all the cucumber has been squeezed out and put into the new bowl.
Add the yogurt, ground cumin and chopped mint, plus salt and pepper to taste.
Stir everything together and then cover the raita (with clingfilm, foil or a plate) and put it into the fridge until you are ready to serve. (See Notes 3&4.)
When you are ready to serve, give the raita a stir and garnish with more fresh mint.

Notes

Some recipes call for the removal of both the cucumber skin and the seeds. Personally I see no need for that – it feels like extra, unnecessary effort and it also seems a little wasteful. However, if you prefer, you can of course remove the skin/seeds. In which case, you will need 150g / 5oz cucumber AFTER you’ve removed the skin and seeds.
Strictly speaking, raita should be made with natural yogurt, but I much prefer the thicker consistency of Greek yogurt. However, feel free to use regular plain yogurt if you prefer a runnier consistency.
The raita is ready to serve as soon as you have made it but, if you have got the time, it’s even nicer after a little while in the fridge to allow the flavours to mix and mingle.
When I am cooking a curry, I tend to make the raita first and pop it into the fridge while I cook the rest of my dish. Not only does this mean the raita tastes nicer, but it also means I don’t have to juggle making a dip with cooking the rest of my meal.
Not suitable for freezing.
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition