Cucumber Raita is a popular Indian raita dip made with fresh & tender cucumber, yogurt, ground spices and herbs. It is simple, refreshing and cooling to the palate. This simple and comforting raita comes together in 5 minutes and tastes great when paired with any Indian meal or a biryani or pulao.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: Not specified
  • Total time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Side Dish
  • Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cucumber (- finely chopped)
  • 1 cup yogurt ((curd))
  • ½ teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder (or sweet paprika or ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder or cayenne pepper, optional)
  • 1 teaspoon roasted ground cumin ((roasted cumin powder))
  • ½ teaspoon chaat masala powder (or add as required)
  • salt (as required, can add food grade rock salt or black salt)
  • 1 tablespoon coriander leaves (- chopped or 1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves)

Method

  1. Rinse the cucumber. Then peel and finely chop it. You can also grate cucumber.
  2. In a bowl, whisk the yogurt until smooth.
  3. Add the finely chopped cucumber to the yogurt.
  4. Add the kashmiri red chilli powder, salt as needed and chopped coriander leaves.
  5. Combine well and serve.
  6. You can garnish it with some coriander leaves or mint leaves while serving.

Serving suggestions

  1. With Indian meals: Cucumber raita can be served as a side dish with some vegetable curry, lentils, with a side of roti or naan.
  2. With paratha: You can serve it with stuffed parathas as well. Aloo paratha, gobi paratha, broccoli paratha, mooli paratha or any stuffed paratha tastes pairs nicely.
  3. Rice: Serving it with biryani and pulao makes it so tastier. It also tastes great with khichdi, dal and steamed rice.
  4. With Veggies: And yes, you can also serve cucumber raita as a dip with fresh, roasted or baked veggies.

Storage

  1. Leftovers can be stored only for a day in a refrigerator. It is best had fresh and the taste changes when you refrigerate it. So only make amounts of it that you can finish in one day.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.