This Cucumber raita is refreshing, cooling and comforting to the palate. You can make this just under 10 minutes with only a few ingredients. Serve it as a side in any meal, with biryani or pulao.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 8 minutes
  • Cook time: Not specified
  • Total time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Side
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cucumber (chopped (1 medium English/ Persian/ Japanese cucumber))
  • 1½ cup yogurt ((thick, more if needed))
  • ¼ teaspoon salt (as needed)
  • ½ teaspoon roasted ground cumin ((jeera powder, refer notes))
  • ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper ((or cayenne pepper, adjust to taste))
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves ((cilantro finely chopped))
  • ½ teaspoon chaat masala ((optional, for garnishing))
  • 4 to 5 mint leaves ((optional, finely chopped))
  • 1 green chili pepper ((seeded and chopped))

Method

Preparation

  1. Rinse cucumber and peel if you want. Chop to tiny bite size pieces (about ¼ to ½ inch). If you prefer you may even grate it. Grated cucumbers let out moisture so make sure you use only greek yogurt if you want to grate them. Else your cucumber raita becomes runny.
  2. Also fine chop coriander and mint leaves (optional).
  3. Deseed the green chilli and chop. (optional)

How to Make Cucumber Raita

  1. Whisk chilled yogurt in a large mixing bowl.
  2. Add chopped cucumber, green chilies, coriander leaves, mint leaves and salt. Mix all of them.
  3. Taste test and add more salt if needed. Drizzle cumin powder, ground black pepper & chaat masala (optional).
  4. Serve cucumber raita on its own or as a side in an Indian meal. It is usually eaten with Vegetable biryani or chicken biryani.
  5. Cucumber raita is best served fresh but can be chilled for a few hours.

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.