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Raita

Beena used full-fat yogurt, but you could use lowfat yogurt in place of it if you really must. As mentioned above, raita can be made with a variety of fruits and vegetables, and you can dial up the flavors using mint, scallions or green onions, or whatever spices strike your fancy.
  • 1 cup (250g) plain yogurt
  • 1/2 large cucumber
  • 1 medium tomato
  • 6 springs of cilantro
  • 1 small chili pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1/2 teaspoon masala powder
  • sea salt
  • Scrape the yogurt into a bowl.
  • Peel the cucumber, slice lengthwise, and scrape out the seeds with a spoon. Dice the cucumber into bite-size pieces. Core the tomato and dice the tomato into bite-size pieces and add them to the yogurt along with the cucumbers.
  • Chop the cilantro and add most of it to the bowl, reserving a little to garnish the finished raita. Chop as much, or as little, of the chili pepper as you’d like to use and add it to the mixture.
  • In a mortar and pestle (or with a hammer in a sturdy zip-top bag), crush the cumin seeds to a slightly coarse powder. Stir the ground seeds to the raita, along with masala powder and salt (to taste).
  • 5. Sprinkle the top with additional chopped cilantro. Serve at room temperature, or chilled, alongside a favorite Indian dish or as a salad.

Notes

Masala powder is available at stores that specialize in Indian food and well-stocked grocery stores. You can find recipes for it on Food Blog Search if you’d like to make your own.