Raita

As an Indian, I've made raita several times. This recipe is a good start but lacks a few key steps. First, the yoghurt and sour cream on their own are too thick. Lighten it up with some water (either regular cold water or the water shed by the curds is fine) and then whisk it. I rarely add sour cream to raita because yogurt itself has a wonderful creamy, tangy and refreshing taste. Second, we never add garlic to raita. Raita is meant to accompany the strong flavors of Indian spices and the garlic/ginger/peppers used in the main dish. Garlic spoils the taste and will shorten the amount of time you can store the raita in the fridge. Lastly, I would add some fresh chopped cilantro. Gives it a wonderful freshness.

Since I've been preparing Indian food since 1971 when I first tasted it at an Indian woman's birthday, I tried this recipe as a variation to the traditional one I've always used. Riata is meant to be more of a condiment to accompany the spicy dishes and I found the garlic, tomato and sour cream a drawback to this dish. It was no longer riata and the garlic is a no-no. A little fresh cilantro added much to the dish and I will continue to make it that way now. This is a very enjoyable and refreshing dish and my whole family loved it (with the changes). I'm always looking for new ideas and the basic recipe was appreciated.

I followed the advice of another rater and omitted the garlic and sour cream, added fresh cilantro and added a couple of Tbs. of milk to thin it out. A definite keeper! This goes really well with the chicken tikka masala recipe on this site.

Served this with Chicken Tikka Masala from this site! My husband loved it. After reading advice of other reviewers, I eliminated sour cream, used all yogurt. Eliminated garlic too. Replaced that with some fresh chopped cilantro. It was light and refreshing with the spicy chicken. Great summer taste. Thanks!

Very good. I agree with not adding garlic and adding only a little bit of fresh cilantro.

Really an excellent recipe. Much better than the spice mixture I purchased at the local Indian import store. I think the key is a lot of cumin and cilantro. This recipe is an absolute must as an accompaniment to authentically spicy Indian dishes.

Great to serve with spicy Indian foods! I used less yogurt because I like more cucumber. Yum!

Didn't read reviews before making this...looked so good, I wanted to get started! Agree with MEETA1 that the garlic should be omitted. It's flavor competed a bit with the spicy taste of my chicken curry. Also, won't use entire batch of dressing next time, was a bit much, but overall it's a great companion to a spicy dish!!! Thanks!

To each their own taste I guess. I personally think the garlic suited this salad. It reminded me of Tzatziki, only not as good. It seemed to lack something... more garlic or spice? It was OK, but I won't be making this dish again. Thanks for posting, I already have ideas from it.

This was excellent. My husband told me that it was better than the one we get at a local Indian resturant (dont know if I agree with that). Next time I think I'll add some onion. We'll be having this often!! Thanks for the great recipe Katherine.

This was pretty decent. I didn't use the sour cream and instead used 1.5 cups of plain yogurt. I also only used a dash of garlic, and added a small, diced red onion--good thing to add! It came out quite good, but I still felt like it was missing an ingredient, compared to my local (and incredible) Indian restaurant.

Wonderful! I have served with chicken and beef dishes. My husband and 17 month twins LOVE it! We have already made it twice! Thanks

I liked it. My husband said it is just ok, he'd prefer not to have it again. I didn't have any yogurt so I just used sour cream.

Made it for an indian meal. Very refreshing and contrasts nicely with spicy meals!

Yum! i love this but i leave out the tomatoes. Goes wonderfully on Gyros. If you can get greek yogurt at a specialty store it is even better; you can leave out the sour cream altogether. With regular plain yogurt, follow recipe (add the sour cream). It seems some people don't understand this is not a salad or side dish, it goes on top of other things (gyros, curry chicken, etc) That is maybe why they didn't like it. It's not something you really would eat by itself.

I took this to a Mexican potluck and it was a great success. Next time, though, I'll decrease the amount of dressing.

This was good, nice and simple. I didn't use sour cream, just the yogurt because I don't like too much dressing.

This was just ok. I thought that the dressing was too overwhelming for the cucumbers and tomatoes, and I didn't even use it all. I don't think that I'll be making this again.

This is a great recipe. I used all yogurt and no sour cream and only one cucumber. Very easy!

This recipe is thicker than the consistency I'm used to. The taste was ok, but lacked something.

this was great...very fresh tasting and fit right into an indian themed dinner my husband and I made. Thanks for a great recipe!

I used yogurt only, and added green bell peppers because I had them. Very good with chicken marinated in yogurt.

This is agreat recipe. Thank you Katherine. My whole family loves it including my 11 year old son. I amke it every time I make chile.

Good flavor but nothing special. I got bored of it each meal, even when only using it as a side dish. But seems like a nice way to get rid of extra cucumbers.

My husband loved it. Said it was very tasty. I used lowfat sour cream and fatfree yogurt, which makes it lowfat and he still loved it.

This is a new favorite in our house. We always make this with Tandoori Chicken II and the Chickpea Curry (both recipes on this site). It's QUICK, EASY, and ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. Thanks for sharing!

Since reading this recipe, I have done some research on "raitas". In my Western way of thinking they are meant to be a cooling garnish to counterbalance spicy Indian dishes. They are made of whole-milk yogurt and chopped veggies or fruits, and seasoned with various herbs. That being said, when I made this I decreased both non-fat yogurt and low-fat sour cream by 1/3. Increased the spices by 50 per-cent, and threw in some dill weed. Used garlic powder instead of mashing garlic cloves. It turned out very well. My only problem was that the "Grilled Chicken Thighs Tandoori" (on this site) was not spicy enough to warrant raita. Good, though.

Really not good. It was edible, but it needs a lot of alterations. Sorry. :(

refreshing! i added some fresh dill, cayenne pepper and omitted the tomatoes.

Perfect just the way it is.

Great recipe -- loved the chunkiness of this raita. I opted for 2 cups of yogurt instead of the yogurt/sour cream mixture, omitted the garlic, and added cilantro. It turned out great! A nice side for any spicy dish. Thanks for sharing!

This was okay, but not great. First of all, it's totally unlike any raita I've ever had before, but that's not the reason for my 3 star rating. The flavor is just kind of strange. The paprika really threw me off and I didn't feel as though it belonged. Thanks anyway! :)

Although this tasted ok, it didn't taste much like the raita I've had at Indian restaurants. I left out the garlic and tomatoes, and shredded english cucumbers which are less watery. I also added cilantro. I think it needed a tad more salt and mint would have given it a more authentic flavor.

My whole family and I loved this. My picky 12 year old daughter finished off the leftovers and always asks for this. I made it for an Indian themed night but I make it just for regular meals now. Flavorful and oh so easy.

If you're making this to accompany Indian food OMIT the sour cream. If you don't want to spend the extra money to buy seedless cucumbers it's terribly easy to remove the seeds when you slice them lengthwise and use a serrated grapefruit spoon to get rid of the seeds. Then I reccommend grating the cucumber on a cheese grater into a bowl to catch the juices and adding sour cream to that. Delicious!

Thought this was very tasty. Don't usually add tomato to my raita and liked the mix. Will make again.

Wonderful flavor.......I left out the sour cream and used fat-free yogurt. Grating the cucumber was a great idea! Served with chick pea curry from this website.

Great flavor! Next time I would use shredded vegetable pieces insted of chunks. Also, the recipe calls for way too much cucumber -- use less!

I thought this was ok but it needs changes. I would make the yogurt be more prevalent than the sour cream- 1 1/2 c yogurt and 1/2 c sour cream. No garlic. Add cilantro and cayenne. Raita should be soupier and not so thick- you want to taste the cucumber more than the yogurt and sour cream. Otherwise- a good attempt at an Indian favorite.

I think this recipe is a great start, but I did not use sour cream. I also used a 1/4 of the garlic to balance the cumin, but not to overpower the dip. When I served it I topped it with crushed pistachio nuts.

Made this without sour cream or garlic, and with cilantro and green onion. Good with and without the tomato, and makes my standard "chuck stuff from the fridge into a pot with some curry powder and garam masala" curry much more interesting.

The spice mix tastes good, but I'm used to less chunky raita. I used 1 cucumber and a small tomato. Greek yogurt works well. Also, I'd recommend shredding or grating the cucumber.

Excellent recipe. I used with a complete Indian meal including Indian Rice (Pulao) and Grilled Chicken Thighs Tandoori also from AllRecipes.com. I omitted the Paprika. Our dinner guest emailed the next day asking for the Raita recipe; her husband loved it!

This recipe was good after I changed several components. First I just used the full fat plain yogurt and left out the sour cream. Next, I use persian cucumbers so there is no need to seed. Also, it is best if you chop the tomato and cucumber into tiny, tiny peices rather than leaving large chunks. I leave out the garlic and 1/2 the amount of cumin. I also add some water to give it a thinner consistency which is closer to what you would get at an indian restaurant.

This is amazing. I do not use the sour cream and only use two cucumbers at most (for our family of 3). I keep everything else the same including the garlic, which to me makes the dish. It is very important to chill it. This has become a staple not just for Indian meals but as a side for sandwiches, etc. My 9 year old son literally cheers when it is part of the menu!

I felt there was too much dressing in this salad. Still good, but it was more like yogurt and sour cream with veggies rather than veggies with yogurt and sour cream. Next time I will cut the dressing by either a third or a half and double the spices. It did do it's job as a cooling agent after the Chickpea Curry (found on this site). It also accompanied Chicken Makhani (again, from this site) and basmati rice. Thanks for the post!

I didn't like the cumin taste to this dish. It didn't seem like raita to me. I substitute 2 tsp each of dill and crushed mint. One or the other would probably work. I also only use 3/4 of a seedless cucumber. Love the recipe with these substitutions and I make it all the time.

this was very good.. i had to use all tomato because the last persian cucumber in my fridge had turned zombie.. i followed the advice of many reviewers and used all yogurt, left out the garlic, and chopped some cilantro into it.. bf says it's like tzatziki and salsa had a baby.. i have to agree :) ty for the recipe

NOT BAD BUT KINDA BLAND. I THINK NEXT TIME I WILL DOUBLE THE SPICES.

really cool and refreshing however I felt that the cumin was very over powering

Simple, Fresh and Delicious. I just used cucumbers. Will definitely make again

Loved this recipe...I added cilantro, but would have been good with mint too!

Simple and good with ANY spicy eastern dish to cool your palet. It also goes well with Greek dishes. Enjoy!

Made this without garlic or paprika. It's a great salad to serve with any spicy dish. Thanx for sharing ~ goes well with butter chicken!

This is my first time to make Raita, I was trying to copy one of my favourite restaurants with this dish. I also omitted the garlic and reduced the paprika, then added lemon juice! I was close to the restaurant's version. I was very happy with the results.