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.
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.
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.
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.
