Whisked curd folded with cucumber and roasted cumin, the cooling side the notebook keeps beside every spiced main.
Snack · 10 min prep · serves 3 Newly added
Ingredients
- 2 cups curd (yogurt) , fresh, not sour
- 1 cucumber , diced
- 1 tsp cumin powder , dry-roasted
- to taste rock salt
- 1 pinch black salt , optional
- 1 tbsp coriander leaves , chopped
Preparation
-
Whisk the curd smooth and loose, thick enough to coat, thin enough to pour.
-
Fold in the cucumber (salt it lightly first and let it weep 5 minutes if it is very watery).
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Stir in the roasted cumin, salts and coriander; serve chilled beside spiced dishes.
In the tradition
Raita is the Ayurvedic logic of opposites in a bowl: when the main dish is spiced and heating, the side is cool and mild. Cucumber and fresh curd are both cooling; the cumin, paradoxically, keeps the cold from dulling digestion.
Sources & further reading
- Family recipe notebook (chutney/dips page, "Raita: yogurt + cucumber + roasted cumin + salt")
Classical citations mark where a tradition is drawn on; modern books are shared as further reading, not as prescriptions.