Raita--an Indian salad/condiment often made with cucumber and yogurt--is the perfect compliment to a dish of spicy curry or tandoori chicken, as the crunchy cucumber and creamy yogurt serve to cool off your mouth and add a varied texture to the meal. But this dish would pair equally well with a beef stew or pot of chilli, too.
Raita
Ingredients
1 large or 2 small cucumbers
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk yogurt
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic power
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
Thinly slice cucumbers, sprinkle them with the salt (which draws out the water), and let them drain in a colander for about an hour.
I partially peel the cukes, which looks pretty
Next, squeeze them dry in a cloth or paper towel.
Toss them with the yogurt,
and
then add the cumin, garlic, and black pepper. (Don’t add any more salt—they’ll
have plenty from the earlier salting.)
Put the raita in the fridge until time to eat.
🍃 🍛 🌱
The daughter of a law professor and a potter, Leslie Karst learned early, during family dinner conversations, the value of both careful analysis and the arts—ideal ingredients for a mystery story. Putting this early education to good use, she now writes the Lefty Award-nominated Sally Solari Mysteries, a culinary series set in Santa Cruz, California.
An ex-lawyer like her sleuth, Leslie also has degrees in English literature and the culinary arts. She and her wife and their Jack Russell mix split their time between Santa Cruz and Hilo, Hawai‘i.
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Praise for Leslie's most newest Sally Solari mystery, THE FRAGRANCE OF DEATH:
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"[An] enjoyable fifth outing for Santa Cruz, Calif., chef Sally Solari.... This well-done culinary cozy should win new fans for the ever enterprising Sally."
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All five Sally Solari Mysteries are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.
Dying for a Taste, A Measure of Murder, and Murder from Scratch are also available as AUDIOBOOKS from Audible!
Thank you for the recipe. Sounds yummy and will be trying it.
ReplyDelete2clowns at arkansas dot net
I know, and it's SOOOO easy!
DeleteI love raita! I think Middle Eastern cuisine has something similar, that they serve with falafels and so on.
ReplyDeleteI think you mean tzatziki.
DeleteYum!
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
DeleteRaita is so refreshing. Except for dill, it's remarkably similar to tzatziki.
ReplyDeleteYes, they're very similar--and both are indeed so very refreshing! And a great way to use up all those cucumbers some of us now have in our gardens...
Delete