Cucumber Raita Recipe - Spice Up The Curry (2024)

This fresh homemade cucumber raita will liven up your Indian meal this summer season. This is light and cooling with a refreshing note, it’s a delicious side for your pulao, biryani and more!

It is made with plain yogurt, cucumber, mint leaves and a few basic Indian spice powders. This cucumber raita is the most popular among many other varieties like onion raita, vegetable raita, boondi raita, etc.

❤️About This Cucumber Raita Recipe

Super quick to make: It takes only 10 minutes (from prepping to mixing into yogurt).

No cooking required: Yes, the method can’t be simpler than this. Grate cucumber, chop herbs and mix with yogurt along with a few spices.

A side dish for hot weather: Because yogurt has a cooling property, raita is usually consumed during the summer season.

🧾Ingredient Notes

To make delicious homemade raita, you’ll need only 7 ingredients (plus salt). All of them are very basic to Indian cooking.

Cucumber:

Plain yogurt: Use fresh and less sour plain yogurt. I always use homemade yogurt.

Mint leaves: It adds a super refreshing flavor. Instead, you can use cilantro as well.

Black salt (Kala namak): It adds a unique zing to the raita. Please do not skip it.

Roasted cumin powder: This is the must-add spice powder for any raita. It adds a nice flavor to the dish as well as helps in easy digestion.

Red chili powder and Black pepper: A tiny pinch of both spices is added just to elevate the flavor.

👩‍🍳How To Make Cucumber Raita? (Stepwise Photos)

1. Take yogurt in a bowl. Add salt, pepper, roasted cumin powder, red chili powder and black salt.
2. Whisk it until yogurt is smooth and spices are mixed well.
3. Add grated cucumber.
4. Mix using a spoon.
5. Lastly, sprinkle freshly chopped herbs.
6. Stir and cover it with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator until the time of serving. It tastes best when served chilled.

💭Expert Tips

• Always use chilled, refrigerated yogurt, as raita tastes best when served chilled.
• If your yogurt is a little sour then add a pinch of sugar to balance the flavor. We don’t want sweet raita so just add enough to balance the sourness.
• Storing cucumber raita for more than a day (24 hours) is not advisable. Cucumber will leave its water after storing and it makes the raita watery and runny. Plus, cucumber will lose its crunch and freshness.
  • If you do not care for consistency or the crunchiness of the cucumber then raita can be stored for 2 days in the refrigerator.
• Make ahead option: If you want to make it ahead of time for guests or parties then mix the spices with yogurt and store that in an airtight container. Grate the cucumber and store that separately in the fridge. At the time of serving, drain the cucumber water collected at the bottom of the container then mix cucumber and spiced yogurt together and serve.

🍽 Serving Ideas

• Serve cucumber raita with veg biryani or spicy veg pulao or any rice dish like capsicum rice, methi rice.
• This can be served as a side with your Indian meal (that consists of dal, rice, roti, sabzi or curry).
• It can be used as a dipping side for your paratha like aloo paratha, broccoli paratha, vegetable paratha.

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