Raita is a side dish in

Indian cuisine Indian cuisine consists of a variety of regional and traditional cuisines native to India. Given the diversity in soil, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially and use locally available spices, her ...

made of dahi (

yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...

, often referred to as

curd Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as l ...

) together with raw or cooked vegetables, more seldom fruit, or in the case of boondi raita, with fried droplets of batter made from

besan Gram flour or kadala maavu is a pulse flour made from a variety of ground chickpea called Bengal gram or ''kaala chana''. It is a staple ingredient in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, including in Indian, Bangladeshi, Burmese, Nepali, ...

( chickpea flour, generally labeled as

gram flour Gram flour or kadala maavu is a pulse flour made from a variety of ground chickpea called Bengal gram or ''kaala chana''. It is a staple ingredient in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent, including in Indian, Bangladeshi, Burmese, Nepali, ...

). The closest approximation in western cuisine is a side dish or dip, or a cooked

salad A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

. It is often referred to as a condiment, but unlike traditional western condiments like salt, pepper, mustard and

horseradish Horseradish (''Armoracia rusticana'', syn. ''Cochlearia armoracia'') is a perennial plant of the family Brassicaceae (which also includes mustard, wasabi, broccoli, cabbage, and radish). It is a root vegetable, cultivated and used worldwi ...

that make dishes more spicy, a dish of dahi or raita has a cooling effect to contrast with spicy

curries A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradi ...

and kebabs that are the main fare of some Asian cuisines. In Indian cuisine, some type of

flatbread A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread. Flatbreads r ...

may be eaten together with raita,

chutney A chutney is a spread in the cuisines of the Indian subcontinent. Chutneys are made in a wide variety of forms, such as a tomato relish, a ground peanut garnish, yogurt or curd, cucumber, spicy coconut, spicy onion or mint dipping sauce ...

s and pickles. The yogurt may be seasoned with

coriander Coriander (;

, roasted

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaAE ...

cayenne pepper The cayenne pepper is a type of '' Capsicum annuum''. It is usually a moderately hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes. Cayenne peppers are a group of tapering, 10 to 25 cm long, generally skinny, mostly red-colored peppers, often with ...

chaat masala Chaat masala, also spelled chat masala, is a powder spice mix, or masala, originating from South Asia, typically used to add flavor to chaat. It typically consists of amchoor (dried mango powder), cumin, coriander, dried ginger, salt (often blac ...

and other herbs and spices.

Etymology

The word ''raita'' first appeared in print around the 19th century; it comes from the

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

language. The word ''raita'' in

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken ...

and

is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsSanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

word ''rajika'' or the derivative Hindi ''rai'' (pronounced "ra-ee") meaning black mustard seed, and ''tiktaka'', meaning sharp or pungent. In South India, especially

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

, traditional raita is called '' pachadi''. In

Eastern Nepal The Eastern Development Region (Nepali: पुर्वाञ्चल विकास क्षेत्र, ''Purwānchal Bikās Kshetra'') was one of Nepal's five development regions. It is also known as Kirata region. It was located at the ...

, the dish is known as ''dahi kakro'' (), whereas in western regions of Nepal it is known as ''raito''. Raita is also sometimes simply called ''dahi'', or "sourmilk", after its main ingredient, particularly in

South African Indian Indian South Africans are South Africans who descend from indentured labourers and free migrants who arrived from British India during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The majority live in and around the city of Durban, making it one of the l ...

cuisine.

Preparation

Cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

tempering is then mixed with minced, raw vegetables or fruits (such as

cucumber Cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the Cucurbitaceae family that bears usually cylindrical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

) and yogurt. Raw

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

and garlic paste, green chili paste, and sometimes mustard paste are used to enrich flavour. A variety of raita of India varies from region to region, most notable raithas are boondi raitha—tiny balls of fried

(chickpea flour), which may taste salty or ''tīkhā'' (spicy) and onion raita and vegetable raita. The mixture is served chilled. Raita may cool the palate when eating spicy

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

dishes.

Variants

File:Onion Raita.jpg, Onion Raita File:Spring onion raitha.jpg, Spring Onion Raita File:Boondhi raita picture.JPG, Boondi raita File:Beetroot carrot raita picture.JPG, Beetroot and carrot raita File:Raita Bhojpuri Lucknow Uttar Pradesh India.jpg, Boondi Raita Raitas can be prepared with three main base ingredients: vegetables,

pulses In medicine, a pulse represents the tactile arterial palpation of the cardiac cycle (heartbeat) by trained fingertips. The pulse may be palpated in any place that allows an artery to be compressed near the surface of the body, such as at the nec ...

and fruits. These are mixed with yogurt and flavoured with a variety of

seasoning Seasoning is the process of supplementing food via herbs, spices, salts, and/or sugar, intended to enhance a particular flavour. General meaning Seasonings include herbs and spices, which are themselves frequently referred to as "seasonings". ...

s to make different types of raita.

Vegetable raitas

# Bathua ka raita, popular in

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ...

in wintersBathua ka Raita , Haryana and
ttar Pradesh bathua recipe , Indian cuisine, masterchefu.com. #

Cucumber raita Cucumber Raita is a variation of raita that can be used as a dip or a salad. It is made by mixing together freshly chopped cucumber, green chillies, and dahi (yogurt), and optionally finely chopped tomato and onion. It is especially popular ...

# Lauki (bottle gourd/

calabash Calabash (; ''Lagenaria siceraria''), also known as bottle gourd, white-flowered gourd, long melon, birdhouse gourd, New Guinea bean, Tasmania bean, and opo squash, is a vine grown for its fruit. It can be either harvested young to be consumed ...

) raita, popular in

and ttar_Pradesh_ #_Beetroot.html" ;"title="ttar Pradesh # Beetroot">ttar Pradesh # Beetroot raita # Brinjal raita # Carrot raita # Chili salt raita, could be chopped fresh chilies or just the dried chili powder # Horned melon raita # Mentha, Mint and peanut raita # Onion

coriander Coriander (;

spring onion Scallions (also known as spring onions or green onions) are vegetables derived from various species in the genus ''Allium''. Scallions generally have a milder taste than most onions and their close relatives include garlic, shallot, leek, chi ...

raita # Onion tomato raita # Potato raita #

Pumpkin A pumpkin is a vernacular term for mature winter squash of species and varieties in the genus ''Cucurbita'' that has culinary and cultural significance but no agreed upon botanical or scientific meaning. The term ''pumpkin'' is sometimes use ...

raita #

Spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either f ...

raita # Garlic mint raita

Fruit raitas

# Banana raita #

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in Sout ...

raita #

Guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, t ...

raita # Grape raita #

Pineapple The pineapple (''Ananas comosus'') is a tropical plant with an edible fruit; it is the most economically significant plant in the family Bromeliaceae. The pineapple is indigenous to South America, where it has been cultivated for many centuri ...

raita #

Pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

raita #

Pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosacea ...

raita

Pulse raitas

Made either from sprouted pulses, roasted pulses or other condiments made from pulse flour. # Bhujia sev raita # Boondi raita # Sprouted

green gram The mung bean (''Vigna radiata''), alternatively known as the green gram, maash ( fa, ماش٫ )٫ mūng (), monggo, or munggo (Philippines), is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract G ...

raita

Serving methods

As a side dish

Raita is served as a side dish to be eaten with main course dishes. * Biryani * ''Pulav'' (

pilaf Pilaf ( US spelling) or pilau ( UK spelling) is a rice dish, or in some regions, a wheat dish, whose recipe usually involves cooking in stock or broth, adding spices, and other ingredients such as vegetables or meat, and employing some techn ...

) * Seekh kabab * Paratha *

Pav bhaji Pav bhaji (Marathi : पाव भाजी) is a fast food dish from India consisting of a thick vegetable curry (''bhaji'') served with a soft bread roll (''pav''). Its origins are in the state of Maharashtra. History The dish originated as ...

* Indian Thali

As a sauce (not traditional)

* Grilled chicken * Salmon * Tacos

As a dressing (not traditional)

Salads A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

* Pasta salad

References

External links

{{Indian Dishes Indian condiments Uttar Pradeshi cuisine Mughlai cuisine Telangana cuisine Bengali cuisine Punjabi cuisine Bihari cuisine Yogurt-based dishes Kerala cuisine

Etymology

Preparation

Variants

Vegetable raitas

Fruit raitas

Pulse raitas

Serving methods

As a side dish

As a sauce (not traditional)

As a dressing (not traditional)

See also

References

External links