Raita

Masalas and curries go very well with riatas.  Riata is basically equal parts of plain yogurt and diced cucumber with minced onion and spices.  Riatas go very well with hot dishes providing a cooling contrast to the heat of the peppers.

When I needed a riata to accompany my first attempt at Gohbi Masala, I Googled "riata recipe" and went to the first or second hit for "Traditional Riata" from Epicurious.   [Whoops!  I just went to check my source and discovered that Epicurious (and everyone else who is right, I presume) spells it "raita".  Funny thing is, "riata" gets hits for recipes, so it's not just me.]

So here is their recipe for

Traditional Raita

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup chopped seeded English hothouse cucumber
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 teaspoons chopped green onions
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Just mix all the ingredients and chill until ready to serve.

I, of course, substituted regular-ole cucumbers, and regular-ole yellow onions, as well as dried cilantro the first time thru.  I also added a tsp of lemon juice, which I thought was a great addition.  It was good, especially after chilling for at least 4 hours.

So that's all there is to raita.

Except, of course, that we are left with a great food concept open to interpretation and experimentation!   My first thought was "Boy, I bet a lemon-dill version of raita would be great, especially, for example, with fish."

A week ago, I was working on a salmon-rice recipe concept (without great success as it happens) and decided to try the lemon-dill raita concept to go with.  I bought some fresh dill from the grocery store, 3/4 oz package, (this will be much better in summer time when I can walk out to the garden for the fresh dill) and a lemon along with some green onions (as long as I was at the store, go with the recipe...).  So,

Lemon-Dill Raita

1 cup diced cucumber (regular-ole)

1 cup non-fat plain yogurt

3/4 oz fresh dill weed minced

3 green onions minced

Zest from about 1/2 lemon

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp of ground mustard

1/4 tsp of corriander

Mix it all up, the order probably does not really matter.

The day I made it, it was not very good and really did not live up to my expectations.  I stuck the leftovers (most of it) in the 'fridge in a bowl with a piece of cling-wrap pressed down to the surface to prevent air contact.

Two days later - WOW!  This is what I had in mind!  It took a while for the flavors to blend and come out, but this turned out GREAT.  I am inclined to make this about once a week and keep it in the 'fridge; it is an excellent condiment to just about anything, but especially fish, which is where I started with this concept - more later on that.

So here are two raita recipes, Traditional and Lemon-Dill and the basic concept to use as a base for a thousand flavor experiments...enjoy.

Lindsey