Home » Countries » Asia » RECIPE: Biryani Raita Recipe

RECIPE: Biryani Raita Recipe

By Colin and Mitch in Asia, Countries, India, Phenomenal Flavours, Recipes, VTSub on 1st March 2023.

There are many cuisines around the world that use yoghurt-based dips or sauces to accompany particular dishes. Tzatziki is a Greek dish which incorporates cucumber and herbs into a Greek yoghurt. Salatat Khyar is an Arabic salad which is similar to tzakziki in that it uses cucumber and mint with the yoghurt but can be eaten as a standalone salad. And then there’s raita, often used in Indian cuisine as an accompaniment to ‘cool’ the spiciness of a main dish. This biryani raita recipe is simplicity itself to make and really delicious.

Yogurt is ideal to counteract the heat of chillies in any dish it accompanies. There’s a protein called casein which is found in dairy products. It binds to the active component of chillies which is called capsaicin and is the main cause of the burning sensation in the mouth. The casein helps soothe the burn. If you eat a spicy chilli, a drink of milk will help quash the heat far better than water.

(The combination of chilli and cheese in Bhutan’s national dish is cleverly designed to be spicy but the intense heat is tempered by the cheese.)

Raita uses cucumber but it can also have other vegetables such as onion and carrot, often diced. This dish can easily be adapted to incorporate different vegetables or even spices. If you wanted to add a warm earthiness, chuck in a teaspoon of cumin. Or add a touch of fire with a teaspoon of chilli or paprika. Harissa is a nice addition for a Middle Eastern dish. Similarly, you can vary the herbs – mint is a lovely alternative to the coriander or you can just add both in.

Our biryani raita is fantastically flexible in accompanying so many different types of dish.

Biryani Raita Recipe

Ingredients

3 heaped tbs plain natural yoghurt

2 garlic cloves (use 1 if you’re not so keen on garlic or are planning on kissing someone later on in the day)

Juice of half a lemon

Half a cucumber

2 spring onions (green onions)

Bunch of coriander/cilantro (mint also works really wall, or combine the two)

Pinch of salt. We particularly like crystal salt rather than table salt

Method

Grate the cucumber.

Gather up grated cucumber and squeeze the water out.

If you wish you can wrap the grated cucumber in a tea towel to absorb the rest of the water. It’s important to get as much water out of the cucumber as possible to avoid the raita becoming watery.

Finely chop the spring onions and coriander.

Place yoghurt in a bowl. Add the cucumber, spring onions and coriander.

Grate the garlic into the bowl – we find that a microplane grater is perfect for this. Our you could use a standard garlic press.

Squeeze the lemon to extract its juice, making sure that none of the pips end up in the mixture, and add the salt.

Mix together.

Ready to serve.

This works brilliantly to accompany a biryani, and cool it down if it’s particularly chilli hot.

Or a delicious dollop as a great accompaniment to felafel in a wrap.

Or to accompany a Middle Eastern mezze. Here with home-made dolma (stuffed vine leaves), baba ganoush (aubergine dip) and tabbouleh (cous cous herb salad).