How to Make Cucumber Raita
Mara McFalls: Welcome back now. Yogurt is found on pretty much every table for every course of meal in an Indian home. And today, we’re going to make Raita.
Female: Raita exactly and we’re going to make a Cucumber Raita today.
Mara McFalls: Cucumber Raita.
Female: Cucumber. One cucumber and yogurt, they’re both very cooling. After having a spicy meal, it helps you cool down the stomach. So, it’s a very quick recipe, won’t take long and it’s going to delight everybody. It’s a dried potato.
Mara McFalls: So, this is the perfect accompaniment to a curry to something spicy, just kind of cools and soothes everything.
Female: And it goes very well with the rice too.
Mara McFalls: So, what are the main ingredients of this?
Female: The main ingredient here is a homemade yogurt.
Mara McFalls: Homemade yogurt wow!
Female: Yeah I mean my own yogurt and some chopped cucumbers and some chopped cilantro with some spices. I have a roasted cumin powder. I roasted cumin and ground it and with some dried mint leaves and salt. These are the only spices that I’m going to use. Yes, it tastes so good, it has a nice aroma and when you have it with rice or any curry, it just takes the flavors to the next level.
Mara McFalls: Delicious, alright so what combination? How do we add this?
Female: These are measured proportion so I’m going to add these three in here and add cucumber.
Mara McFalls: So, the cucumbers are sliced pretty thinly, that’s just sort of a preference, right?
Female: Preference. And what happens is because there’s a salt in the yogurt, cucumbers are going to start releasing some liquid, some water juice, cucumber juice. So, it’s going to become a little thin. So, you might want to keep your yogurt a little thick.
Mara McFalls: A little bit on the thicker side, the cucumbers will sweat some of their liquids out. Oh that is looking, oh the smell is so good.
Female: You like it?
Mara McFalls: Yes. It’s a beautiful color too and the cilantro.
Female: Cilantro, I’m going to garnish with cilantro.
Mara McFalls: I can’t wait to dip some reds and rice, that looks delicious.
Female: And here, cilantro and can be served with any meal.
Mara McFalls: That looks delicious. Alright so now, let’s bring this back to the table and start the meal.
Female: Exactly, bon a petit.
Mara McFalls: We have the Raita, like I hear that no Indian table is set without a yogurt dish.
Female: Yes.
Mara McFalls: Are you going to sit here?
Female: Yes, I will later but let me serve you and this is very customary in Indian tradition.
Mara McFalls: For like the mom or the wife or just the hostess in general?
Female: I’m the hostess, hostess in general.
Mara McFalls: Do you get to sit down at all?
Female: I will, eventually at the end. Let me just give the full serving and then after that, I’m going to go over there.
Mara McFalls: Please dig in guys. Yes, this looks delicious. What’s your favorite? What are some of your favorite dishes here on the table? You like the samosas, that’s your favorite, what do you like about them?
Female: They’re yummy.
Mara McFalls: Do you guys like the food that your mom makes when it’s American food or do you prefer the Indian food? Chilly makes Indian food? Do you guys have Indian food at lunch at school?
Female: No.
Mara McFalls: And so would you rather have Indian food for lunch at school?
Female: It’s good but I don’t eat it all the time.
Mara McFalls: A little variety like the melting pot. How do you eat raita? Do you eat it with a spoon or how’s it typically eaten?
Female: I’m going to give you some rice and you can use your fork or spoon.
Mara McFalls: Okay.
Female: Traditionally in India, a lot of people eat, use their fingers to eat. But then things are changing, table manners are going onto spoons now, so everybody—
Mara McFalls: Oh, thank you
Male: And they go with this. This is tamarind and this is mint.
Mara McFalls: So, you said that people eat with their fingers, is that still a tradition that you guys use in your families?
Male: Probably we could do that, probably not.
Mara McFalls: Yes. Okay so it’s a regional thing if you use your fingers or not. Alright so what about soup, will I just use a spoon?
Female: You can use spoon, fork or if you want to be a little adventurous, go for the fingers.
Mara McFalls: Really?
I have to admit, at first it feels so wrong when you eat with your hands but for some reason, the food actually tastes better. It’s kind of strange.
So, what are some other meal time customs that you would say, like with seasons changing?
Female: Mostly you don’t talk with your mouth full which is—and you wash your hands before you sit down. Some people also wash their feet because mostly people come from outside so you don’t want to bring the dirt into. Food is like God.
Mara McFalls: Food is like God?
Female: It’s like, it’s treated like God. So, you’re feeding your body, this is the temple and you got to wash your hands and you have to wash your feet. So, that’s a big custom in India.
Mara McFalls: A friend told me about an Indian mealtime tradition that was pretty interesting.
So, what are some of the other mealtime you have selected ones that you grew up with to keep in your homes here in America?
Female: I think for my family, I could say that one big custom that we followed is not to leave any food in the plate which is something that I grew up with because there are a lot of little kids in India who don’t have one meal a day. So, I always tell my children that the stuff that you have on your plate, can feed two families in India.
Mara McFalls: Right. It’s interesting to see what traditions you save from India and which ones you pick up from America?
Female: Yes, actually what has happened over the time, that female is still supposed to be cooking and making the preparations and everything. The things that have changed over here, maybe the guys have started cleaning up after just to help out which means they have designed a little bit of a role kind of a thing.
Mara McFalls: Right.
Female: Which was not there back home. We were supposed to do everything. You cook, you clean, you feed, you serve and then at the end, you sit down and eat. But here it’s nicer, they participate together so it’s like a combined effort.
Mara McFalls: Would you call it nice?
Female: I had to tell you a story from the weekend when I was visiting. So, we’re talking about it how mother-in-law used to say, “That’s what your mother taught you to the daughter- in-law.” Nowadays, wife saying to their husband, “This is what your mother taught you, to take care of your work.” Things are changing, time is moving. Everybody has to pretend the house to do the work.
Mara McFalls: It’s really a melting pot, your lives are the melting pot and that’s what we’re showing here and I really do. I want to thank you so much. This has been such an amazing day. I’ve learned so much and I hope that you guys learned too. I hope you had a great time, just having a slice of an Indian culture and cuisine from the comfort of your living rooms and we will see you next time, I’m Mara McFalls thanks a lot.