Are you looking for a delicious and cooling Indian mint sauce? Look no further than our delicious cucumber raita recipe!
Our yogurt mint sauce is perfect for cooling down Indian food or as a refreshing salad dressing in the summer.
Raita is also a great condiment to have on hand for your Indian meals.
In this blog post, we will give you a step-by-step guide on how to make this Indian mint sauce recipe.
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Cucumber and Mint Raita is a perfect side dish with your curry; the sweet taste of minted yoghurt freshens your pallet with your spicy curry.
It makes a tasty mint dip that takes under 10 minutes and only requires basic ingredients.
History
Raita is a popular Indian condiment that has been around for centuries. It is believed to have originated in the northern part of India.
Originally made with yogurt and mustard seeds, it was used as a dipping sauce for bread.
Over time, the recipe has evolved, and now raita is made with various ingredients such as cucumber, tomatoes, onion, coriander, mint and spices.
Raita is a versatile condiment used as a dip, salad dressing or side dish. Often found served as a poppadom dip in Indian Restaurants.
Equipment
All you need to make a cucumber raita is a bowl and a spoon.
You can use a pestle, mortar/ food processor, or a blender to blend the ingredients.
If you don't have either, you can finely chop all the ingredients with a knife.
Cucumber Raita Ingredients
Make cucumber raita with just a few ingredients; feel free to adjust to your taste and remove or add additional ingredients.
Coriander & Mint
Fresh coriander and mint help give the chilled yogurt a fresh herb flavour.
Garlic
Garlic helps give a distinctive flavour. If you don't like it, you can leave it out.
Chilli
The green chilli gives the raita a little heat; if you want a cool chutney, leave the chilli out.
The mint, coriander, garlic and chilli are blended into a paste, which helps give the green colour to this mint dip.
Yogurt
You can use natural yogurt full-fat, low-fat or zero-fat yogurt.
Traditionally plain yogurt is used to make a thin sauce recipe.
Alternatively, you can use Greek yogurt for a thicker texture, perfect for a delicious dip.
You can also make vegan-friendly yogurt mint sauce using vegan yogurt.
Spices
Add some spice powders to the yoghurt. One of our favourite curry powder blends is garam masala—a blend of cardamom, coriander and cumin powder.
Substitute this with other blends such as chaat masala or roasted cumin powder.
Cucumber
We recommend using grating cucumber; we usually cut out the watery middle and grate the rest.
You can slice it thinly or chop it into bigger chunks for a salad.
Mint Sauce
Although we add some fresh mint, the prominent mint flavour and sweetness come from adding the mint sauce.
If you only use fresh mint, you may need to add some sugar to the yogurt dip mix.
Lemon Juice
This gives the raita a little tang; you can start with less and add more to the taste.
Sugar
Sugar is optional if you like it sweeter?
Don't forget to add salt and ground black pepper to taste.
Instructions
The full details for how to make this Indian mint sauce are in the recipe card below.
📖 Step by Step Recipe
Cucumber Raita Recipe (Indian Mint Sauce)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 clove Garlic chopped
- Small handful Fresh coriander leaves
- Small handful Fresh mint leaves
- ½ green chilli (optional)
- 250 g Natural yogurt full fat, low fat or 0% yogurt can be used. Use Greek Yogurt for a thicker texture.
- ¼ Cucumber grated
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- ½ Lemon Juice only
- 1 tablespoon Mint Sauce
- Sugar Optional for extra sweetness
Instructions
- Use a blender or a pestle and mortar to blend the garlic, herbs and green chilli (if using) into a paste.1 clove Garlic, Small handful Fresh coriander leaves, Small handful Fresh mint leaves, ½ green chilli (optional)
- Remove the seeded middle from the cucumber and grate the rest.¼ Cucumber
- In a large mixing bowl, add chilled yoghurt, the grated cucumber, the green paste made in step 1, garam masala and lemon juice.250 g Natural yogurt, ½ teaspoon Garam Masala, ½ Lemon, 1 tablespoon Mint Sauce
- Mix all together.Sugar
- Taste and add salt, black pepper, extra lemon juice or sugar to suit your taste.
- Serve with some extra mint leaves on top. Can be served as a delicious dip or side dish with Indian food or as a dressing.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This Indian yogurt mint sauce recipe was originally published on 12/10/2019 and modified on 24/06/2022 with a new recipe, updated pictures and video.
Serving suggestions
This Cucumber raita recipe is best served cold.
It makes a fantastic Indian starter poppadom dips with mango chutney, Kachumber (a cucumber onion and tomato salad), and spicy lime pickle.
Perfect served as a side sauce to cool down spicy curries like our pathia or other Indian meal.
Or serve drizzled over a finely chopped salad, herbs, tomatoes, cucumber and as a summer salad.
Serve with:
It can also serve over lamb shish kebab, turkish chicken kebab or prawn tacos.
How to store
Cucumber raita will last in the fridge in an airtight container for up to three days.
More Indian Recipes
Mint raita is fantastic to eat with Indian food as it helps the digestive system. Here are some of our favourite Indian recipes.
We hope you enjoy this Indian raita recipe! If you make it, let us know how it went in the comments below and how you make it your own.
Happy cooking!
Nic Bescoby
I love a cooling mint and cucumber sauce and this was absolutely perfect. We had it with your Lamb Shish Kebabs and it was the perfect addition!
Kay
Thank you for trying our Cucumber Raita Nic! We're so glad you enjoyed it with your Lamb Shish Kebabs. It's a perfect pairing and we love hearing that you loved it too. 🙂
Ron
Hi.
Is it better to make it on the day, or in advance?
How far in advance can this be made?
Many Thanks.
Emily Flint
This sounds so refreshing and delicious, I can't wait to make it next time we have curry!
Raquel
So good and simple to make!