Raita is a great dish to serve to accompany a Fiery Curry. Usually, The Lovely Wife makes the Raita and she just uses shredded cucumber and yoghurt with maybe a few spices. This time, she chose to jazz it up. This post actually completes (finally!) the menu that we served for lunch when my dear friend, Naomi, came to visit many months ago.
I really dont know how The Lovely Wife hit upon the idea of using pomegranade for Raita but I have to say it gives the Raita a lovely flavour as well as added colour. Sometimes she adds raisins to the raita but I think pomegranade is so much nicer! My little princess loves anything with Yoghurt in it and she loves nothing better than Rice with Raita, so this was certainly a favourite with her.
It would be kind of difficult to give you a recipe for Raita simply because a lot depends on your taste. Some people like it really yoghurty while some prefer it with just a dash of yoghurt and more cucumber. Bear in mind too that the cucumber lets out water while it sits with the yoghurt so the mixture can get a little runny too. That, to me, just adds to the beauty of this dish.
Anyway, what The Lovely Wife did with this creation was to cut up the cucumber into tiny chunks rather than shredding it like she normally does. Then she added in some yoghurt, seasoned it with a little salt and pepper and added in pomegranate and some mint leaves. As easy as pie! Except that this is Raita and not Pie... get with the program, please... :)
So! As I mentioned earlier, this post completes the meal that we served for lunch and this was the menu:
Pomegranate and Cucumber Raita
Spicy Pork Patties
Murgh Masala or Fiery Chicken Curry
Sambar
Kangkung Belacan
all served with Rice of course.
and for dessert Double Chocolate Mousse Cake
Quite a lovely lunch, even if I do say so myself!
