Method:

Wash the cucumber. Cut the end portions of the cucumber and taste for bitterness. Chop the cucumber finely and keep it aside. Take curd in a serving bowl and beat with a whisk till smooth. To the smoothened curd add salt and finely chopped cucumber pieces and mix well. Add some chopped coriander and mix again. Cucumber raita is ready to be garnished with roasted cumin powder seasoning. Prepare roasted cumin powder the following ways:

1.   Heat a pan and add cumin seeds. Dry roast the cumin seeds on low flame till the space is filled with nice aroma. Add broken red chilies to the cumin seeds and fry till the chilies are crisp. Powder these ingredients using a mortar and pestle.

2.   Take a paper plate and spread cumin seeds on it. Place the paper plate in microwave oven. Microwave these cumin seeds for 20 To 30 seconds. Stir with a spoon and add broken red chilies to it and again microwave on high power for 10 to 20 seconds. Powder these roasted ingredients in a mixer grinder.

Sprinkle the prepared cumin powder on the prepared raita and garnish with chopped coriander. Serve chilled.

Points to Remember:

Do not remove the peel of the cucumber. The peel provides fiber and all vitamins lie just beneath the peel. Remember to wash the cucumber thoroughly before chopping it into pieces.

Add the red chilies only after the cumin seeds are roasted otherwise the strong smell of the red chilies keeps you coughing all along.

The taste of the raita is due to the freshly roasted and ground cumin seeds. So roast cumin seeds freshly and use in this recipe to get good taste.

Serve chilled cucumber raita with stuffed parathas, vegetable pulao, vegetable biriyani, fried rice, etc..

It can be served even as a salad. This raita helps as a diet salad. Cucumber contains lot of water and fills the stomach without adding calories. So dieters can take a bowl full of this raita as salad before taking food.