Raïta...The Indian Fire Extinguisher!

A Cucumber And Fresh Mint Raita. Courtesy of 
 Wikipedia on Googl

Has it ever occurred  to you that the reason why people from India or Pakistan are good in mathematics and computer science is because of the food they have been eating generation after generation? Which means if we keep on eating Indian / Pakistani food morning, lunch and dinner for the rest of our lives our children may come out to be mathematics geniuses!!!.. Anyway I wouldn't mind eating it everyday. Coming back to our subject of fire extinguishing, the Raïta, is a flavored yogurt...


Yogurt is very good for the health especially for the walls of the human organ called "stomach". If you have 200 gr bowl of yogurt for dinner you will sleep like a baby! And does not mean that you have grown old or that's all your doctor allows you to eat. It means you are a healthy person looking after his health.
So people from India and Pakistan have introduced yogurt in their diet because it is healthy and because their food is generally spicy, and hot so the yogurt comes to "extinguish" the fires inside the digestive system. Much like the Greeks have the "Tzatziki" (my post of May 3rd 2011) which they eat with nearly everything.
My Home Made Tzatziki

There are many types of Raïta.
-  The simple raïta made of yogurt and fresh mint leaves like the one we had yesterday with out Chicken Tikka Kebab.
-  The cucumber raïta made of yogurt and little cubes of cucumber and fresh coriander (cilantro) or fresh mint.
-  The mixed spices raïta basically made from yogurt with slightly toasted cumin seeds, and / or any other slightly toasted crushed dry coriander seeds, green or black cardamom seeds anything your mind can imagine. 
-  There are other "Spicy Hot" raïta which I am not going to mention because we will be defeating our purpose here.
Raïta can be eaten with:
-  Curries.
-  Byrianis.
-  Tikkas.
-  Tandoori made food.
-  Vegetable and fish dishes.
-  As a dip.
-  In short: Everything.
A Raita will come to freshen your palate while and after Indian / Pakistani Food.
Thank you for your kind attention,
Cheers,
Stelio

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