Indian Vegetable & Yogurt Salad: Raita

"Raita" (pronounced as if, "rite-ah") is a common refreshing salad side dish in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is often served to "cool" the palate and stomach after spicy dishes have been eaten. The main ingredient in a raita recipe is yogurt, with various vegetables or fruits, plus often some herbs, spices or other seasonings like onion and garlic added. This recipe below is a vegetable raita, but there are a multitude of variations in the Indian Subcontinent. 

Ingredients:

1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup seedless cucumber, chopped
2 green onions, chopped (including green)
1 tablespoon carrot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon coriander leaves

Stir the yogurt well so that it is smooth and not clumped together. Typically, the cucumber is peeled, but I leave a couple of little strips of the peel on, but I wash the cucumber well before doing so. Put all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Chill the raita before serving.

WORD HISTORY:
Bangladesh (Bengal)-This name for the country founded in 1971 from then East Pakistan literally means "Land of Bengal." It is a compound, with the origins of the "bangla" part "perhaps" being from the name of an ancient god, and in Bengali "bang(a)la," and meant, "Bengal," the region.^ The "desh" part goes back to Indo-Iranian and Sanskrit ^^ "desha," which meant, "part, land, region, nation."

^ Bengali is a language from the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo European languages; as such, it is related to English, German, Dutch and others from the Germanic branch of Indo European.

^^  Sanskrit is an ancient language from the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo European. It is still in use to some degree, especially in India.