Cucumber raita

Cooling Cucumber raita/vellarikka pachadi is a great dish for summer. This raita goes well with sambar rice.

Ingredients:

• 1 Medium size cucumber
• 1 cup Curd
• 1 tsp Coriander leaves (finely chopped)
• As per taste salt
• A pinch Sugar

For Seasoning:

• 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp Oil

Method:

1) Wash the cucumber and peel the skin. Trim the edges and remove the seeds.

2) Grate the cucumber and keep aside.

3) Add salt and sugar to curd and beat it with the a whipper.

4) Add grated cucumber, coriander leaves and mustard seeds to the curd. Mix them well.

Variation:

1)  You can add a pinch of red chilli powder and Jeera powder to curd. Then add grated cucumber to curd. Seasoning is not needed for this raita. This type of raita  goes well with rotis and parathas.

2) Also instead of grating, you can chop the cucumber into cubes and add.

3) Another variation is grinding 2 tbsp of grated coconut, 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves, 1 green chili and a small piece of ginger (skin peeled). Add this ground paste to curd along with grated cucumber.