Raita, the Yogurt Dish that Escapes Categorization

Food entrepreneur Rinku Dutt has fond memories growing up in the U.K., when her father cooked elaborate meals on the weekends. “Hours of labor went into his kosha mangsho and biryani. It didn’t matter what he was cooking and when, but raita always featured,” she said. Her father’s preferred version of the yogurt dish included cucumber and mint. For a while, Dutt thought that was all there was to raita. “Until I started traveling in India, I didn’t even realize there were so many other versions,” she confessed.

While cucumber, mint, and yogurt are the holy trinity in the most popular raitas, variations add everything from tomatoes, onions, and beets to eggs, bananas, mangoes, pomegranates, and avocados. Some say it’s a dip, while others describe it as a salad, sauce, or condiment. And though its origins may be murky, its place on dining tables is undisputed.