Roasted Garlic & Cucumber Raita

For those who don’t know, raita is a very versatile Indian yogurt dip/sauce. A dollop on top of spicy hot dishes cools them right off. Naan dipped in raita makes delicious naan even better. I say versatile because raita basically is a blank canvas that can be modified in a million different ways. You start with plain yogurt and go from there. Herbs and spices, vegetables, even fruits, can be used to make unique raita! For those looking for a maybe more familiar comparison, cucumber-based raita is popular and very similar to Greek tzatziki. That’s what I was going for today for this recipe and then was inspired by this delicious-looking recipe too!

Roasted Garlic & Cucumber Raita

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups plain yogurt
• 1 whole head of garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 large pickling cucumbers
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt – divided
• 10 turns of pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, slice the top off of the head of garlic (so tips of individual cloves are exposed).
2. Drizzle the oil over the exposed parts of the garlic head. Wrap the garlic head in aluminum foil and place in the oven on a middle rack. Enjoy the amazing smell of roasting garlic.
3. Roast for 45 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, prepare the cucumbers. I spiralized about half of the cucumbers and grated the other half, because I like different textures.
5. Set the cucumbers in a colander and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp of salt. This will draw water out of the cucumbers. Allow them to sit there for at least 20 minutes. You can squeeze them too to get even more of the water out.
6. Remove the garlic from the oven when it’s done and allow the garlic to cool until you can handle it.
7. Pull apart the individual cloves and squeeze the garlic out of its skin into a small bowl. After you’ve squeezed all of the cloves out, then use the back of a fork to mash the more intact cloves up.
8. Add the garlic, cucumbers, the rest of the salt, and pepper to the yogurt. Mix everything together.
9. Serve with Indian food, on a wrap, as a dip for crudites or pita chips, or whatever you want!