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Glite Dictionary
cucumber raita

cucumber raita

4.9
A cold yogurt side dish with chopped cucumber and spices
  • noun
  • /ˈkjuːkʌmbər ˈraɪtə/
  • UK
translation icon : raita de pepino
  • She prepared cucumber raita as a side for the chicken biryani.

Examples

  • Adding cucumber raita provided a refreshing contrast to the spicy dishes.

  • I love cucumber raita with my biryani.

  • The meal was served with a bowl of cucumber raita to cool the palate.

  • The restaurant serves delicious cucumber raita.

  • The chef served a refreshing bowl of cucumber raita alongside the spicy curry.

  • During the meal, we dipped our naan into the cucumber raita to cool down the heat.

  • She made a quick cucumber raita with yogurt, diced cucumbers, and a sprinkle of spices.

Synonyms

raita
vscucumber raita
1 8.1

A cold yogurt side dish with chopped cucumber and spices served with spicy food

is the specific version served with chopped cucumber and spices

Surface Forms

cucumber raita singular
cucumber raitas plural

Morphology

cucumber + raita

The phrase is directly compositional: 'raita' denotes a yogurt-based side dish and 'cucumber' specifies the main ingredient, so the combined meaning (a raita made with cucumber) follows straightforward modification. Food-naming patterns of ingredient + dish are cross-linguistically common and therefore readily understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituent words.

Etymology

Cucumber raita comes from Indian homes where raita means a yogurt mix and cooks add chopped cucumber for a fresh, cool side. That's why the name simply describes a yogurt 'raita' with cucumber and the dish is used to 'cool' spicy food.