Raita is a side dish in Indian cuisine made of dahi (yogurt, often referred to as curd) together with raw or cooked vegetables, fruit, or in the case of boondi raita, with fried droplets of batter made from besan (chickpea flour, generally labeled as gram flour).

It is often referred to as a condiment, but unlike common Western condiments such as pepper, mustard, and horseradish that make dishes more spicy, a dish of dahi or raita has a cooling effect to contrast with spicy curries and kebabs that are the main fare of some Asian cuisines.

The yogurt may be seasoned with coriander, roasted cumin seeds, mint, cayenne pepper, chaat masala and other herbs and spices.

[4][5] Raita is also sometimes simply called dahi, or "sourmilk", after its main ingredient, particularly in South African Indian cuisine.

This tempering is then mixed with minced, raw vegetables or fruits (such as Cucumber, Onion, Carrot, Beetroot, Tomato, Pineapple, Pomegranate) with yogurt.