My crunchy cucumber and tomato raita

Ingredients:2 cups full fat natural yoghurt - try not to use greek as it tends to get watery after a while1/2 a peeled fresh cucumber chopped into medium chunky size pieces - add this at the end before serving as the water from the cucumber can liquify the yoghurta handful of quartered cherry tomatoes - I prefer to use these as they are sweeter than regular tomatoes  - keep them chunky2 finely chopped spring onions1 de-seeded and finely chopped green chillia handful of finely chopped coriander leaves5-6 finely chopped large mint leaves1 tsp each of dry roasted ground coriander and cumin seeds1/2 tsp of red chilli powdera drop or two of ginger/garlic paste - and I mean just a drop or two, this is meant to give a hint of the flavour and not a pungent over-powering flavour1/2 tsp of chat masala - you can buy this in any Pakistani/Indian shops1 tsp bottled mint sauce - this adds a delicious very minty flavour, adds to the fresh mint in an interesting waysalt to taste1-2 tbsp boondi (optional) - If you can find 'boondi' in an Indian shop, throw  it when you add the vegetables - adds a great crunch!Serves about 2-3 people and takes under 20 minutes to prepare

You would be hard pressed to find any biryani, pullao or spicy meat  BBQ dish served without raita as a accompaniment in Pakistan. There are so many sub-continental versions of raita  but what they have in common is that they are made with cool fresh yoghurt and seasoned with coriander or mint, chilli, with the addition of various vegetables or fruits, and as in India, with fried tiny balls of gram flour ('boondi'),  to give it an added crunch (which I adore!) It is never meant to be extremely spicy because the purpose of raita is to ease the heat off the accompanying main course. When I think of raita, I think either the minty green variety that was always served at the famous BBQ Tonite Grill in Karachi, always eaten with the mouth-watering array of grilled kebabs and other sizzling meats together with hot, steaming soft naan breads... or the pale while yoghurt with bursts of colourful tomato served at, the Sind Club, the very prestigious colonial member's club; which is an institution in Karachi. I can just imagine the 'goras' in the time of the Raj literally drinking this down to ease the heat of both the climate and the curries......and to imagine that today curry is the national dish of Britain! We've all come a long way!Both versions of raita mentioned above have inspired me to create my version below. You can serve this with pretty much anything - I do not hesitate to eat this on it's own  and because it's so chunky and thick you can! Very different from the watery raita that is usually used as a dip with poppadoms in Indian restaurants in the UK!....which by the way is a real no-no in the sub-continent!Method:1. Whisk the yoghurt in a bowl and to it add the chaat masala, chilli powder, crushed cumin and coriander seeds and salt (leave a pinch of chat masala and chilli for decoration). Now add couple of drops of ginger/garlic paste.2. Add the mint sauce, fresh mint, coriander, green chilli and spring onions.3. Just before serving add the vegetables and reserve some to top the dish off with (add the boondi now if using), now sprinkle a pinch of  chaat masala and chilli powder to give it some colour - sprinkle if a few coriander leaves and mint. Serve with biryani, any of my pullaos and grilled kebabs (coming soon!)