A little praise cheers a dish (5)

I believe the answer is:

raita

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'dish' is the definition.
(Indian dish)

'a little praise cheers a' is the wordplay.
'a little praise cheers' becomes 'rait' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'rait'+'a'='RAITA'

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(Other definitions for raita that I've seen before include "dish in the curry house" , "Indian side-dish of cucumber and yoghurt" , "dish in Indian restaurant" , "cooling dish" , "condiment from India" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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