Masala Buttermilk

I know, I know... my blog posts have become as unpredictable as the Indian election results, which almost all exit polls got wrong. Guilty as charged! But the reason is a pleasant one. I've started working full time now, so that leaves me with very little time for blogging, although I have loads of recipes and pictures sitting all ready in my drafts folder.

Mom-in-law has been churning out some lovely delicacies, and I'm not able to blog as fast as she cooks them. I also visited my hometown Mangalore, a fortnight back and got back a bunch of recipes for authentic Mangalorean fish curries and pork. I pestered mummy to make some 5 dishes a day, so I could click pictures for the blog and she, being the nicest mom in the world willingly obliged! Love you mummy :)

So, yeah, slow I might be, but I promise that you will enjoy most of the recipes I put up here, mainly because these are recipes from two people I admire the most, my mother and mother in law, who are amazing cooks.

I had promised you a few yogurt recipes earlier. One of my readers had emailed me for the recipe for Masala Buttermilk. Since this was a request, I thought I'll address it first. Buttermilk is the liquid that is left over after extracting butter from churning yogurt. It is pretty popular in the South and is usually had as an after lunch drink, to aid digestion. This is the authentic way of making buttermilk. An easier alternative to the above method is to use homemade or store bought curd and dilute it with water. Use a proportion of about 1:5 curd-water ratio or customize it per your taste. You can even buy plain buttermilk from the store to make Masala buttermilk.

The recipe is my variation of it, which imbibes a few ingredients from North Indian cooking, but most others from the South. Try it out

Ingredients
Chilled Buttermilk : 5 cups - Store bought or made in any of the methods described
Ginger: finely chopped, 2 tsp
Cilantro/Coriander leaves: 3 tsp
Black Salt: 1/2 tsp
Green chillies: chopped, 2-3 depending on preference
Salt: to taste

Optional Step:
Tempering with 1/2 tsp mustard and 4 curry leaves in a little bit of oil

Method

1) Keep all the ingredients required to make the recipe cut and ready
2) In a vessel, take chilled buttermilk and add all the ingredients to it
3)As an optional step, temper with mustard and curry leaves
4)Serve chilled. No need to strain. The actual pleasure is to see all those floating cilantro and curry leaves in the glass and drinking it avoiding the leaves, in a single swig.

Note:
You can make a large batch of this and consume it as a healthy replacement to soft drinks and colas. Is particularly refreshing in the hot summer months.