Tag Archives: buttermilk

Cold Spiced Buttermilk Drink with Cucumber

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Spiced, salted buttermilk drink, also called mor, sambaram, majjige or chaas, is a popular thirst quencher in India. At its humblest form, this drink can simply be buttermilk served with a pinch of salt. I’ve added a little twist by using some refreshing, crunchy bits of cucumber in this recipe. With all the ginger, cumin and asafoetida in this drink, its also a great digestive.

If you dont have buttermilk, you could use 1 part yogurt and 1 part water. Or just thin out yogurt to your liking.

Similar spiced buttermilk recipes:

Sambharam, majjige or mor recipe on Edible Garden
Spiced buttermilk recipe on Vegetable Platter
Majjiga or salted yogurt drink recipe on Sailu’s Kitchen
Spicy buttermilk on Aayis Recipes

Spiced Buttermilk Drink with Cucumber (chaas, mor, moru, majjige, sambaram) Recipe

serves about 2

2 cups buttermilk (or 1 cup yogurt diluted with 1 cup water)
1/8th teaspoon cumin  seeds
4-6 curry leaves
1 teaspoon sized knob of ginger, peeled
1 small green chilli or according to taste, optional
2 sprigs of cilantro
a pinch of asafoetida
salt

2 tablespoons finely chopped cucumber

Pour the buttermilk into a bowl and set aside. In a mortar and pestle, roughly pound the cumin seeds, curry leaf, ginger, chilli, cilantro and asafoetida. Add the pounded spices to the buttermilk and add salt. Stir well. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour so the flavors marry. Strain before serving and garnish with chopped cucumbers.

Raspberry Buttermilk Sherbet

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I’m in possession of a brand new Cuisinart ice cream maker. And this fruity, tart, not too heavy and gorgeous pink sherbet is exactly the sort of frozen treat I wanted to make to  inaugurate my ice cream maker. This food network recipe is super simple and easy – only 5 ingredients!

The original sherbet recipe uses some cracked black pepperon top of the sherbet. I left this out.

This is the ice cream maker I bought:

For the price, its fantastic

Difference between sherbet and sorbet

- Sorbets never have dairy. They only contain fruit puree, sugar, water and flavorings.

- Sherbets always contain some dairy. Besides the fruit puree and sugar, sherbets will have cream, milk or buttermilk in this case.

In the UK however, a sherbet is a fizzy drink! Its the same in India where I come from; some cold drinks are called ‘sarbath’.

There is always a pile of dishes to do in my kitchen, thanks to my food blogging tendencies. But my trusty human dish washer always helps…and then he is rewarded with sherbet ;)

Notes

- Pretty much any fruit will work in this recipe – peaches, mangoes, all berries

- Make sure the sugar is superfine. If not, it will not dissolved in the liquids properly. You could put granulated sugar in a food processor to make it finer

To make frozen treats like ice cream, sorbet and sherbet without an ice cream maker:

Place the ice cream mixture in an airtight container. Freeze till it has become solid. Then remove from freezer, break it up, and put the icecream in a blender. Blend till smooth. Return ice cream to the freezer. Once it has frozen again, repeat this process once more (blend again and freeze again).

Raspberry Buttermilk Sherbet Recipe

Adapted from this Food network recipe
serves 4-6

6 cups raspberries
1/4 cup 100% grape or apple juice
1 cup superfine sugar
1 1/2 cups whole buttermilk
1/4 cup heavy cream
pinch of salt

In a blender, puree the raspberries, fruit juice and sugar. Pass through a strainer (with a bowl below), reserving the liquid and discarding the solids that remain in the strainer.  Stir in buttermilk, cream and salt.  Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

Then process the mixture in an ice cream maker according manufacturers instructions. Then scoop the churned sherbet into an airtight container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving. Thaw the sherbet for about 5 minutes before serving.

See notes above on how to make this recipe without an ice cream maker.

Mor Kuzhambu or South Indian Yogurt Coconut Curry

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Mor kuzhambu or moor kulambu, however you spell it, is a satisfying south Indian dish made with yogurt and fresh coconut. Mor is buttermilk in Tamil and kulambu is gravy or curry. I use yogurt to make this dish (instead of buttermilk) because it makes the gravy thicker. Peppercorns are wonderful in this dish. You don’t actually eat them, but they impart great flavor. These peppercorns are from my dear friend and fellow food blogger, Nandini’s plantation in India.

Tips

- Use freshly grated coconut or fresh-frozen coconut. Please, none of the dried or dessicated stuff!
- For a lighter version of this dish, use buttermilk instead of yogurt
- Do not let the curry boil once you’ve added the yogurt. Use low heat and stir constantly to prevent boiling
- Remember to only gently re-heat this dish
- Serve mor kuzhambu with steamed rice or curry leaf rice. See this post for my curry leaf rice recipe

A note on what vegetables to use for Mor Kolambu
You can use any vegetable you like, here are some favorites and suggestions*

- Long squash(sorakkai or lauki). Peel the skin, scoop out the seeds and cut into cubes. (This is what I used in this recipe)
- Winter melon(ash gourd, neer poosanikkai or petha). Peel skin, scoop out seeds and membrane and cut into cubes
- Ripe mango. Peel skin, remove pit and cut into cubes
- Corn on the cob. My favorite. Remove husk and cut the whole corn into 1 inch rounds. Will need more water to cook
- Orka(vendakkai or bhindi). Cut into pieces. Make sure you saute okra in oil till it is no longer slimy

Mor Kuzhambu or South Indian Yogurt Coconut Curry Recipe

serves about 6

Grind to a paste
3/4 cup fresh grated coconut
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 green chillies (use more or less according to taste)
1/2 cup water

For the gravy
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
a pinch of asafoetida
a few curry leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 cups of cubed vegetable (see suggestions in the post above)*
water
salt
a 32 oz tub of plain yogurt
Cilantro for garnishing

Place the ingredients for grinding in a blender and grind into a smooth paste. Set aside.

In a deep pot, heat oil, and add mustard seeds and peppercorns. When the mustard starts to pop and splutter, add the asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric, and cubed vegetable (see note in the post above for what vegetables to use). Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Then pour about 1 cup water, cover and simmer till the vegetable is cooked; about 7 minutes.

Add the ground coconut mixture, and cook on medium-high for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Beat the yogurt with a spoon or whisk and add it to the coconut-vegetable mixture. Stir gently and constantly on low heat for about 2 minutes. Do not let the gravy boil once you’ve added the yogurt. Add more water if the kuzhambu is too thick. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with white rice or curry leaf rice.

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