A Hint of Spice

Chaach is Indian skimmed buttermilk with live-culture.The milk is boiled, cooled down to warm, fermented to make Dahi (Yogurt). The Dahi (Yogurt) is churned in the cool morning hours. The Makhan (White butter) would float that is skimmed off. After the butter has been removed, the remainder is called Chaach. Chaach is low in fat (since the butter was removed), with live culture, and most of the lactose was changed into the lactic acid.
                       American Buttermilk is different from the one I described above since buttermilk has evolved overtime from olden thin skimmed cultured beverage to modern thick cultured buttermilk that may not be skimmed.In the olden days, the cream was skimmed off the raw milk. The cream was collected for a few days. During this time the cream became sour from the natural good bacteria present in the raw milk. The cream was then churned to separate Butter which was skimmed off leaving behind the fluid called as buttermilk. The buttermilk had live-culture, skimmed, and thin.The modern buttermilk is a form of clabbered milk. Culture is added to pasteurized milk. The milk may be skimmed, 1%, 2%,or regular milk. The fermented milk is thick like clabbered milk (not thin like the old buttermilk made by separating butter from cream) with live culture. The modern buttermilk is thick, has tart taste due to culture. The buttermilk may be may also be pasteurized so the culture is not alive.

            Well,I am glad we are over the science and explanation part of what Chaach or buttermilk is,so I can tell about how good Masala Chaach feels on a hot humid day.Indian summers ,as many of you know are very very hot and the only thing that helps is keeping hydrated through refreshing cool drinks.

Ingredients
1 cup of fresh curd (dahi)
1 glass of water (Will require 1 1/2 glass if not using ice)
Ice cubes (optional )
A tiny piece of ginger (less than 1/2 inch piece, use lesser if you do not like strong flavor)
3-4 sprigs of mint(pudina)
3-4 sprigs of coriander
1/2 tsp of Cumin seeds
1-2 pepper corns
Rock salt (or normal salt) as per taste
Chaat masala (optional)

Directions
1.Blend all the ingredients except yogurt together with a little water and then add yogurt and give it a final spin.
2.Serve with some more ice(optional), garnish with some rock salt/ chaat masala/ black pepper powder etc.
'njoy!!!

Shrikhand is an Indian Sweet Dish made from strained yogurt.It is one of the famous desserts of Gujrati and Maharashtrian cuisine.This is a milk product and it takes some time to strain the water out of the yogurt,BUT it's worth the wait.The traditional way to make Shrikhand is to tie the yogurt in a piece of linen so that the liquid(whey) drains out and the yogurt becomes thick and creamy.Then sugar,cardamom powder,almonds,pistachios are added.The Shrikhand tastes best when it is served chilled.Now I am getting nostalgic....as kids,me and my little brother used to demand mom to make shrikhand and then we would keep a sharp eye on her,so that we are not cheated out of our rightful amount of this delectable dish.Then to top it off,we would take our own merry time enjoying every spoonful and our Dad having quickly finished his share would be left seeing us and waiting for seconds.Ha ha ha what a time.
The recipe I am sharing here is an easier(read quicker) way to make Shrikhand.
Ingredients
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar (adjust the quantity according to your taste)
3 tblsp greek yogurt or 1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
pinch of saffron
1 tblsp lukewarm milk
2 tblsp Mango pulp(optional-If you want to make mango shrikhand)
Almonds,Pistachios,Cashewnut pieces for garnish

Directions
1.Mix Saffron in lukewarm milk.
2.Mix Sour cream,sugar and yogurt and leave them for 15 minutes at room temperature so that the sugar dissolves.
3.Pass the sour cream-sugar-yogurt mix through a sieve so that you get a creamier texture.
4.Add cardamom powder and mango pulp.
5.Add saffron (mixed with lukewarm milk) to give the shrikhand a nice color.
6.Add the almonds,pistachios and cashewnuts and refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
7.Serve chilled
'njoy!!!
Sending this to Akheela from Torview for her Supercool Cold Desserts Event.

                        Although its not officialy summer yet,its really hot here in Charlotte.Some people may say the heat is nothing compared to Indian Summers ,but believe me you really need something to cool yourself.We prefer Shakes,Smoothies and Lemonade any day over carbonated drinks.You have so many options for Shakes etc......that if you have all the ingredients,you don't have to repeat any for a week(unless you have a favorite).
     The Banana Milkshake is such a simple recipe,but really yummy and you can have so many variations.This is one way to sneak milk and fruits at the same time into kids.If you have a young(or old) picky eater,believe me you can sneak so many calories in these shakes and no one is wiser.If you are watching calories,again you have variations you can follow.
3 tsps sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Blender
Tall Glasses

DIRECTIONS
1.Place the Banana pieces,2-3 tblsp of milk,sugar and Vanilla essence in the blender.Cover and blend the shake until smooth and there are no banana pieces left.
2.Add the remaining milk and ice cubes and blend it once more for a minute,till the Shake has uniform consistency and is smooth.
3.Pour the Shake into glasses and serve.
'njoy!!!

With Ice Cream

INGREDIENTS
1 Banana
1 Cup Milk
3 Scoops Vanilla Icecream
1 Tsp Sugar
4-5 ice cubes
Blender
Tall Glasses

DIRECTIONS
1.Place the Banana Pieces,1-2 tblsp Milk,Sugar and Ice cream in the Blender.(You can increase or decrease the amount of Icecream to change the consistency of Shake and according to your Taste.)
2.Blend for 45 seconds until the shake is smooth.
3.Add the ice cubes and remaining milk and blend till it has uniform consistency.
4.Serve Chilled.
'njoy!!

VARIATIONS
1.For a Picky Eater or an Underweight Person:-Along with Icecream,you can add 1 tblsp of whipping cream for every glass of milkshake.Also instead of sugar you can add 1 tblsp of honey.There are times when dietician's suggest protein powder or whey powder being added to our meals.This is the best way to mask the taste of these powders.One more way to make it a fattening milkshake is to use Whole milk instead of 2% milk or 1% Milk.All these tips ,I am giving from personal experience.My son was underweight and his dietician had given me all these tips for him to gain weight.
2.Plain Yogurt and Lemon Juice add an extra tang to the Milkshake.For this variation,replace 1/4 cup of milk with 2-3 tblsp of plain yogurt.
3.Instead of Plain yogurt you can also add Vanilla Yogurt.
4.Give the shake tropical twist with Pineapple,Mangoes and Coconut.Just add the fruit pieces with Banana pieces and for coconut you can add 1-1 1/2 tblsp coconut cream.Add the coconut cream at last and then just blend for 30-40 seconds.It's important not to blend the coconut cream for more time otherwise,the coconut cream will start leaving oil.That's ickky taste.
5.You can also add strawberries to give it a classical strawberry-banana taste.             

5.Fry for a minute.
7.Cook until oil separates.
9.Allow it to heat through.
'njoy!!