Homemade Delights: Get Through The Summers With Refreshing Buttermilk Recipe

The perfect way to get through the scorching summers is by preparing buttermilk at home. Buttermilk recipes are often served alongside meals, as it helps to reduce the body temperature during the heat and provide a soothing effect. Also great for digestion, buttermilk recipes not only have a number of health benefits but also make for a great beverage. Essentially a curd or yoghurt-based drink, homemade buttermilk is ideally consumed after meals. There are a number of ways to prepare buttermilk at home. Whether you like your buttermilk recipe simple, or if you like the traditional buttermilk masala recipe, buttermilk recipes can be prepared with the most basic buttermilk ingredients and customised as per one’s preferences. Try out this easy and delicious homemade buttermilk recipe to get you through the heat of the summer.

What is buttermilk?

Widely popular across India, buttermilk or chaas is a curd-based drink. Traditionally chaas buttermilk was prepared from the leftovers, which were the byproducts of churning butter out of full cream milk. In recent times, since milk is mostly packaged and goes through processing, the cream from the milk mostly gets extracted before it is delivered to the households. As a result, chaas buttermilk is now prepared by thinning yoghurt. A cool and refreshing drink, which is also low in calories, chaas buttermilk is surely a summertime essential.

Benefits of buttermilk

Buttermilk is made out of yoghurt and essentially is packed with all the nutrients that milk has. Here are some of the health benefits of consuming homemade buttermilk that you should be aware of: 

1. Improves electrolyte balance- Chaas or buttermilk is high in potassium, as a result, it keeps the electrolytes in balance within the body, thus preventing problems that might occur due to profuse heat. 
2. Nutrient value- Buttermilk is high in its nutritional value, as it contains calcium, and vitamin B, along with protein content. 
3. Promotes gut health- Buttermilk has probiotic effects that aid the process of digestion, thus it is extremely good for gut health. 
4. Balancing blood pressure levels- It has been observed that consuming buttermilk regularly has helped balance blood pressure levels. Thus, for those suffering from high blood pressure, consuming buttermilk may prove to be beneficial.

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Check out this buttermilk masala recipe to prepare the perfect summer beverage at home

Ingredients to prepare masala chaas

You will be requiring the following ingredients to prepare buttermilk masala at home: 

1. ¾ cup curd
2. ¼ cup mint leaves
3. 1 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
4. 1 small green chilli
5. ½ to ¾ inch ginger
6. ¾ tsp roasted cumin powder
7. ½ tsp chaat masala
8. 1-2 tbsp lemon juice
9. ⅓ tsp black salt
10. ¼ tsp regular salt
11. 1 and ¾ cups of chilled water

Masala chaas recipe

Steps to prepare buttermilk masala using a blender:

1. If you are using a blender to prepare buttermilk masala at home, add curd, mint leaves, coriander leaves, green chilli, ginger, cumin powder and salt to a blender, as mentioned under the buttermilk ingredients, and blend until smooth. 
2. Once the buttermilk ingredients are well blended, add water and lemon juice.
3. Taste test and add more salt if required and adjust the spices as per your preference. 
4. Garnish with chaat masala, roasted cumin masala and coriander leaves before serving. 

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Steps to prepare masala chaas without a blender: 

1. If you prepare buttermilk masala without a blender, in that case, add ¾ cup of chilled curd, along with ¾ tsp of roasted cumin powder, ½ tsp chaat masala, salt, ¼ tsp black salt, ½ tsp crushed pepper, ¾ tsp mint leaves and ¾ tbsp coriander leaves, both finely chopped and 1-2 tbsp lemon juice as mentioned in the masala chaas ingredients. 
2. Whisk all the ingredients using a hand whisk.
3. Add 1 and ¾ cups of water, and continue whisking until the buttermilk masala turns frothy.
4. Taste test for salt and spice. Garnish with more chaat masala and coriander powder and serve chilled.

Pro tip: To store the best buttermilk recipe at room temperature, without a refrigerator, use cold water, ice and chilled curd to prepare the buttermilk masala recipe.