How to make a cooling buttermilk
Buttermilk, thinned and spiced, is what many Indian kitchens reach for when the days turn hot. At the Isha Yoga Center the summer version is made with raw mango, pounded fresh. Here is how.
Spiced buttermilk, or chaas, is lighter than a lassi, more drink than dessert. The version served at the Isha Yoga Center in summer is made with raw mango, the masala pounded by hand to keep it fresh and rustic.
What you'll need
2 parts fresh, plain curd.
4 parts water.
1 raw mango, finely chopped.
A handful of fresh coriander.
A small piece of ginger.
1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera).
1 dry red chilli.
Salt, to taste.
Method
1. First make the buttermilk: whisk the curd and water together and blend vigorously until thin and smooth, lifting off any butter that gathers on top. That is all buttermilk is, fresh curd thinned and churned with the butter taken off.
2. In a mortar and pestle, pound the raw mango, coriander, ginger, cumin seeds and dry red chilli into a smooth, fragrant paste. A blender works, but the mortar and pestle keeps the flavours rustic and fresh.
3. Stir the masala paste through the buttermilk, and add salt to taste.
4. Mix well and serve cold.
Good to know
Sadhguru suggests making your own curd where you can: fresh, naturally set curd is preferred to factory yogurt, which can lack life. Buttermilk is held to be good for the stomach, though more an occasional drink than an everyday one, so enjoy it now and then.
The cumin and coriander are cooling too, and the buttermilk carries its own water, a gentle way to keep your fluids up when it is hot. Out of mango season, leave the raw mango out for a plainer spiced buttermilk. Make a jug on a warm day and notice how it sits with you, against a cold drink from the fridge.