Buttermilk is the liquid remaining after making butter. There are two ways to make butter. One is using homemade malai (fresh milk cream) and the other is using full-fat dahi (homemade yogurt).
When butter is made from homemade fresh milk cream, it entails skimming off the cream layer from the boiled milk and preparing butter from it. As a limited quantity of milk is purchased each day for consumption at home, this requires collecting the skimmed-off cream layer from the cold, boiled milk every day until you have enough to make butter and buttermilk.
The other method is the traditional one in which homemade yogurt is used to make butter, and the liquid remaining after removing butter is buttermilk. Since this is a real buttermilk recipe we will be using dahi to make it.
Buttermilk can be used to make Kadhi or can be drunk as chaas by stirring in some roasted cumin seed powder, sendha namak/rock salt, and black pepper powder to make a refreshing summer beverage that is very cooling. Butter milk is also used in cooking and baking.
Please note that only raw unpasteurized milk should be used to make dahi or yogurt at home if you wish to make buttermilk. Milk is a complete food. To learn about the various health benefits of milk please read my article.
Boil the milk and let it cool down till it remains just a wee bit hot.
Add the jamun, the yogurt starter, to the milk & stir it in. Cover the milk and let it sit undisturbed overnight for the milk to set into dahi.
Next morning whisk the dahi with a hand mixer or blender for a couple of minutes.
Now add some chilled water and whisk till the butter separates out, about 5 minutes.
Add some ice cubes and stir till the butter firms up a bit.
Remove the butter and strain out the remaining liquid.
Buttermilk is ready. Refrigerate it and use as needed within two days.
Do you use Buttermilk as a food item?
Nice to hear that Audrey. Thank you for visiting.
Verlie, thank you. I'm glad you have the buttermilk recipe with you now in case you need it. Appreciate you coming by.
9 months ago from Idyllwild Ca.
My father was a buttermilk drinker and so am I. Thanks for the recipe.
Rajan, your video is so well done, and enjoyable to watch. The sound is really good. I used to make yogurt by the gallon, but I didn't know about the buttermilk recipe. Thanks!
Great! You're in my friend!
That was a long hiatus from Hubpages. All's well thank you. I so much appreciate your reading my articles. Taken a different track this time though. Hope you will like going through Indian recipes for a change.
Here in India we get both raw & pasteurized milk easily so making buttermilk at home is never a problem.
That is wonderful. Thanks you for stopping by Peggy.
Fascinating. I have never tried to make buttermilk but sometimes we do see raw milk in the store. I enjoy buttermilk but haven't seen it here and only rarely saw it in the UK. In the States, it was widely available.
It's good to know I can make it at home.
I love buttermilk...drinking it, using it in recipes, etc. It has such a nice tangy taste.