Welcome aboard!

Indian cuisine is a riot of colours, flavours, and spices. Every state has its own unique culture- ingrained taste bud. And, to many of us staying within familiar tastes is a sacrosanct act. Of course an occasional trip to a speciality restaurant that serves another fare is ok. But, as a matter of routine ...at home...NO!

One of the benefits of being born to parents who dared an interstate marriage (am talking about India of the 70's) was being able to widen a regional taste bud to accept, experiment and, relish eclectic cuisines :-)

I love food! Be it traditional or fusion, cooking is all about turning out fare that is tasty and healthy.I welcome all lovers of good food to come on aboard and share your kitchen adventures.

If you like what you see, do leave a comment. If you don't, please leave a suggestion to help me make this better.

You can also request for any recipe you want. Just leave a note in a comment box.

Happy cooking!

Dershana

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Sambharam (flavoured and spiced up buttermilk)

Four and a half months into food blogging and 100th post, so guess I should be celebrating. But, feeling disinclined to cook, eat, or blog the past few days. Missed out on a whole lot of events I'd bookmarked because of this. So, this time I decided to post a simple 'sambharam' (flavoured and spiced up buttermilk) recipe. Sambharam is very popular in Kerala and before the onslaught of the fizzy drinks, it was this nourishing drink that was the most sought after and the most consumed thirst quencher. Unlike its upstart artificially flavoured, areated counterparts, the sambharam offers only health benefts and zero side effects.


Low fat plain yoghurt - 50 ml
Water - 200 ml
Green chilli - 1
Coriander leaves (cilantro) - 2 sprigs
Curry leaves - 3-4 leaves
Ginger - 1/4 teaspoon (grated)
Small onions (shallots/scallions) - 2 Nos
Asafoetida (hing/perunkayam) - a pinch
Salt to taste
Freshly squeezed lime - 1/2 teaspoon
Optionals
Roasted and powdered cumin (jeera) - a pinch
Roasted and powdered Fenugreek seeds - a pinch
Fresh lemon tree leaves - a couple

Traditionally, buttermilk was made by whisking yoghurt long enough for the cream to seperate and come up. This was then skimmed out. So buttermilk in reality was yoghurt with the butter content removed. But a simpler method is to whisk the curd lightly to make smooth and add water to thin it.

Crush all ingredients apart from the yoghurt and water in mixer bowl/blender. Whisk the yoghurt and add in the water and the crushed spices. Add salt to taste and the freshly squeezed lime.

Excellant in beating heat, dehydration, and aiding digestion.

My friend Vidhya of My Receipes (iyercooks) has passed me this award. Thanks a bunch Vidhya.

Will pass this on soon.
 
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