Chaas Recipe: Spiced Buttermilk with Jeera, Pudina and Hing (Video)

Transcript

Spiced Buttermilk Chaas

A cool, tangy sip that settles after a big lunch, and it’s ready in ten minutes.

Simple Wisdom

The old kitchen rule goes like this: a little yogurt, plenty of water, and always a dash of hing. That’s the whole recipe many of us heard growing up, and it still holds true.

Chaas is thin on purpose

Lassi and chaas are cousins, not twins. Lassi is thick, often sweet, and can be a meal on its own. Chaas, called mattha in the north and majjige in the south, is deliberately watery, salty and spiced. You drink it after a meal, not instead of one. The key is the ratio, about one part yogurt to two or three parts water. Go thicker and you end up with a salty lassi, which feels heavy after rice and dal.

Getting the dahi right

Choose yogurt that was set in the last day or two. It should be mildly tangy, firm and smell clean and milky. Very sour dahi that’s been left out in the May heat makes a harsh drink that catches in the throat. Homemade full-fat or toned milk both work, and plain, unsweetened store-bought yogurt without added starch or gelatin is easiest to whisk. Throw it out if you see pink or grey spots, fuzzy growth, a bulging lid, or a yeasty, bitter smell.

The recipe

This makes about three glasses, roughly 750 ml, in ten minutes. If you don’t want to heat anything, skip the tadka and dissolve a pinch of raw hing in a spoonful of water, that gives a sharper bite some people prefer. The ingredients are 250 g of cold plain dahi, 500 ml of chilled water, a handful of fresh mint leaves, a one-centimeter piece of peeled ginger, cumin seeds, and a tiny amount of hing.

After-lunch glass

In most homes chaas arrives after the plate is cleared, around one to two in the afternoon, one glass of about two hundred to two hundred fifty milliliters. That timing isn’t accidental. A thin, salty, spiced drink at the end of a meal of roti, rice, dal and sabzi feels settling to many people, and the cumin, ginger and hing are the same spices families already use in the food. Drink it slowly, gulping cold chaas straight after eating can be uncomfortable for some.

In the old books

Ayurvedic texts give buttermilk, or takra, a high place. It’s described as light, sour and astringent, and traditionally recommended after meals, matching what grandmothers have done for generations. Some verses, however, advise avoiding takra during the hottest part of summer, for very weak people, or when there’s a wound or burn, because it was thought to carry a heating quality despite feeling cool.

Myths worth letting go

Chaas isn’t the same as a probiotic supplement. Homemade dahi does contain live cultures, but diluting and salting it makes something quite different from a measured supplement. Enjoy it as food, not medicine for any stomach condition. It’s low in calories compared with lassi or a soft drink, which is a genuine reason to choose it, but it doesn’t melt fat after a heavy meal. And while more hing might sound better, too much makes chaas taste medicinal and can cause heartburn.

Worth knowing first

This recipe carries about half a teaspoon of black salt across three glasses, plus whatever you add yourself. If you’ve been told to limit salt for blood pressure, heart or kidney reasons, use half the salt and add more mint and lemon. Most powdered hing is mixed with wheat flour, so people with coeliac disease need a certified gluten-free hing or none at all. For pregnancy, chaas made with pasteurised milk is an ordinary food, but keep hing to the usual kitchen pinch, as larger amounts have traditionally been avoided.

Keeping it fresh

Chaas is best enjoyed within an hour of making it. It will keep for up to twenty-four hours covered in the fridge, but the mint turns dark and the drink grows sourer, so give it a quick whisk before serving. A few family variations include a quarter teaspoon of roasted fennel powder for a sweeter, more fragrant finish, or a pinch of crushed black pepper for bite. In Gujarat you’ll often find just curry leaves and grated ginger, no mint at all.

Enjoy responsibly

For the full story, visit thecareonline.com. Remember, this is food talk, not medical advice.