Saunth/Soonth Chaas ( Dry Ginger Buttermilk )

Quite unexpectedly, I ran out of ginger yesterday. Had become addicted to adding it to my buttermilk. So, I thought of experimenting with its closest substitute, dry ginger. It is quite difficult to powder this ingredient. I dry roasted a bit of it on a tawa and then transferred it to the masala grinding jar of my mixie. When it did not get powdered completely, I just passed the coarse powder through a sieve and used the fine portion for adding to the buttermilk. The taste was different from the usual ginger flavored buttermilk but it was quite nice and I ended up with a new variant.

Read on for the recipe-

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -

• 1/2 glass yogurt
• 1 1/2 glass water
• 1/2 tsp dry ginger powder
• salt to taste

Preparation - Take all the ingredients in a blender. Buzz for a minute.

(Add some ice cubes to the blender jar. This will not only chill the drink but all the fat will also float to the top and can be easily removed.)

Pour into glasses and serve.

Neer Mor / Spiced Buttermilk / Masala Chaas (Detox Monday Recipe)

(A Big Sorry for being late by a whole day!!!!)

Surprised. How can buttermilk be classified as detox food ???? It is just another dairy product.

But that's the magic of this humdrum ingredient (Don't they say the most common/easy solutions are often the most overlooked ones) . Even though it is derived from milk, it is strong cleansing properties. Much revered in Ayurveda, buttermilk has more of lactic acid than milk and hence it is loaded with gastrointestinal benefits. With the digestion process improving, the excretion or throwing out of toxins from the body is increased. A glass of buttermilk with 1-2 teaspoons of coriander juice serves as a very good detox drink.

Now that you know where to search when looking for a quick detox, making some buttermilk is quite easy. Just add a cup of yogurt with 3 cups of water in your blender and buzz away for a few minutes. Voila....homemade buttermilk is ready. Most Indian homes use a hand churner for making buttermilk. It is a long steel/wooden rod with circular blades at the bottom. But a blender will do as well. (In fact we can make it using our hands too but it takes long time)

Read on for the recipe:

Preparation Time - 10 mins

Ingredients -


2 glass buttermilk
1/2 tsp finely chopped coriander
1/4 tsp finely chopped curry leaves
1/5 of grated ginger
1/4 tsp finely chopped green chilli
a pinch of pepper powder
a pinch of roasted cumin powder
salt to taste


Preparation - Take all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.

Pop it into the fridge for 1/2 hour. Remove and mix once again.

Pour into glasses and served chilled.

Note - This can also be consumed by all those who are fasting for Shri Ram Navami .