Time was when guests who came home in the sweltering summer heat were offered a homemade drink that not just quenched the thirst but also restored the body salts. That drink was buttermilk.
Now almost relegated to the background due to the influx of many fashionable drinks in the market, people think of buttermilk only during temple festivals when buttermilk is served to devotees passing by.
Thankfully, many political parties also set up ‘neer more pandals’ in summer. One place where you get unadulterated buttermilk is the Raghavendra Kalyana Mandapam in Kodambakkam, where Superstar Rajinikanth runs the pandal.
Run from forenoon till afternoon, the place swarms with people – mostly pedestrians and auto drivers – who do not fail to stop to take not just one glass of the thick buttermilk but also ask for a refill.
Even those who travel by air-conditioned cars do not hesitate to get out and shamelessly try out the drink which is a class apart.
There are ever so many ways of enhancing the flavor of buttermilk at home:
* Add a dash of salt and asafoetida for a drink that would settle your stomach and enhance digestion;
* Grind shallots (small onions) and add them to the buttermilk for a zangy taste;
* Prepare barley water and mix buttermilk with it and add a pinch of salt;
* Grind green chillies while you beat the buttermilk in the mixer – it is guaranteed to win you friends for life;
* Beating curry and coriander leaves with the buttermilk is a sure winner.
Buttermilk, with or without these value additions, cools the system during the hot summer months and keeps you ready to go out in the sun and conquer the world. Don’t forget to guzzle it at least once a day.
There is the real life story of an octogenarian who claimed that he lived well for so long because he drank buttermilk instead of water every day!
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