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Back in India milk used to be delivered by milkmen everyday. It was unpasteurized, so my mom would boil it and let it cool before consumption, which left a thic
by yumraj 7y ago
Back in India milk used to be delivered by milkmen everyday.
It was unpasteurized, so my mom would boil it and let it cool before consumption, which left a thick slice of cream on top of it.
It was collected, and after several weeks worth had accumulated, yogurt was used to ferment it for a few days and then churned to make white homemade butter.
It tasted divine with a little salt and pepper on bread.
Of course, a lot of that butter was used to make Ghee, whose delicious smell permeated the whole home.
And the brown leftover,after making ghee, milk solids tasted amazing with a little sugar.
Ah, the memories...
- searchableguy 7y agoIsn't the smell of ghee (especially when making at home) too strong? I remember someone in the house making it and I couldn't breathe in the kitchen when it was there.
- yumraj 7y agoit's a strong smell, but I guess you love the smells you grow with. Even now sometimes I make Ghee at home with store bought organic butter, as it's difficult to find organic ghee. Unfortunately it doesn't smell the same.
- jedimastert 7y agoAs I understand it, there are a lot of strong smells (comparatively speaking) in an Indian kitchen
- searchableguy 7y agoEven for me as an indian, it's a very strong smell.
- balls187 7y agoGrowing up with it doesn't always make it tolerable. My parents never made ghee (they're ethnic tamils from Malaysia), but good lord frying fish, or making fermented shrimp paste...yuck.
- osrec 7y agoI'm Indian, and I can confirm that I do not like the smell of ghee, and neither do my siblings. In fact, if food has too much ghee in it, it can make us want to throw up! We seem to have no problem with butter itself, but the smell of ghee is just too difficult to stomach for us.
- danielheath 7y agoThanks for clarifying :)
- calvinbhai 7y agoI don't like the smell when butter is turned into ghee. But I love ghee. In fact, after a short stint on a Keto diet, looking at the results, I now understand why ghee is essential in every meal! It makes you consume less carbs. Because of industry propaganda blaming food fat, we have been used to low fat foods. A spoonful of ghee in every meal is not bad. You just need to get used to it.
- osrec 7y agoMy grandfather loved ghee, and I'm sure it contributed to his good health in old age. As a youngster, he could even drink a cup of ghee neat! For some reason, that same love has not been inherited by his son (my father) or his grandchildren. Strangely, however, we shared very similar tastes in everything else!
- harikb 7y agoMemories... yes, indeed. We had one step further. We had our own cow (just one). Although the effort involved from feeding the cow (that didn’t necessarily yield much milk compare to those special breeds), milking it at 6am, collecting cream over many days was eye opening to me. I used to help churn the butter with the wooden thingy meant for it. Yes, the butter tasted amazing, partly because we felt it had to, for all the hard work gone in to it :)
- yumraj 7y agoYes, churning with the wooden thingy is not fun :). I think we had a hand mixer that was mostly used for that which made life a little easy. The only product/by-product I never liked was the buttermilk left over after churning the butter, but I guess that is an acquired taste.
- kortilla 7y ago> buttermilk left over after churning the butter, but I guess that is an acquired taste. My dad drinks the stuff as a special treat. It just smells like sour milk to me...
- Cthulhu_ 7y agoIt is, but it makes it a fresh flavor, very low-calorie. I mean yoghurt is sour too, it's not necessarily a bad thing. I drink it straight, my girlfriend uses it to bake muffins, and you can let chicken soak in it for a couple hours; if you cook it afterwards the chicken ends up deliciously tender (the enzymes in buttermilk break the chicken down a bit).
- steve_adams_86 7y agoThis was one of my favourite discoveries. The way it tenderizes chicken is really nice; some other methods don't feel quite right. Other enzymes I've tried have seemed to tenderize too much and perhaps in overly-localized areas at times. Maybe it's user error. Buttermilk gives you a nice, mild, consistent result though and it couldn't be much easier.
- rishabhd 7y agoI came back to my hometown due to this lockdown and had the pleasure of having homemade butter again. Good heavens, it was peak gourmet if there is anything like it. The best part : I learnt how to make it.
- varshithr 7y agoWe still do that. This exact same process.
- jp0d 7y agoI grew up eating that. And yes I did savour the the brown residue with roti/paratha, enhanced with a bit of sugar. That's why I can never eat margarine. I do my best to buy the best quality butter from the supermarkets here in Melbourne, Australia. But that rich taste of the homemade stuff is hard to reproduce on an industrial scale, I reckon! On the other hand, I don't miss the Yoghurt from back home. I much prefer the Greek Yoghurt I get here! :)
- cylinder 7y agowhat is the best local butter you've found here in melb?
- jp0d 7y agoI don't know about the best. But I usually get either Devondale or Mainland I think. It'd be interesting to get butter produced in the local Victorian farms. :) Any suggestions where to get better butter?
- yumraj 7y agoIn the US we were able to get a good yogurt culture from someone and now make it ourselves. Tastes just like from back home. Next time you visit India, or where you're from, try to dry some yogurt and use that as the culture. I have a feeling that that might work.
- jp0d 7y agoThat's the thing. I never liked the yoghurt back home. :D I like the Greek Youghurt here a lot. But, I did enjoy Lassi. I'm from Orissa.
- 0xff00ffee 7y ago> And the brown leftover,after making ghee, milk solids tasted amazing with a little sugar. Wait, what? I love ghee but have never made it. Are you saying there's something even tastier to be found in the process of making it???
- logfromblammo 7y agoYes. Butter solids taste a bit like baked/toasted cheese. Highly recommended.
- guru4consulting 7y agoyou described exactly my childhood experience.. definitely a wonderful memory to cherish