Mattha is a cool and savoury drink, an end product of making butter from yoghurt/dahi. In the days when people kept cows or buffaloes in their back yard (in India) for the family's milk requirements, surplus milk was first made into yoghurt and then churned with hand churners, to take the butter out. The liquid left over from this process was/is called mattha or buttermilk. It is very good for soothing an upset stomach because it has lactobacilli and it is lower in fat than yoghurt. In my young days, any surplus mattha was distributed amongst neighbours and servants. I remember my mum making fresh butter/mattha most mornings. These days, it can be made by simply diluting the skimmed milk yoghurt. Makes 1 litre.
Ingredients
| • | 1 pint or 500 ml natural yoghurt (low fat, skimmed milk yoghurt is better) |
| • | 1 pint or 500 ml water |
| • | 2 tsp. salt, adjust to taste |
| • | 1/4 tsp. roast cumin, coarsely ground |
| • | For Tarka or Tempering: |
| • | 1 tsp. oil |
| • | 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds |
| • | A small pinch of asafoetida powder |
| • | Alternative Tarka, South Indian style: |
| • | 1 tsp. oil |
| • | 1/2 tsp. mustard seeds |
| • | A small pinch of asafoetida powder |
| • | 4-6 curry leaves (meetha neem) |
| • | 1-2 green chillies, finely sliced |
Instructions
| 1. | Whisk yoghurt, water and salt together for a few seconds. If you are using low fat yoghurt, there is no need to churn it too much, as there is no butter/fat to remove. |
| 2. | Put the buttermilk in a bowl or jug, covered with a lid. |
| 3. | Tarka or tempering |
| 4. | Heat the oil in a tarka spoon or ladle. |
| 5. | Add cumin seeds/mustard seeds and asafoetida powder and allow seeds to splutter and turn brown. If using curry leaves and green chillies, add now and let them fry for 5-10 seconds. |
| 6. | Add to the buttermilk by dipping the ladle in it (stand back because it might splash when you dip the hot ladle in cold mattha), immediately closing the lid. This will allow all flavours to infuse. |
Notes
| • | Some people like to add a little chilli powder to their mattha. |
To print this recipe, open our printer-friendly version in a new browser window. Once you have printed the recipe, close the new window to return to this page.
If you have any comments or questions about this recipe, please post them to our Discussion Board, including the recipe name.
Content copyright ©2001-2010 Mamta Gupta and F² Limited. (All rights reserved. No copying without permission.)
Layout and design ©2001-2010 F² Limited. (All rights reserved. No copying without permission.)
Hosted by Clook Internet
All comments and queries to webmaster@mamtaskitchen.com
