Also known As

Skimmed Buttermilk.

Description

Buttermilk is a white colored dairy product in liquid form, prepared by diluting thick curds, which is the fermented form of milk. Low fat buttermilk is prepared by removing out the butter from milk cream. It can also be prepared from the curds, which has been made from skimmed milk. You can prepare it at home by blending the curds and adding equal or more quatity of chill water and salt to taste. You may add roasted jeera powder or chaas masala to make it even more tasty. The tart taste is due to the presence of acid in the milk.

How to Select

There are various brands offering different dairy products. Buttermilk is one of the comon dairy products available locally in glass bottles or in plastic or laminated tetrapacks. Generally it is available as 150 ml containers. You can also easily make it at home by removing the butter out of milk cream or easily diluting freh low fat curds.

Culinary Uses

· Low fat buttermilk is a refreshing drink in itself and had as an accompaniment with major meals of the day or had post meals. Just add a tincture of salt and roasted jeera powder.
· Low fat buttermilk can be used to make buttermilk cookies, pies and sometimes in preparing corn bread.
· You can use it in making a masala roti dough or in preparing theplas instead of using water to bind the dough. The theplas turn out to be softer.
· Use warm low fat buttermilk instaed of water while making the batter for South Indian recipes like Dosa, Idli or a Gujarati Handwa. The culture bacteria grows and gives a pleasant boof to the batter.
· Buttermilk can also be alternate for whole milk or skim milk in a lot of cooking technique - ranging from baked goods to soups, sauces, puddings, to frozen desserts.
· In a number of recipes, it is used as a replacement for sour cream.
· Buttermilk makes an outstanding tenderizing immerse for many meats. You can marinate unsullied red meat overnight in buttermilk to lessen the meat's burly, gamy taste.
· Low fat buttermilk pancakes can also be prepared.

How to Store

Low fat Buttermilk remains fresh for at least 2 days if left at room temperature in a cool dry place. But there are chances of it turning sour. So I is recommended to store it under refrigeration temperature, which will last its flavor for 4-5 days, although it does not get spoilt for 1 week as compared to milk. You can store in it your routine steel vessel or in a plastic bottle and lid when not in use.

Health Benefits

· Low fat buttermilk is low in calories as compared to whole milk and also has the nutritive benefits of whole milk, except the fat %, which is decreased considerably. Hence it is best recommended for those on weight loss and heart disease.
· It is high in potassium, vitamin B12 and calcium, which are very important in regular body mechanisms..
· Buttermilk is more easily digestible than whole milk and it also contains more lactic acid than skim milk. It is beneficial for people suffering from Lactose intolerance, especially children.
· Due to being more easily digestible (a result of the bacteria added to the milk), protein and calcium can be taken up more easily by the body.
· Reducing the amount of fats in diet helps to control weight and get rid of all the weight related problems.
· Consumption of low-fat buttermilk helps restrict the percentage of fat intake considerably, mainly the saturated fats present in whole milk. This helps regulate blood cholesterol levels and thus decrease in the chances of heart disease.
· The proteins present in low fat buttermilk are untouched during its processing, hence it is considered as a high biological value protein source.