Sambaram (South Indian Spiced Buttermilk)

Happy Vishu to all!

This drink will help digest the heavy feast and also help you eat and drink light for the weekend!

We love frozen delights in the summers.Ice creams,ice lollies,fruit juices and cool desserts we all love them.But sometimes do we consider the sugar content in these items?Sugar also accounts for the growing obesity in urban populations these days.Apart from that though ice creams and frozen desserts are frozen to be called “cold” or coolers they actually have heat promoting ingredients like full cream milk,eggs,preservatives and sugar.

Let us now turn back to the village life our ancestors lived back in the 1900’s.Summers came and they lived without air conditioners,refrigerators and in some cases even ceiling fans.Its not possible to live entirely like that but yes we can adjust our lifestyle in terms of certain sugar free and delicious beverages they used to have.I am talking about my native place – Kerala where for a long time people relied on traditional ways and means to survive.One natural cooler was and is  – Buttermilk.Now drinking bland buttermilk is a “bore” so they spiced it up deliciously to make one of the best coolers imaginable.So Sambaram is basically buttermilk with loads of natural ingredients and spices.

Sambaram contains all the leafy herbs like Coriander,Mint and Curry Leaves as a result of which it is a beautiful green in colour.Traditionally the recipe calls for chopping up the herbs,coarsely grinding the spices and adding them to the buttermilk.Lately this has been a little less preferred by people drinking this refreshing beverage and so as a result I added a twist to the recipe and made it completely smooth to taste.So the recipe follows and please serve chilled for the ultimate cooling of body and mind!

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Chilling Time : 2-3 hours

Makes : 4-5 servings

INGREDIENTS

500 gms of fresh yogurt (preferably made with skimmed/low fat milk)

1/2 liter cold water

2 tsp Salt

2 tsp Sugar

1 tsp White Pepper Powder/1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder

For the herb chutney :

1 cup Coriander leaves – chopped finely

1/2 cup Mint Leaves – chopped finely

1/2 cup Curry Leaves – chopped finely

1 inch piece Ginger/1 tsp Ginger Paste

1 Green Chilly/1 tsp Green Chilli Paste

METHOD

For the Chutney :

Put all ingredients in a blender jar and add 1/4 cup of water.Blend to a fine chutney.Keep aside.

For the Sambaram:

In a big jug or bowl add the yogurt and water.Whisk till completely smooth and add the salt sugar,pepper powder and the prepared chutney.Whisk again till all ingredients are completely dissolved.Strain through a tea or soup strainer into a separate jug so as to separate all residues.Chill for 2-3 hours or overnight.

Serving the Sambaram :

Pour out the Sambaram into fancy earthenware cups or glasses and serve chilled.