Got (butter)Milk?

My husband is a huge fan of buttermilk &/yogurt (plain, i.e.). In fact he will have absolutely no qualms about eating only rice and buttermilk with a dash of good old pickle (Indian style- mango or lime or gooseberry etc) on the side every single day.

As for me, I never used to eat yogurt back while growing up. We lived in hot climatic conditions and we ate pretty spicy food and everybody around me would always end their lunch/dinner with some yogurt or buttermilk. To cool things down, you see! Finally, I think about a few years into marriage, I started drinking buttermilk, thanks to my husband and heartburn! Yep, guess my tummy finally could not handle the 20+years of all that spice and heat I was subjecting it to.

I remember very well, whenever I had a tummy upset (in my pre-buttermilk days), I used to have a cup of cold milk with some sugar and that would do the trick. However, with time I have come to realize that buttermilk actually works way better than plain milk. It definitely gives me relief in a jiffy. Not just for tummy upset but even when the temperature shoots up and you feel all hot and horrible- a glass of buttermilk always helps big time.

Buttermilk has lower fat content than milk and yet is rich in calcium. Plus it has all those good microbes that are in fact very good for the stomach as well. If you are lactose intolerant, pour yourself some buttermilk and I assure you, it will do you good.

If you don't like the idea of having plain buttermilk, you can do all kinds of things to jazz it up and make it yummy. One very simple thing to do is to add a dash of salt. My mom makes this excellent buttermilk to which she adds salt, ginger juice (squeezes ginger to get the juice out) and curry leaves--- ohhhhhhh, it is simply the most refreshing thing you can have on a hot summer afternoon.

I just buy my buttermilk from the regular grocery store. At the end of each meal, I grab that carton of buttermilk from the refrigerator, pour some into a cup (about 1/4) and fill the rest of the cup with cold water. Give it a quick stir and drink it all up. Aah! So refreshing!