on Apr 06, 2021, Updated Jul 04, 2024 SUMMER IS OFFICIALLY HERE! I can’t tell you how much I love summer. Summers are when holidays begin, and mango season starts so I can stuff my face with every variety of mango there is. As children, summer was when we were allowed to binge on ice creams and sodas, and all things chilled! I also remember there would always be a big jug of spiced buttermilk in the fridge. We would drink some before heading out to play in the sun, and another glass when we got back. Though the base recipe is the same, every household makes their own slightly different version of chaas. We’ve put together our three favourite chaas recipes in this post. They are so simple, you can make them in minutes anytime any day. I’ve also added ingredient suggestions to spice things up!
Classic Masala ChaasPudina (Mint) ChaasBeetroot Chaas
Traditionally, buttermilk is the by-product of churning butter. Most Indian houses would churn their butter every other day from malai or cream collected from boiled milk. But we don’t do that as often these days, and now chaas is made with yogurt or curds.
Classic Masala Chaas (Majjige)
The classic masala buttermilk is made out of curd and water until it’s light and frothy. The consistency is thinner than milk. Ingredients like ginger, green chillies, coriander leaves, salt and black salt turn up the SPICE factor.
Mint/Pudina Chaas
This is one of the tastiest chaas there is. The mint leaves are blended along with the curds and water. Mint leaves add SO much flavour and leave a kind of lingering coolness on your tongue. A pinch of roasted cumin powder, ginger, green chillies and ground pepper make this variant truly lip smacking!
Beetroot Chaas
All the fellow doting parents out there, listen up! Here’s a sneaky way to make your kid eat beetroot! I made some beetroot chaas for Mahi once. And she downed it! That bright pink colour, and sweet taste of beetroot make this one a hit with kids and adults. Beetroot chaas is slightly thicker in consistency than the other two variants. You can adjust the consistency to your liking by adding water. Pro Tip: When blending, use the same water that you boiled the beetroot in. You’ll pack in all the nutrients and extra colour!
Tempering
We Indians love tempering most of our dishes and chaas is no exception. Tempering for chaas is a simple 3-ingredient affair. Splutter some mustard seeds and curry leaves in hot oil and you’re good to go! Tempering is added at the very end to add an extra layer of flavour to buttermilk.
Spice it Up
Wanna make your buttermilk more irresistible? Here are some more ingredients you can add to these recipes:
Roasted cumin powder has aromatics which add nuttiness and an earthiness to chaas. It’s also a great digestive, and is cooling in natureHing or asafoetida can also be added to the tempering for its pungent flavoursIf you don’t like black salt, you can substitute it with chaat masala and make masala chaas!
NOTE: Always refrigerate chaas for 2 hours or until chilled! Serve Thandi Chaas garnished with chopped coriander leaves any time of the day!
More Summery Beverages
Chilled ThandaiCreamy Mango LassiVirgin Apple Iced TeaChilled Cucumber SoupMango Chia Seed Breakfast Drink
