Chaas, a cooling summer drink

Chaas, a cooling summer drink like Ayran, Laban, Doogh

Chaas, a cooling summer drink from India. In every country where you experience summer heat, there is at least one version of a yogurt drink to cool you down. Bulgarian yogurt is world renowned because of the strain of bacteria which is found only here. The consistency and flavour profile is pretty unique, and the country also holds yogurt festivals to promote it.

The Bulgarian Ayran is pretty simple to make. All you need is yogurt, water and sea salt or table salt. The ideal quantity is for every 1.5 cups of yogurt, use one cup of water. Salt is added to flavour depending on how salty one wants it. I have seen people play around with water to make it thicker or thinner, and it all depends on your choice.

Indian Chaas or Taak

In India the summer is pretty long and hot, temperatures above 40 degree Celsius are pretty common and can surely sap you. That opens up a market for drinks that can cool your body down. Though a lot of people depend on lemonades and aural coconut water when outside at home, the most common drink one finds is chaas, the Indian version of Ayran.

Chaas Recipe –

We usually make the normal ayran for daily use, but add chopped coriander to it for freshness. In some areas, they also add mint. But there is a specific version which is made with non-vegetarian dishes or when one knows that the lunch or dinner is going to be heavy. 🙂

So here goes – This should serve 4 people

Ingredients

• ½ inch ginger roughly chopped.
• ½ green chilli, deseeded and chopped.(taking off the seeds cuts down the heat).
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.
• 250 gms full fat yogurt.
• Around 600 ml water.
• A handful of coriander leaves/ cilantro roughly chopped.
• Salt to taste.

The original recipe utilizes buttermilk—leftover liquid after making butter out of a mixture of whole milk and clabbered milk. If you want to know how to make buttermilk, let me know 🙂 

As a kid, I used to help my mom churn fresh butter on weekends using a wooden appendage specifically made for that. The result? Amazingly fresh, soft and smooth homemade butter which you could melt and turn to ghee or clarified butter. And of course the separated whey or buttermilk used to make taak.

Here is how you can make the chaas/taak using ingredients listed above.

1. Roast the cumin seeds in a small hot pan for about a minute. Do not add any oil, they have to be roasted dry. Grind them coarsely in a mortar and pestle, do not turn them to a powder. The idea is to release the aroma of the cumin seeds.
2. Blend the ginger, chilli, yogurt, and water with salt to taste. You may want to adjust the chilli and salt to your taste. I can understand that spice is not everyone’s thing, but it adds a unique kick to the drink. It is up to you if you want to sieve the mixture to get rid of the foam.
3. Add the ground cumin seeds and coriander leaves and chill the drink.

If you want to serve it immediately, make sure you use cold yogurt and water while preparing the drink. Also, you can add the coriander just before serving and stirring it.

Benefits of Chaas –

1. It helps cool down your body.
2. Helps in digestion and reduces stomach acidity.
3. Helps in hydration during the hot and humid summers.

As you travel across India you will come across different versions of the drink which vary slightly in ingredients. The other common one is called Masala Chaas which consists of black salt, and chaat masala in addition to the ingredients above. 

Make sure to stir it before serving. Do let me know when you make it and how you liked it.:)

Down the line we will visit another yogurt drink which every Indian loves because it is sweet – Lassi. If you haven’t, read about Indian food across different regions, I am sure you will want to try it at least once.:) In the meantime here is a healthy recipe for Spinach chicken.