Buttermilk is the name given to a fermented dairy product. It is mainly produced from the milk of a cow and the specialty of the product is that it has a distinctively sour taste. Buttermilk can be prepared in two ways - traditional way and cultured way. The original buttermilk is the liquid that is left as a residue, after you churn butter from cream. Today, this buttermilk had been given the name of traditional buttermilk and is quite uncommon. The second method through which buttermilk is prepared is called the cultures method.
For making the cultured buttermilk, lactic acid bacteria are added to cow’s milk. Whatever be the method of preparation, the sourness of buttermilk is because of the presence of acid in the milk. There are a number of recipes in which buttermilk is used as a very important ingredient. The problem comes when the buttermilk is not at handy or we live at such a place where it is not easily available. Rather than giving up the recipe, it is better to substitute buttermilk with other ingredients. Read on to know how or what can you substitute for buttermilk.
Substitutes for Buttermilk
- You can easily make buttermilk at your home. For that, use 1 tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar and 1 cup milk. Mix both the ingredients and let the mixture stand for 5 to 10 min. After that, stir the mixture well and use as buttermilk.
- You can also make buttermilk by adding 1 3/4 tablespoons cream of tartar to 1 cup milk. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for about 15 min. As soon as the milk starts curdling, mix well and then, use it as buttermilk.
- Buttermilk powder is easily available in the market. All you have to do is add 1/4 cup the powder to 1 cup water and your buttermilk is ready to be used in any recipe.
- In recipes where you are required to use buttermilk, use plain yoghurt (curd) instead, in exactly the same quantity.
- You can easily substitute sour cream for buttermilk in any recipe. However, make sure the quantity of the cream is the same as that of buttermilk.
