Spiced Takra
Sanskrit
मन्थानेन मथित्वा तन्नवनीतमथो हरेत् । निर्जलं मथितं प्रोक्तमुदश्वित् स्याज्जलार्धकम् ॥ ७१ ॥ पादाम्बु तक्रमुद्दिष्टं धूपितं हिङ्गुजीरकैः । आर्द्रकेण समायुक्तमेलासैन्धवचूर्णितम् ॥ ७२ ॥
English
Churn curd and remove the butter. The undiluted churned product is called mathita; with half its volume of water it is udaśvit; with one-quarter water it is takra. Takra is perfumed with asafoetida and cumin and seasoned with fresh ginger, cardamom, and powdered rock salt.
A cooling, tart buttermilk drink perfumed with cumin and asafoetida — the ancestor of modern chaas. The passage also names two plainer dilutions of churned curd, mathita and udaśvit, but the spiced takra is the only one of the three that is really a drink.
Ingredients
- 500 ml cultured buttermilk
- 125 ml water
- 10 g fresh ginger, grated
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ¾ tsp rock salt
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- Pinch of asafoetida
- 1 tsp ghee
Method
- Warm the ghee in a small pan, add the cumin and asafoetida, and let them sizzle until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Set aside to cool.
- Whisk the buttermilk with the water to a thin, drinkable pour.
- Whisk in the cooled spiced ghee, the ginger, cardamom, and salt. Chill well and serve.
Notes
- The text starts from churned curd with the butter removed. Cultured buttermilk is the easiest modern equivalent, but you can alternatively mix yoghurt with water or milk to achieve the desired consistency.
- Blooming the cumin and asafoetida in ghee follows the source’s dhūpita (“perfumed”), which points to aromatics carried on hot fat rather than stirred in raw.
- The same churned base, left undiluted, is mathita; cut with half its volume of water it is udaśvit. Neither is spiced.