Buttermilk

“Karnemelk, beschuit, rijstwater, geraspte appel. Oral tradition in the Peel, no written source found. The comfort food of a sick belly. Next to it, always drinking: two to three litres a day and a glass after every watery stool, no soft or energy drinks, ORS from the drogist for watery diarrhoea and vomiting, above all for children and the old.”

“Karnemelk. Once the by-product of churning butter on the farm (the karnton), it spoiled fast. Belly comfort and the summer drink of the farm.”

“Buttermilk (moru, takra, chaas). Thin, salted, often with ginger, curry leaves, a green chilli or a pinch of hing, drunk at the end of the meal. Charaka keeps curd off the daily list, but thin buttermilk is something else in the household and in the books: the old Bhavaprakasha even sorts buttermilk by how much water is added. People quote "na takrasevi vyathate kadacit", one who takes buttermilk is never troubled, and it is the title of an old Ayurveda article, but she has never found the verse herself and says so. "Every lunch in my house ends with moru. That I can promise you."”

“One small task. "Tomorrow at lunch, end with a small glass of thin salted buttermilk instead of a sweet."”