I simply love the taste of fresh homemade butter. It is not something that I make every day of the week but whenever I have spare cream or crave for parathas I do make butter. It is a simple process of churning cultured cream.
Since my childhood, I have seen my mother making butter. Every morning fresh (buffalo) milk was delivered to our house by a local milkman. The milk was boiled on slow flame, allowed to sit in the pot until completely cooled and a thick layer of cream formed on top. The cream was skimmed off and often eaten with parathas or used in making ice cream or other dishes. The leftover cream was collected in a bowl and stored in the refrigerator. Once there was enough cream accumulated over a week, it was fermented with culture in a similar way as the yogurt is made, and was left for 8-24 hours (depending on the temperature of the house). Culturing lends the butter a slight tang and helps make churned cream ‘break’ faster. I use the same age old process of making butter, but unfortunately raw milk or non homogenized cream is hard to find here so I make it with pasteurized cream, and it works ok.
In old days, homemakers use butter churn to make butter, nowadays we can use blender, food processor or kitchen aid mixer. Butter can be also be made by simply shaking the cream in a jar but if you are making with a liter or more of milk, a food processor is convenient. Its easy to clean and prevents splattering. It only takes 2-3 minutes to separate the two products of butter making: butter and buttermilk. The strained buttermilk can be used for making fluffy chapatis, pancakes, plain rice and other uses. Once the butter is separated it needs to be further rinsed few times to get all the cloudy water out (as much as possible) otherwise the butter go rancid faster. If you want to salt or herb the butter, sprinkle it on top and using a fork or wooden spoon mash it together until thoroughly combined.
Freshly made cultured butter tastes good on a toast, paratha or over steamed vegetables or indian style cooked daal /lentil. It keeps well at room temperature for a week. I prefer to keep mine refrigerated, though.
Ingredients
- 1 L thick cream at room temperature ( I use Island Farms whipping cream)
- 2 tbsp homemade yogurt
Instructions
- Add yogurt to cream, Stir and let it ferment for 8-24 hours depending on the temperature of your house. Cultured cream should not smell rancid ( I usually leave it overnight in the warmest place of my house).
- Place the cultured cream in a food processor and turn on.
- Process until the butter separates from the buttermilk (about 2 minutes).
- Strain the buttermilk from butter, add cold water (about 1 cup) and pulse 3-4 times. (Save buttermilk for making fluffy chapatis, pancakes, plain rice and other uses).
- Scoop the butter in a bowl and rinse few times with cold tap water pressing out any remaining buttermilk with a spoon.
- Wrap the butter tightly in a sheet of cling film or wax paper.
- It keeps well at room temperature for a week, 15-30 days in the fridge and few months in the freezer.
- If desired add salt or herbs. Using your fingers or fork mash it together until combined.
ela@GrayApron
…never even attempted at making my own butter. My grandma was making it with butter churn…and she just looked beautiful and the butter tasted fantastic, you are right. I should try it too…thanks for sharing. Your butter turned out very buttery indeed. 🙂 ela
Balvinder
My granny used the butter churn and my mom used wooden hand blender (called madahni in punjabi) for many years until we got the mixer. Thanks for the comment, Ela! the butter does taste fantastic!
easyfoodsmith
I absolutely heart home made butter. I actually find the whole process therapeutic.
Malti Sharma
I remember those days my ‘Nani’ used to make this. She had this huge wooden whisk with ropes tied to it to churn the butter. My mother made it in a Mixie but I never made…didn’t know we could do with pasteurized cream..thanks for rekindling those memories 🙂 Your butter looks creamy and rich , just the way I had it before marriage.
P.S. Just shared it on Google+
Balvinder
Thanks Malti for sharing it on Google+. We share the same cultural background, my granny churned it the same way. Glad I rekindled your memories and now you will make butter.
Bam's Kitchen
Wow this is amazing! The food processor makes these kinds of recipes a little easier.
Chai a Cup of Life
Balvinder, is this the same as white butter? If so, my son loooves it on paratha. (And me too!)
Balvinder
Amelia, there is only one type of butter. The color depends on the quality of milk and the diet of cattle.White butter comes from corn fed cattle and yellow comes from grass fed (which is rich in beta carotene and is good). I too love the TASTE of homemade cultured butter and never eat my parathas without it 🙂
Chai a Cup of Life
Thank you for informing Balvinder!
anne
Bal , homemade butter certainly looks delightful , right ?! And it’s really easy to make a batch though the price of cream here is a bit steep compare to the price of 1 block of butter 😀
Balvinder
Really, that’s strange!
anne
Or maybe not 😀 1L of Elle and Vire / Anchor cream cost about HK $ 46 , the same brand of butter is $ 20/19 per 200/227 grams . These items at the supermarket are quiet high so I always buy these at the baking supply shops .
Blackswan
Bal, you’re so adventurous to make your own butter! They do look soft & nice, & I can almost smell it from here. Lol!
Abbe@This is How I Cook
I love butter and I really should do this. This looks so good! And right now I would spread it on fresh bread-that is if I had some!
Balvinder
Thanks for your comment Abbe. You HAVE to try making this!
Purabi Naha | Cosmopolitan Currymania
Homemade butter is out of the world…no additives no flavourants no artificial colour…just a real thing! Wonderful recipe!!
Balvinder
Exactly! Thank you Purabhi!
Monica
The closest thing I’ve ever done is simply shake cream to turn into butter at my son’s school for “Colonial Day”. The process of culturing and rinsing is really interesting. What a great feeling to make homemade butter for your family.
Balvinder
It is indeed joyful to make your own butter and its the culture that makes all the difference to the TASTE of butter.
Ansh
I have not done this in years. Used to do it at Naani’s house. Fresh makhan on top of paratha.. someone help me. I am drooling !
Balvinder
Stop drooling :-), just make it!
Juliana
Wow, I never though in making my own butter…thanks for the recipe balvinder…like that it is so simple.
Hope you are having a wonderful week 😀
Coffee and Crumpets
I haven’t made butter is so long! I absolutely love it though! Especially on paratha! And your photo with melting makhan, achar and paratha…omg!! I want some!
ATasteOfMadness
I can’t believe I have never thought to make my own butter. Thanks for this!
Balvinder
That’s because it is easily available in the stores. I make it because I like the taste of homemade butter, especially when it is cultured.
Kitchen Belleicious
I have never thought to even make my own butter! How cool and something I could do with my son too
Balvinder
Its the little things that bring joy. Hope you will enjoy making butter with your son!
Jennifer Eloff
Wonderful to make one’s own butter. Yum!
Von
I accidentally made butter once when I whipped my cream for way too long…… unfortunately, it meant that I didn’t have any whipped cream for one of my cakes 🙁 I didn’t actually get to taste it though (because I mixed it with other store bought butter haha) but I’d imagine it’d taste quite different from the store bought stuff! I’m interested in what this cultured butter tastes like! It looks so light and fluffy too!:)
Balvinder
Each one of us have done the exact same thing at some point. You will love cultured butter. It is better tasting and lasts longer (without any additives). When you make it with (raw-grassed) cream it gets thick and fluffy like creme fraiche and gives you more butter, although pasteurized cream is not bad, either. From 1 liter of cream you get 500g home churned butter. Not bad hunh! 🙂