Rinku Rana,
A by-product in traditional butter making, buttermilk has beenthe most consumed drink in Kashmir for centuries. Withmachines taking over the skimming and the marketing chainsrenamed and rebranding the product, Gurus (Lassi) may notbe as abundant as it once was, writes MJ AslamLong before the making of Gurus (buttermilk) and Th’ain(butter) was found in created cultured cream or milk, therewere traditional methods of preparing the same from unrefrigeratedfermented milk. All societies in the East and West haveused the traditional ways of making these delicacies forcenturies.
Gurus was so vital to the Kashmir food that a lot of sayingmentioned the buttermilk. One such saying suggeststhat Gurus (also called Lassi) should be given to a friend inautumn, while to an enemy in spring. The folklore believes thatautumn Gurus is healthy unlike that of spring. Its nutritiousvalue is linked to the quality of grass grazed by cows and goatsin spring and autumn.
However, the fact is the Gurus was prepared in hot summerstoo when the milk, in absence of modern refrigerators,fermented automatically in earthen and copper pots. It wascalled Ban e Doud.
Then, Kashmir was rich in milk and milk products. Thecowherds possessed a large stock of cows and goats. TheGujars in higher altitudes possessed buffalo too. Theyprepared Gurus. In the city, guoir families associated withdair y items of milk, curd, cheese and butter, tooprepared Gurus for sale to the common people. Some villagefamilies who skimmed milk and made Gurus at their homeswould often come to sell Gurus in the city.
THE PROCESS
Traditionally, Gurus means the milk that was left over afterchurning butter from unrefrigerated sour and fermented milk.Once the milk is ready for the process, it would take 30minutes to 60 minutes till butter was churned from the milk in abig vessel like tchod.Ordinarily, Gurus is buttermilk. Gurus is sour in taste. It isstill popular and sold with added spices, mint, salt and sugaracross most of the subcontinent as a refreshing fermenteddairy drink. Its equivalent in the households of the Indiansubcontinent is Chaash, which is prepared by beating curdwith a churner or leftover of butter (Gurus) and taken withspices, a pinch of salt and mint. In Arabian countries, buttermilkwith added ingredients of spices and salt is a favourite drink during the Muslim month of fasting ,the Ramzan at Iftiari and Sehri times.
However, like many age-old valued traditions, the churning ofbutter from milk has disappeared from Kashmir. Well, GurusMandun was an age-old tradition among Kashmiris and it wasan elaborate process. The tools that were used for the processincluded an earthen vessel like tchod in which milk waspoured. The milk was churned to Gurus and Th’ain in thevessel. It is a long wooden churner, De’on that is fundamentalto the process. Gurus e De’on is a fine paddle chiselled out ofa wooden log that has blunt wooden blades or wicker ringsattached at one end – the one that stays in the milk vessel. Itsother end is tied to a wall or a thum, a pillar in the kitchen, andin between is the Lam e Raz or Mandan Raz, a pull-push ropethat the Gurus maker pulls for making the blade move. Thegrass or jute rope has attached two handles tied of woodor Pach-i-Adiji (bones of sheep or goat legs) for the right andleft hand that is either made of grass or jute.
The vessel was fastened to thum with another rope for preventing it from slipping away during the
process. De’on was held tightly with grip of hands by thethe Lam e Raz in his hands till layers of
butter appeared, gathered and thickened atthe surface.
The finest quality of milk gave a yellowishtinge to the butter with the pungent taste ofthe buttermilk. Then, the churner wouldremove the paddle and scoop out all butterleaving behind Gurus in the vessel. Thehandmade butter, Th’ain, was whatKashmiris knew in the past.
A ROUTINE
Unlike Srinagar where the Gurus wasskimmed by the professional Gurus-Gour families, in the periphery, almost everyhousehold had the equipment and enoughmilk to make Gurus. Apart from spinningwheel, almost every woman in Kashmirperiphery would pick the art from the elders.A traditional drink, Gurus is seen as a traditional coolant. Familiesmaking Gurus used to gift part of it to the
neighbors. Till recently,even Kashmiri Hakims wouldadvise Gurus intake to the patients. Incertain cases, it was customary to dip somesilver ornament in the Gurus before drinkingit. The tradition goes that Gurus being sourin taste is helping digestion.
With Gurus consumed, the focus wouldremain on homemade butter. It was gatheredin a separate bowl and compounded into soft Th’ainballs (manun ) with aspoon. Th’ain was sold in the market inweighed quantities to the buyers. Besideslocal mustard oil, the Kashmiri womenfolk inthe past used the traditional Th’ain foranointing their hair to strengthen and shinethe hair strands. Folklore suggests usingbutter to keep the women’s head cool.
The Gurus may be out of fashion but itsmaking has not ceased in Kashmir. Herderswho take their sheep and cows to uplandmeadows are unable to take the milk down. They convert itinto butter as they consume Gurus while grazing their herds.
