Tags
Buttermilk, chithirai thiruvizha, Lord Kal Alagar, Lord Parvathy, Madurai, Meenakshi temple, Meenakshi Thiru Kalyanam, Neer Mor, South Indian style butter milk, Spiced Buttermilk
Neer Mor / Butter milk, is such a perfect summer drink. Its extremely hot in India during summers, no one would dare to get out of the house between 11 am to 3 pm 😛 . During summer this is a drink which is always available at home 🙂 Hailing from the temple city Madurai, I would like to share details of a festival we celebrate every year.
Lord Meenakshi (incarnation of Lord Parvathy) has her temple in Madurai which so famous for the architecture. We have a festival that goes on during the summer when Lord Meenakshi is married to Lord Shiva. This festival is called the chithirai thiruvizha/ Meenakshi thiru kalyanam. Lord Kal Alagar (incarnation of Lord Vishnu) is believed to be Meenakshi’s brother. Lord Kal Alagar stays in Alagar kovil a temple situated 13 miles from Meenakshi temple. He has to come all the way from Alagar kovil to Meenakshi temple for his sister’s wedding. It is believed that he travels in a pallaku(couch) and the travel takes a weeks time. This whole picture happens every year and we celebrate Meenkashi’s wedding so wonderfully. Marriage happens in Meenakshi temple with the idols of Shiva and Meenakshi. Kal Alagar idol is carried from Alagar kovil to Meenakshi temple.
My house is located in the mid way of Alagar kovil and Meenakshi temple. Alagar’s idol passes through my home. During this time the whole Madurai residents would gather to worship. We all get dressed up so well 😀 and meet a lot of people in our community. Its a lot of fun. We invite friends, relatives to our home. Ahh I miss those days so badly, what a lovely time it used to be 🙂 The beauty of this festival is that though it is a Hindu festival, Muslims, Christians all gathers and celebrate it. I see this as a great unity which is why I love it 🙂 As this festival takes place during summer, many people distribute Neer Mor, Pannakam to help get rid of thirst and dehydration. So when ever I prepare neer mor, it reminds me of this festival 🙂
Ingredients:
Yogurt : 3 tablespoon ( can be full fat or skim)
Water : 1 cup
Salt : 1/4 teaspoon
Ginger : 1/2 teaspoon grated
Green Chili : 1 very finely chopped
Curry leaves : 1 strand finely chopped
Cilantro leaves : 2 – 3 strands finely chopped
Asafoetida : 1/4 teaspoon
Cumin seeds : crushed 1/4 teaspoon or Cumin powder : 1/4 teaspoon
Method:
Put the yogurt, salt, water, ginger in blender and blend it for 2 to 3 mins. Now transfer it to a glass. Mix asafoetida, chopped curry leaves, cilantro leaves, cumin seeds or powder. Mix well. You can serve it immediately or after refrigerating for some time.
Some people temper oil and use mustard seeds and add it. I wouldn’t want it that way, as the taste of buttermilk would change.
It helps in avoiding dehydration. It soothes you stomach.
Enjoy this refreshing summer drink friends 🙂
Additional notes : You can make it thick by adding more yogurt and less water or you can make it very thin by reducing yogurt and increasing water.
Malar's Kitchen 
One of the easiest and perfect cooler. . ya India veyil Ku neer mor replace panna entha drink illa Malar:) omg after seeing this recipe I couldn’t resist myself from typing in tamil dear
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Yes Vidya, veyil ku super drink than 🙂
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i love mor/ butter milk…i just love drinking it ….looks so good and refreshing
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Yes Nimmi, its just so refreshing 🙂
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Absolutely delightful in summer! And for me, it works in winter too ♥
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Yeah Shruti! 🙂
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Nice to hear that you are from Madurai and live close to the famous Meenakshi temple, Malar 🙂 Whenever I see a ‘neer mor,’ it reminds me of my grandmother. She used to churn it and give us whenever we visited her on holidays as children.
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Ahila, very true the churning done to get the butter milk makes it taste better that blending. My grandma also does the same 🙂
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Good write-up on the festival, Malar
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🙂
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