Brush your warm parathas with a dollop of homemade white Makhan and enjoy its luscious texture and heavenly taste!
You must have devoured parathas, rotis, naans, dals, and gravy dishes with a glob of white butter that your mother served so lovingly. The crispy stuffed paratha relished with freshly prepared homemade white butter was a divine experience! How can we forget a large glass of thick, sweetened lassi with a dollop of white butter floating atop…… Now, that was sheer delight! With the simple recipe I’m sharing here, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can whip up your creamy white magic: the white butter in all its rich deliciousness! You can use a hand blender, a food processor, or a stand mixer to churn your butter that tastes so irresistible with hot parathas and toasts.
It was prepared in a ‘matki’ or a large vessel/ pot in the olden days. The cream was collected over a few days and transferred to a matki specially meant for this purpose. It was then churned with a ‘mathni/ madhani’ following a long process that consumed a lot of muscle power. The end product collected after the churning is called white butter (basically milk fat). It leaves behind buttermilk which can be used in various other ways. White butter/Makhan thus derived is creamy textured, slightly sweet, and incomparably delicious when savored with hot stuffed parathas, toasts, and gravies.
For its richness and creaminess As it is easy to prepare within a few minutes It makes any dish addictively delicious. It can also be used for preparing other dishes, bringing a fantastic difference to their taste and texture.
It is versatile and goes well with any hot flat Indian bread (rotis, parathas, naans), gravy dishes, dals, toast/ sandwiches, and even chilled lassi on a hot and dry summer day!
Ice-cubes — These help the butter to gather up. Water — To rinse the butter and remove any buttermilk that may have stayed after the butter has been collected in the bowl. Salt — For flavor (optional). Equipment that you can use – You can use any of the following to prepare the white butter at home:
A food processor A hand blender A stand mixer
Whip cream — Pour the cream ( that is at room temperature) into the chilled stand mixer base. Whip the cream until it separates. It will take around 2 ½ – 3 minutes at the lowest speed (setting #4) until you start to see the cream getting thick. Keep whipping. As the cream thickens, increase the speed (setting #6) and keep mixing — don’t stop! After another 8-9 minutes of mixing (on setting#6), – the cream will start to curdle. Depending on the speed, this step may take longer. You will see yellow buttery solids sticking to your stand mixer attachment.
At this point, the cream will separate and become grainy. You will see a cloudy liquid at the base of the mixer. Fat and liquid have separated. Protip — Cover the mixture when whipping to avoid it from splashing. After adding ice cubes to the cream, you should cover the equipment and set the mixing speed to the lowest level so that the mixture does not splash. Sieve the butter — Once the butter forms, pour the content of the mixer through a sieve. The solid stuff (butter) will stay on the sieve, and the liquid collected below in a bowl is the buttermilk. Gather all the butter and squeeze it tightly between your hands to ensure NO buttermilk is left behind in the butter. You can use a cheesecloth to do the same.
To completely eliminate the buttermilk, rinse the freshly- squeezed butter dollop under cold water and allow the traces of buttermilk to drain through. Once you’ve made butter at home, you’ll never go back to store-bought. Top your favorite dishes with homemade butter, and let your soul relish the deliciousness! Color of the Butter — Butter’s color is determined by the kind of milk used. Butter made from sheep, goat, or buffalo milk will always be white in color. However, in this recipe, though we are making it from scratch ( cream), it still develops a yellow tint as it is produced from cow’s milk which produces yellow butter.
Always use fresh cream to prepare the butter — Fresh cream that is collected over a few days and kept refrigerated works best for this recipe. You may accumulate the cream that floats on the cooled full-fat milk, and when you feel there’s a good amount collected for the churn, go ahead and make the yummy butter. Do not churn at medium or high speed — When using a hand blender, ensure that the speed level is at its lowest while churning the cream. If you put the speed on medium or high, then the ice cubes will splash around, creating a mess all around the kitchen. Use of buttermilk — The leftover buttermilk can be used as a refreshing drink by adding salt and spices to it. You can even use it to prepare a khati meethi kadhi. You can save the buttermilk in the fridge and use it in your baking recipes. You can even use buttermilk to make Methi paratha.
Parathas Roti Naan Dal Makhani Sarson ka saag Methi paratha, to name a few.
Other than topping your bread, there are many other uses of white butter, like —
White butter can be heated and made into clarified butter/ ghee. It can be used for cooking other recipes as well. It can also be used to make white sauce for dishes such as pasta, and you can see the creamy magic that it creates in the whole recipe! You can also use white butter to make your luscious cakes that come out moist and textured.
Should you make this homemade white butter or makhan, please let me know your thoughts by sharing your comment below. And don’t forget to share it with your family and friends.
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