Milk

Fresh milk, doodh in Hindi and Urdu, paal in Tamil and kiri in Sinhala, is the most used ingredient in many South Asian homes. It goes into the morning tea, the evening glass with turmeric, the rice pudding for a festival and the pot of homemade dahi left to set overnight in a warm spot.

Choose by fat. Whole milk, with the blue cap in British supermarkets, has the most fat and is the one to use for kheer, payasam, rabri, kulfi and homemade paneer, as it reduces to a richer texture and gives a better yield of curds. Semi skimmed, the green cap, is the everyday choice for tea, coffee and cereal. Skimmed milk has almost all the fat removed and suits those who want a lighter drink, though it sets a thin yogurt.

For homemade yogurt, bring whole milk to the boil, let it cool until you can hold a finger in it for ten seconds, then stir in a spoonful of live yogurt and leave it covered for six to eight hours. To make paneer, boil the milk, add lemon juice or vinegar a little at a time until it splits, then strain and press.

Store milk at five degrees or below and use it within three days of opening. Fresh milk travels in our local delivery area only. Plant based alternatives are in plant milk, cream is in cream, and both sit with milk under milk and cream. For long life milk, see milk powder.