The milky way

Ginnu or ginne, a dessert made from a cow’s colostrum milk, was once a dish much looked forward to in households with cows, but is now a rarity for urban dwellers

19bgmcow1

Sometimes, a dish in a place other than your own kitchen can set you off on a whole trip. It’s a different matter that you rediscovered it after many years while on a trip! You just need to say its name and everyone has their fragrant and sweet memory of it, very often a childhood memory.

Ginne or ginnu in Kannada, also known as kharvas , posu , junnu and bari in other Indian regions and languages, is a rare sweet made from — hold your breath — the colostrum (the first thick milk) of a cow that’s just given birth.

Ewww are you thinking? Yeah... I know. In today’s context, when we are talking of the need to give up consuming cow’s milk because adult humans don’t need it any more, this is an even more far-fetched and ‘protest-able’ practice in the eyes of many. “Imagine,” I was thinking, as I sat at my friend’s coffee estate in Karnataka’s Chikmagalur district, “I’m eating what the calf should be drinking!” That didn’t really help when my friend’s mom offered me ‘ghee ball’ — what they call it at home.

19bgmcow2

 

The milk is far richer and nutritious in every way compared to regular milk and is loaded with fat. It is treasured as much for its taste as it is for its medicinal value — it’s high in antibodies that boostyour immune system. The West is apparently using elements of bovine colostrum in vaccines.

Fond memories

As my spoon scooped up the silken and creamy ginne , it brought back memories of eating it at another friend’s home in Coorg over 20 years ago. With estate homes having their own cows, it comes as no surprise. The friend’s aunt had invited us to tea, and among the trays of cucumber sandwiches and cookies, was the creamy yellow ginne . That had been my first time.

It is an acquired taste — the fat hits you smack in the face, and its jelly-like wobbly texture isn’t palatable to many. I remember forcing myself to finish the large helping I was given, because I said I had never eaten it before!

Simple as pie

This time around, with the curiosity of one who now knows her way around the kitchen, I asked for the recipe.

“One glass of the ‘first milk’ is combined with one litre of regular fresh milk — raw. (You never heat the colostrum itself, or it splits and spoils.) Add crushed cardamom and jaggery. Stir it well, and steam, like you would idlis, for 10 minutes,” said aunty. Once it cools down, you can refrigerate it and store it for up to two weeks.

19bgmcow3

 

I had heard of and read about variations where people boil the regular milk before adding it to the colostrum. Some people add a few strands of saffron while steaming it.

This is a common dish in households where cows are still reared, or where they have access to a milkman willing to bring in some.

My aunt had her own recollections from our great grandfather’s family home. But in a world today where milk comes in packets and you don’t even have a milkman, some use substitutes such as egg and yoghurt to get a similar taste. I also learnt that there’s now ginne powder/creamer available to buy online!