Little pleasures of returning

When I was a child, we lived in Jawahar Nagar in Trivandrum. My grandfather used to go for his walks very early in the morning just a little before sun rose and I used to accompany him sometimes. The house had a couple of stone seats at the front door outside. This is where the vendors left the milk and the newspaper would be thrown over the gate towards the steps. The newspaper was there even as we left. As we walked “briskly”, as in the mind of a 6 year old, my grandfather used to stop at the gates of different houses and speak to the men of those houses. I would skip around, waiting for him to finish talking (and sometimes I would get some attention from the different “friends” he spoke to).

By the time we returned, the milk bottle would be waiting in front of the door. I do not remember the specifics but I think there were packets sometimes and very often 1 liter bottles or 1/2 liter bottles. Since those days, I could never find this delivery of milk in bottles – there were different ways to get them delivered but I do not remember the bottles. Once I went to Germany, I found the bottles, of Landliebe Milch, in supermarkets. I bought it a couple of times and then gave up. Between my husband and I, we could not manage to finish that quantity of “fresh” milk before it expired. We could not make Joghurt as well as we could do it in India.

In the 1990s or so, my uncle gave his tips on how to make Joghurt that set very well. Following those tips, soon after I got married, I used to have really yum and solid Joghurt without any trouble. My mother’s Joghurt and my uncle’s recipe set the benchmark for all Joghurts.

Fast forward to 2020. We returned from Germany. I looked forward to making my own Joghurt daily. I tried it with the Nandini Milk that I was getting daily. It just would not set. I then tried to order milk with more fat content. No, it was thicker but still very unstable. I l heard that A2 milk will give good Joghurt. On checking with my milk vendor whether he can deliver A2, we heard that he would only deliver Nandini milk. I searched for Farm fresh A2 milk and, remembering my childhood, looked for bottled milk. I also wanted a provider who would take back the bottles.

Early in the search, I came across Akshayakalpa. Due to their lack of recycling possibilities, I abandoned them. I reached out to others but no one would take the bottles back. Finally I found Erden Creamery which would take the bottles back. However, they would do so only for direct delivery. Unfortunately, they do not deliver in this area. So almost 5 months after I started searching, I went back to Akshayakalpa. They still do not take the bottles back.

I get the bottled milk once a week. It comes before 6 pm and I pick it up from the security. I come up feeling the bottle and feeling happy just holding the bottle. I put in the milk into my milk boiling vessel. The milk creams as I stir while it boils. I wait for it to cool enough to make the Joghurt and set it for the whole day. It is a pleasure to eat the curd after it sets (though I have to find a way to leave it long enough to set but not long enough to become too sour).

In the meantime, while I wait for it to set, and I have emptied the whole bottle of milk in, I have green tea!