Traditional Indian Dairy Products – A Viable option for Entrepreneurs

By Chetan Dharaiya*, Rekha Rani** and Bhopal Singh***

Introduction

Traditional Indian Dairy Products are the products which are originated and consumed in India from time immemorial. Milk is perishable in nature and gets spoiled in few hours if untreated as milk contains almost all nutrients required for the growth of microorganisms. Pasteurized milk can be stored for a day or two depending on storage conditions. Therefore, milk is converted into different products in order to preserve nutritious milk solids. Traditional dairy products enjoy mass appeal and demand is continuously increasing, does not require costly equipment, and easy to prepare. The initial investment will be very less to start a business of traditional dairy products and profitability will be comparatively better than western dairy products which on the other hand requires the latest technology for manufacture. 

There are different types of traditional dairy products such as heat desiccated products which include khoa and khoa based sweets such as peda, burfi, kalakand, gulabjamun etc.; heat and acid coagulated products which include chhana, paneer and chhana based sweets such as rasgolla, sandesh, kheermohan, rasmalai, etc.; fermented products such as dahi, buttermilk, lassi, shrikhand, etc.; fat-rich products such as makkhan, ghee; frozen products such as kulfi; cereal-based products such as kheer, halwasan, payasam, etc; and desserts like basundi, rabri, etc.

Heat desiccated products

Khoa is a major intermediate heat desiccated product that is used to prepare other sweets like peda, burfi, kalakand, gulabjamun, etc. Traditionally khoa is prepared by evaporating water from milk by continuous heating in an open pan. Buffalo milk is preferred for khoa-making because of its white color and higher total solids which results in lower concentration ratio and hence, less time and less energy requirement. Cow milk khoa is yellowish in color and slightly salty in flavor, therefore, not preferred for sweet-making. For khoa-making, whole buffalo milk is taken in an open pan and heated continuously with vigorous agitation till semi-solid consistency is achieved which is called a pat-formation stage. Slow heating and rapid agitation are required at this stage. Heating should be continued for a few more minutes followed by cooling. 

There are three types of khoa namely Dhap, pindi and danedar. Dhapkhoa contains maximum moisture (~45%) and pindikhoa contains minimum (~35%) while danedarkhoa contains ~40% moisture. Around 0.02% of citric acid is added to milk for the preparation of Danedarkhoa. Dhapkhoa is used for making gulabjamun; pindikhoa is used for making peda and burfi; and danedarkhoa is used for making kalakand. Peda, burfi, and kalakand is prepared by adding sugar to either milk (@6% of initial milk quantity) or khoa (@30% of the weight of khoa). For the preparation of gulabjamun, maida (@15-20% of khoa) and baking powder (@ 0.5% of khoa) is added to khoa for making dough followed by ball formation. These balls are fried in vegetable oil at around 120°C for 12-15 min and then dipped and stored in 62.5% sugar syrup. Khoa-based sweets have a comparatively longer shelf life of around 30 days at refrigeration temperature due to lower moisture and presence of sugar. The products have better profitability due to the addition of sugar.

Heat and acid coagulated products

Chhana is a heat and acid coagulated intermediate dairy product that is used for the preparation of numerous Bengali sweets. In chhana-making, moisture is removed by the coagulation of milk using acid at high temperatures. Generally, cow milk is preferred for making chhana as it yields a softer product that produces spongy end-products. Sponginess is essential in the majority of Bengali sweets. For the preparation of chhana, cow milk is heated to 85-90°C for 15-20 min followed by cooling at 80-82°C. Coagulation is carried out using lactic acid (1% strength) of the same temperature. The coagulated mass was hanged till dripping is stopped. The major products prepared from chhana are sandesh and rasgolla. Sandesh can be prepared by adding 30% sugar and heating up to 75°C to dissolve it. Rasgolla can be prepared by proper kneading of chhana followed by ball-formation and cooking in 60% sugar syrup. The final product was stored in 40% sugar syrup. The products have a better shelf life and higher profitability due to the addition of sugar.

Fermented products

Dahi or curd is a major fermented product. Buffalo milk is preferred for dahi-making as it produces firm dahi without any whey separation. Milk is heated to 85°C for 30 min to destroy competitive micro-flora and whey protein denaturation followed by cooling to room temperature. Then the milk is fermented using mesophilic starter culture such as Lactococcuslactisssp. lactis, Lactococcuslactisssp. cremoris, Lactococcuslactisssp. diacetilactis or previous day buttermilk and allowed for overnight fermentation to get dahi next morning. Dahi is used for making lassi and buttermilk. Lassi can be prepared by stirring curd with the addition of water to get desired consistency as well as salt or sugar. Flavors like rose and mango can also be added in sweet lassi. Buttermilk has a thinner consistency than lassi. Hence, more water is added. Salt and spices are preferred additives in buttermilk. Shrikhand is a sweetened product where sugar is added to chakka. Chakka can be prepared by removal of whey from dahi by hanging in a muslin cloth or by centrifugal force. Skim milk is generally preferred for making shrikhand to reduce fat loss in whey and better microbial growth. Plastic cream is added at the final stage to get desired fat content as per the legal requirement. Fruit pulp or nuts can be added as flavoring material.

Fat-rich products

Makkhan and ghee are major traditional fat-rich products. Makkhan is obtained by churning buffalo milk dahi. Buffalo milk is preferred to obtain higher yield of makkhan. Coldwater can be added during churning for solidification of fat and ease of churning. Buttermilk is the by-product obtained during preparation of makkhan. Makkhan is clarified at around 115°C to obtain ghee. Ghee contains around 99.7% fat and has a shelf life of around 6 months at ambient temperature. Ghee is the most suitable option to preserve surplus fat for a longer duration.

Frozen product

Kulfi is a traditional frozen dairy product relished by all age-group of people. For the preparation of kulfi, milk is concentrated to half of the original quantity along with sugar and stabilizer followed by cooling to 4°C and aged at that temperature overnight. Colour and flavor are added just before freezing. Generally, cardamom and saffron are preferred flavoring material. Then the kulfi mix is filled in a mould and dipped in an ice-salt mixture or glycol system till it freezes followed by hardening at -30°C for 24 h and storage at -18°C. Kulfi can be stored up to 6 months at -18°C.

Cereal-based products

Kheer is a major cereal-based traditional dairy product where rice is added in milk. Cereal protein lacks lysine and casein is rich in lysine, hence, the mixture of cereal protein and milk protein improves the quality of protein. For the preparation of kheer, rice is first soaked in hot water for 15-20 min and the pre-soaked rice is added to hot boiled milk followed by continuous simmering with slow stirring till 1.8 times concentration is achieved. Then 6% of sugar is added to rice-milk mixture and further condensed till 2 times concentration is achieved. Kheer was cooled to room temperature and then stored at refrigeration temperature. Halwasan and payasam are other region-specific cereal-based products.

Desserts

Basundi and rabri are popular desserts prepared from milk. Slow heating along with intermittent stirring is the key for the preparation of both the products as the caramelized flavor is desired in the product. Basundi should contain minute flakes throughout the body of the product while rabri is characterized by large flakes of clotted cream. Minute flakes in basundi are developed by mixing the fat layer immediately with the mass of milk while the fat layer is separated on sides of kadhai to get large flakes for the preparation of rabri. Sugar is added at the final stage in both the products at the rate of 6% of the original milk. The concentration ratio is around 2.4 in the case of basundi while that is 3 for rabri. Flavoring material like cardamom, saffron, and nutmeg, etc. are added. 

Conclusion

Traditional Indian dairy products can be an attractive alternative for entrepreneurs because of their evergreen demand and low capital investment as well as high profitability due to the addition of sugar. Heat desiccated products like peda, burfi, and kalakand have a profit margin of around 40-60% while rasgolla and gulabjamun have still higher profit margin of around 70-80%. Products like shrikhand and kulfi have more than 100% profit margin. Therefore, there are great future prospects for entrepreneurs to invest in the manufacture of traditional Indian dairy products.

Suggested readings:

• Aneja RP, Mathur BN, Chandan RC, Banerjee AK (2002) Technology of Indian Milk Products. A Dairy India Publ., Delhi, India.
• De S (1980) Outlines of Dairy Technology. Oxford University Press, Delhi, India

Authors’ profile

*Dr. Chetan Dharaiya is working as an Assistant Professor at SMC College of Dairy Science, Anand Agricultural University, Anand. He has worked in the area of Traditional Indian dairy products, ice-cream, and cheese. 

Email: chetandharaiya@gmail.com

**Dr. Rekha Rani is working as an Assistant Professor at Warner College of Dairy Science, SHIATS, Prayagraj. Her area of expertise is Traditional Indian Dairy Products, fat-rich dairy products, and functional foods.

Email: verma.rekha@gmail.com

***Dr. Bhopal Singh is working as an Assistant Professor at Dayalbag Educational Institute, Agra. His area of expertise is Traditional Indian dairy products and functional food.

Email: bhopalbtech@gmail.com

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