Anyone raised on a diet of lassi will be quick to adopt kefir, the trendy new fermented beverage on the cusp of buttermilk and yoghurt. Kefir is cultured milk and a good source of probiotics (bacteria that is good for your gut) also present in yoghurt and fermented foods such as kimchi and sauerkraut. In Mumbai, the buzz around kefir began in November last year, when Mo’s Kefir was launched.
Moina Oberoi, a food writer and consultant, is the ‘Mo’ in Mo’s Kefir. While working on setting up Mo’s Superfoods, a start-up that specialises in fermented products such as kefir, Oberoi launched Mo’s Kefir as a pilot subscription service from her home in 2015. Oberoi had tasted and loved kefir while training to be a chef at the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York. On her return to Mumbai, she developed her own kefir for personal consumption with milk from Sarda Farms in Nashik and kefir culture from Italy.
Probiotics are known to improve digestion and also purportedly reduce allergies and lower cholesterol. Before signing up for a subscription, as recommended by Mo’s website, potential customers can sample Oberoi’s range of natural and flavoured milks by buying them on online stores such as Foodesto, Scootsy and Shophop, which retail three-bottle packs of single and assorted flavours. By the end of this month, Mo’s Kefir will be sold at Foodhall in Lower Parel and the Nature’s Basket chain of gourmet food stores. “Consumption varies from person to person,” said Oberoi, whose muscle inflammation was alleviated once she started drinking kefir regularly. “It rejuvenates gut flora and is 99 per cent lactose free as it converts the lactose in milk intro probiotics.”
We came across the superfood while reviewing 212 All Good, which utilises Oberoi’s kefir across its dairy-free smoothies. From Mo’s range of three, the plain kefir is the sharpest and takes a bit of getting used to, as it tastes like yoghurt gone sour. Oberoi has also developed honey vanilla and mango flavours, which as fans of lassi, we took an instant liking to. The mango with palm sugar has a pucker-inducing tartness with a mild soda-like effervescence and tastes practically the same as mango lassi. The freckled honey vanilla flavour, which is heavily perfumed with the bean, is the sweetest with a touch of the fizzy characteristic of kefir.
Prices start at Rs400 for three 200ml bottles of plain kefir; subscribe here. You can also shop for plain and assorted packs on Scootsy, Foodesto and Shophop.