Dairy institute develops ready-to-eat products

The National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) has developed ready-to-eat food products by using coarse cereals like foxtail millet, jowar in combination with milk solids like butter milk and whey solids through extrusion and retort processes. The products are now ready for commercial use and the NDRI was looking for companies to commercialise them, a top official said.

Whey is a by-product of milk, which comes out from curds in the form of a watery substance while making cheese. Of every 100 litres of milk, 10 kgs of cheese and 14 kgs of paneer is produced, while the balance goes in the form of whey, which is normally wasted by Indian households. Whey contains 5-6 per cent of solids, which is a rich source of energy and can be used for cooking purposes, he said.

“We have developed technologies to use milk and its derivatives like buttermilk and whey gainfully. A method is developed to make use of whey for various applications in the Indian kitchen. It can be used for cooking dal and preparIng dough for chapati, idli and dosa,” Satish Kulkarni, Head, NDRI told Business Standard.

NDRI has used whey for preparing idli and dosa dough. It acts as an agent for fermenting the dough. “We have completed the research and the technology is in the take off stage. We will approach the Akshay Patra Foundation to use it commercially,” he said.

In addition to this, NDRI has worked on developing several health products using coarse cereals like finger millet and foxtail millets, which are rich in fibre. “In northern Karnataka, there is a habit of preparing porridge of Jowar in puffed form. Generally it is mixed with jaggery and milk or buttermilk and salt. We have developed a porridge by using puffed jowar with the combination of milk solids. It can be used as a breakfast meal and mix fruits also in it,” he said.

Another commonly used cereal is foxtail millet. Traditionally it was given to expectant mothers and aged persons as a specialised food. It is used in many parts of the country, especially in the southern states. It is an excellent cereal, which can be used as fibre rich food product either by combining milk solids and extrusion process or combining with milk through retort process. The NDRI has done extensive research for close to four years and used retort and extrusion process to develop the product, Kulkarni said.

The digestable fibre in foxtail millet is in the region of 7 per cent compared to 9 per cent in oats. The porridge developed by NDRI has a shelf life of 4 months. The technology will be transferred to interested companies during a workshop organised by NDRI, he added.

NDRI has already developed and commercialised half a dozen technologies. They include palada payasam, which was taken by Kerala Milk Marketing Federation, gulab jamun by Karnataka Milk Federation, podo, a channa-based product by Orissa Milk Federation mozzarella cheese and flavoured milk among others.