Make-Your-Own Sour Cream

Sour Cream

1 box (about 1 cup or 200ml) cream

1-2 Tbls vinegar or Lemon Juice (Meg prefers lemon juice! Try them both and see what you like)

Pinch of Salt

In South Asia, cream generally comes in small boxes (think drink box). Because of the heat, a lot of times the liquid will settle to the bottom. In order to drain off the liquid, gently turn the box upside down. Undo the bottom and pull it up. Use scissors to cut across the entire box to open it. There will likely be a yellowish liquid on top of the cream. Pour this off and dispose of it. Then get a spoon and add vinegar starting with ½ Tbls at a time. After each addition, taste and see if it has lost the strong cream taste (you do not want to taste vinegar – think about the flavor of sour cream). Once you have added 1 Tbls, make additional additions in smaller increments until you reach desired taste. Then pour it into a container with a lid and refrigerate. This works great on baked potatoes, Mexican food or anything that needs real sour cream. In recipes which use sour cream as a cooked ingredient (not as a garnish), plain yogurt is an easy and cheap substitute.