Growing up in a South Indian home, we had a big container of buttermilk in our fridge at all times. We'd mix it into fluffy white rice with spices and aachar, simmer it in a thick, coconut-and turmeric-inflected stew, or, more often than not, pour it into a glass and drink it straight, maybe with a pinch of salt and pungent asafetida.
See, in my family, buttermilk was traditionally always a digestive aid and a flavor booster. It never once went into a baked good; in fact, I didn't know you could use it for baking until I took a trip to Huntsville, Alabama for Space Camp in the eighth grade, and tasted my first buttermilk biscuit. I recall the biscuit being noticeably tangy, fluffy, and tender as heck, and I immediately had to know why. The answer, as it turns out, was under my nose (well, in our fridge back at home).
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