- Submitted by Dahlia
(Home Made Yogurt, Thayir, Dahi)
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Curd or Yogurt or Dahi (Hindi) or Thayir (Tamil) or Mosuru (Telugu) is a staple food item that is found in every Indian household. People across the country relish curd in many many ways. Be it with steaming hot parathas, spicy biryanis & pulaos and not to forget our yummy chats like dahi chat, dahi bhalla etc. Many famous specialties like Aviyal, Kadhi or morkuzhambu, rava idly, khandvi and even shrikhand etc are also prepared using the curd as the basic ingredient.
Curd is just not tasty and delicious but also extremely nutritive. It is the easiest available probiotic and the good bacteria present in curd have numerous health benefits. The bacteria present in curd not only makes curd easily absorbed but also the other food items that you have eaten. When we eat curd with a spicy food, it cools down and neutralizes the heat that the spicy foods create. Consumption of curd also minimizes the risk of high blood pressure and also helps reduce cholesterol levels. Like milk, curd also has high amounts of phosphorous and calcium which is beneficial for our teeth and bones. In addition to all this, eating curd also help in losing weight and release stress and anxiety.
In the earlier days and even today in many households curd is prepared at home. To buy a store made curd was never an option. But today we see many youngsters resorting to the ready-made curds available in the markets. Not only it is expensive, but the processing and preservation techniques used to make curd fresh for longer duration, may deplete the curd of its original nutritive value. Curd can be easily prepared at home, practically every day.
Recipe For Homemade Curd
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: NIL
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- Milk - 1/2 litre (2 cups) - you could use any type of milk
- Yogurt (Curd) - 4 tsp (you could also use store bought yogurt starter)
Method
- Boil the milk. Transfer to another vessel and let it cool.
- When it becomes lukewarm i.e. comfortable to touch with your bare fingers, add the yogurt starter. The yogurt starter can be some yogurt or commercially available starter.
- Cover with a lid and leave it in a warm place for 5-6 hours or until the yogurt is set.
Detailed Steps to make Homemade Curd
Bring the milk to a boil in a milk cooker or a saucepan. If you want to make thick curd, you need milk with full fat content. If you are looking for low fat yogurt, you can use milk with low fat content. The yogurt will not be as thick.
Reduce the heat and let the milk simmer for about 10 minutes. This simmering evaporates some of the water content and helps get thicker curd. Keep stirring occasionally.
Switch off the flame and transfer the milk to any dish with lid in which you want to make the yogurt. Let the milk cool till it reaches a lukewarm stage (app. 110 degree F). You can test this by putting your finger in the milk or touching the outside of the vessel. The heat should be bearable to touch and not hot.
Now add the yogurt starter to the milk. If you already have some curd in your refrigerator, use 1 tsp of that as a starter. You can borrow from your neighbors or friends. If not, there is also yogurt starters available in big super markets these days.
After adding the starter, keep stirring with a spoon so that the starter spreads all through the milk. This mixing giver better results.
Let it stay undisturbed in a warm place for the next 5-6 hours. If the climate is very cold, put the vessel in an oven to maintain a warm surrounding. One of my aunts puts the vessel inside a casserole to maintain a warm temperature during winters. Another aunt keeps the vessel wrapped in a blanket.
After the milk turns completely into a thick mass of yogurt, you can use it or refrigerate it for up to a week. Finish it within 3-4 days, if not the yogurt starts becoming sour.
Tips
- If you want to store yogurt for more than a week in the fridge, you could either freeze it or add some fresh milk to the yogurt every 3 days.
Serving Curd
- Curd can be served with plain white rice and some pickle.
- Curd sweetened with sugar or salted can be had as a healthy snack. You may add nuts, chopped fruits, granola etc.
- It can be used to make raita, lassi, masala moru, moru curry, parfait and many more dishes.
More Curd / Yogurt Recipes