DIY yogurt

Do you ever wonder how villagers in India make yogurt without getting some already made at the store to use as a starter to make your own? Well, several videos on YouTube show how it’s possible. Some make it from tamarind pods or chilies with stems intact. And others from a piece of lemon. 

We decided to give it a try. 

Basically you get a little warm milk, enough to cover a slice of lemon and its peel. Then keep it in a warm place for about 16 hours. In the following example, a warmed oven was used, and it got  warmed up again, as needed, in between time. I also keep a couple iron cast skillets in the oven. To keep the warmth in there.

The result was yogurt!

Now the observant will notice two pieces of lemon were used in this case. That’s because I spaced out and left the oven on too long. The heat kills the culture and perhaps whatever was on the lemon. So it got cooled down again and a second piece of lemon was  added, just in case. 

The finished product usually tastes a little lemony.  And maybe even more so this time around because of the inattentiveness. But the trick is to boil a bigger pot of milk and use this starter to make the bigger pot of milk into yogurt next.

After that turns to yogurt ( in about 5 hours ), bottle and refrigerate that amount to be used for making more pots of yogurt, using the amount needed in proportion to how much milk is used. This lessens any aftertaste over time. 

We tried chilies, too, and worked just as well. 

Speaking of yogurt, also know as “curd” in India, click here for some tips for the best ways to serve or eat it.