Homemade Yogurt

Yogurt is a staple in any Indian Kitchen. It is used to make raitas, kadhi, chutneys, or eaten plain with any rice preparation, but it's not just limited to Indian cooking. Yogurt is also used in smoothies, parfaits, cakes etc.

Plain yogurt is all time favorite at my house. Me and my younger son hog on yogurt like there's never tomorrow 😁. Homemade plain yogurt tastes so much better than store bought that once you know the knack of making it you would never go back to the store bought one. It is simple and easy to make, just boil the milk, use culture and dissolve it in the milk and cover and let it sit in warm place, it's that simple. 

Growing up in India I have always eaten homemade yogurt, never have I tasted store bought yogurt until I came to US and I missed my yogurt so much that I started making it at home. Now, ocassionally I do buy store bought yogurt when needed in large quantity but I always keep a batch of fresh homemade yogurt in my refrigerator!

Let's see this simple recipe, hopefully you all will like it! I have tried adding videos to give a better idea of the process. 

Ingredients

2 cup whole milk

1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp yogurt culture depending on the sourness you like. We like less sour yogurt so I use less culture.

Method

Boil milk on medium gas.

Once milk is boiled turn off the gas and let the milk cool down a bit. Milk should be little bit more hot than lukewarm.

Now let's add some yogurt culture to the milk. Whisk the culture in a small bowl, make sure there are no lumps. 

Add 1/2 tsp to 3/4 tsp yogurt culture to the milk. 

Mix nicely, cover and keep the bowl in warm place for at least 4/5 hrs. I transferred this milk to different bowl and kept it in the oven for 4/5 hrs until yogurt was nicely set. Keep it in the refrigerator once you take it out from the oven to get this thick and creamy texture! 

Your homemade yogurt is ready to eat, enjoy it as is or in variety of recipes. 

Notes-: For tangier yogurt add more yogurt culture and keep it in warm place for  
             5-6 hrs and then refrigerate it. But for sweeter version use less 
            culture and leave it in warm place for 4-5 hrs and then refrigerate. 
            In winter it might take longer time to set but in summer this process 
            quickens. 
             Another point I would like to share is that try and find someone who 
            can give you culture from homemade yogurt, the outcome of 
            homemade yogurt is definitely rewarding than culture used from store                            bought yogurt.