Home made yogurt - quick and easy!

I love yogurt and it's so versatile for a range of sweet and savoury dishes. If you're struggling to find yeast to make bread, you can use this yogurt recipe in my easy two-ingredient bread recipe.

This yogurt recipe takes me back to my parents 4ftx 4ft  kitchen space and how industrious my Mummy was with a real passion for everything being homemade.

Our home was a fridge free zone for most of my childhood - in the city of Bradford (UK). My parents would store most of their ingredients in tins that my father would paint in different colours. Bottles and jars were recycled - empty sweet glass jars were picked up from Mr. Thomas s corner shop. - big 5llb jars with a wide mouth and screw lids. I used to think they were massive as a child! Each filled to the brim with shiny lentil, different types of flours, rice, grains, and homemade spice mixtures and garamasala.

Anything that needed a cooler environment was stored on the cellar steps or in the cellar itself.
I think not owning a fridge was also down to cash flow problems and due to that fact that preserving  (fridging/freezing) was an unfamiliar process to my Mummy s cooking world.

Twice a week we made a large pot of yogurt that was made just before I went to bed.
The pot of milk that was combined with a starter yogurt that sat neatly balanced on our only gas fire in the house, whilst it set overnight. I would rush out of bed to monitor its result with great delight. We always ate yogurt on the first day it was produced and then the rest got separated off for recipes.

I used to beg her to let me help her make it, I say beg because my Mummy was very strict in her kitchen, most of my learning was done through watching listening and being guided by her methodical techniques, generally by observation and being told off a lot!
This way it enabled me to develop my senses and the art of judging from my inner gut to perfect the art of spice of composing with spices and ingredients for balanced tastes and to complement dishes together on the plate. Looking back "the training" was so rigorous and boy at times I would explode with so much expression in the kitchen - but she wanted me to learn really precise techniques and to develop my inner judgment and an understanding of how the importance of judging naturally and of time in the cooking process was also a key ingredient. I am very grateful now.

She would not rely on weights, measurements, and scales first. She would rarely taste anything that used to amaze me!  And yet it all tasted so good but that is something I don't advocate. Taste away!

I remember once counting the rotis for all the guests that were coming to ours just to make sure we had enough to go round and she stopped me in my tracks and she would say "you just know and you will too in time." I thank her now.

She was given a set of scales in the 1970 s from my best friend's mother Wendy. She accepted the gift gracefully, but rarely used them and only to check if the local grocers had not overcharged her as she weighed her shopping of different flours and grains and other amazing ingredients to check. Which I found amusing. Her cupboards were well-stocked with shelves of shiny stainless tins filled with spices and homemade Farsan as are mine which has really helped me out with the current situation we are in.

My 8th generation family home 

This simple yogurt recipe has been made in our family for many generations using their dairy cattle for milk. The recipe has traveled from Indian to Africa and finally brought to England.
I have visited many regions in Indian and returned many times to explore and research spices, cuisine and ingredients, and recipes. At my 8th generation family home in south Gujerat at a village called Undach, I learned how to make this yogurt from scratch so this recipe has a lot of connection for me.


The great UK food critics I have cooked for gave me much praise which I was delighted with telling me I was a very technically very accomplished cook. I remember it made me cry however not with sadness but with great joy, as it was jolly tuff work mastering the spice judgment and many techniques over decades and with a lot of patience

I have added measurements here for ease

Recipe 

• Heat one pint of full fat or semi-skimmed cows milk and let it come to the boil once and them take off immediately.
• Fill the sink with cold water and let the pan of milk sit in the cold water and allow it to go cold completely
• Add in 1 level tablespoon of starter yogurt- which has been reserved form the previous batch of yogurt made or if don't have any use a shop-bought yogurt to start with and give it a stir or a gentle whisk
• Pour the mixture in a clean stainless still container and allow to set overnight in a warmish place

Making yogurt in Indian with  my family

Tips

1. The more starter yogurt you use the firmer the yogurt will set. Using a fresh yogurt starter will give you a milder yogurt and an older yogurt starter used will give you a more sour taste.
2. Try not to be tempted to put your fingers in the boiled milk while cooling as it can interfere with the setting process- use a clean sterilized spoon to test its temperature
3. I like to make a hot yogurt spicy sauce (Kirdhi) and Chaz  (cold spiced flavored curds and whey) which is great served with vegetable or dhal khichri- savory rice)Eaten in the summer months. One of my other favorites is to serve it over over peaches soaked in ginger r and honey and a touch of cinnamon and pureed fresh strawberries with cardamom
4. Many Indians eat yogurt to wish themselves luck, before an interview or an exam, as it is believed that the yogurt acts as a coolant for the stomach where much stress can be held.

Good luck with the recipe - Give it ago and let me know!

(c)Gita Mistry2020