I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised how

Recipes, Cooking tips and maybe some 'Home Made' secrets !
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fabindia
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I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised how

Post by fabindia »

We regularly make our own yogurt using shop-bought live yogurt as the starter. I did get to wondering though how people make it from scratch so I consulted the oracle that google is and looked for how people in India make their yogurt (dahi) starters and surprisingly they use chillies.

So I heated some milk to 83c in order to sterilise it, allowed it to cool, added a few fresh chillies and simply left it over night (it is very warm here), and found it really does work. I have a set yogurt, which although doesn't taste of chillies is not for consumption as it is but you use as the starter for a new batch.

What I want to do next is see how long I can continue making yogurt from this starter before it gets that really sharp, acid taste you get eventually.
Michael
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Re: I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised ho

Post by wendy »

Wow.
I used to make it with a machine when the children were small. I am allergic to it.
So no longer do.
Keep us posted how it all goes.
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Re: I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised ho

Post by albertajune »

I make it from a little yogurt in milk which is left overnight in a thermos flask. Not tried with just milk though. What do the chillies add to it? One to try )t'
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Re: I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised ho

Post by fabindia »

albertajune wrote:What do the chillies add to it?


Like all fresh fruit and veg, chillies are covered in bacteria and yeasts. For some reason people in India choose to use chillies as their source of bacteria for their yogurt.

If you make sourdough, then a couple grapes or a bit of banana skin are good for getting a sourdough starter going.
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Re: I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised ho

Post by albertajune »

Interesting Michael.. I often make bread but cannot make a sourdough starter. Not for the want of trying.
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Re: I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised ho

Post by Spreckly »

Chillies for yoghurt, amazing! Like Wendy, I had a machine years ago. Now I just buy it from M..... sons, which does have cultures!
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Re: I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised ho

Post by fabindia »

albertajune wrote:I often make bread but cannot make a sourdough starter.


For a sourdough starter, other than flour and water, you need two other essentials, warmth and yeast, that is yeast from somewhere.

I can make a sourdough starter from scratch in a couple of days, but then again it is extremely warm here. Try this in UK and let me know if it works:

150g - bread flour
150g - lukewarm water that has previously boiled (boiling should get rid of any chlorine, etc.)
1 piece of ripe banana skin about 2 inches long

Just cover the cover with some kitchen roll, don't put an air-tight lid on it. Leave in a warm place and you should find that after a few days the dough you made is starting to ferment and now has bubbles in it. Just remember to remove the banana skin before you use it.

Why banana skin? Well, I have found that it works for me better than grapes even, which are often recommended. Some people have said you don't need to add anything to get a sourdough started, just leave open to the air, which is full of yeasts and bacteria floating about. I am sure that method does work but I have found the banana skin absolutely foolproof, at least here in Thailand and India.

Good luck.
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Update on yogurt made from scratch

Post by fabindia »

Made the first batch on yogurt for our consumption last night made from the chilli-based starter.

Turns out really nice. We will probably use this method in future but why bother?

First, there will be a little saving in having to buy commercially made yogurt. It can be a little expensive over here but then again if you are just using it to start your own batches of yogurt, then the saving isn't that great.

Second, it will save just a little more one-time-use plastic. I know it is only drop in the ocean compared with the amount of plastic already in our oceans, but still, we have to try. Wendy and I are still in the process of working out how we can be more eco friendly in part of the world that doesn't seem to care two hoots.
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Re: I've made yogurt from scratch and you'll be surprised ho

Post by albertajune »

Thanks for the sourdough starter tip which I will pass on to a friend who is also not very successful with it.
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Update on yogurt made from scratch

Post by fabindia »

We have bought any commercially produced yogurt since making from scratch.

We do have to make a new starter batch every couple of weeks and then use that for subsequent batches. The problem is that if you just keep making yogurt from a bit left over from the last batch it eventually becomes quite tart - the same happens even if you use a yogurt maker and an original live supermarket purchased yogurt.

The green chillies in a little warm seems to work every time, at least here, where our kitchen probably is never less than 26 deg C. Also, the yogurt is really nice and creamy and the closest we come to making real Indian yogurt, though they would call it curd, Dahi. Here's a link to a Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahi_(curd)
Michael
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