Homemade yogurt or curd (Dahi) is VERY EASY to prepare, inexpensive. This thick and delicious yogurt recipe is with step by step instructions, photos and lots of tips.
Yogurt is known as curd in India. The other names are
dahi (Hindi, Gujarati),
Mosaru (Kannada),
Thayir (Tamil),
Thayiru (Malayalam),
doi (Assamese, Bengali),
dohi (Odia),
perugu (Telugu) and
Dhahi or Dhaunro (Sindhi).
[Source - wikipedia]
Dahi or curd is the staple food in our home. We manage to finish up almost 2-3 litres of dahi every week. I make chaas everyday (no matter it's summer or winter) and everyone drinks 1-2 glasses with their meal. Hubby takes a small container of plain yogurt with his rice for lunch every other day. Also I make kadhi once a week. Sometimes I make raita or use it while making dhokla.
Curd or dahi has very cooling effect to your body. So it is good to consume during hot summer days. It is also good for easy digestion. Other than consuming or using the recipes, you can use the yogurt for making DIY face masks. Yes it is good for the skin as well.
Here I am sharing the procedure of making dahi/curd at home. I have mentioned possible tips in each and every step. Once you understand the process, you will never fail making homemade yogurt.
Check out more kitchen basics (DIYs)
How to make paneer
Garam masala powder
How to make ghee
How to cook basmati rice
How to make Ginger and garlic paste
How to make curd or dahi at home?
1) Rinse your pan/patila with water. This will help to prevent milk sticking to the pan, also it will be easier to clean the pan later on. Pour the milk in the pan and turn the heat on medium-high.
2) Bring the milk to a boil. It took me 7-8 minutes. Once it comes to a boil and rises, lower the heat to lowest and simmer for 2-3 minutes and then turn off the stove. This simmering process will prevent the yogurt from becoming stringy. Let it cool down slightly.
3) Pour the milk into the container in which your are going to set the yogurt. Or you can set the yogurt in same patila or pan. Here I have used small ceramic bowl for photo purpose and one large Pyrex bowl. You can use any glass, plastic or steel container. Even you can use clay bowl or kullad.
4) Let the milk cool down till it becomes lukewarm. this cooling process MUST be done at room temperature. DO NOT even think of popping in the fridge for quicker cooling process.
5) Meanwhile remove the starter curd in a small bowl or katori. We need the starter yogurt at room temperature. My yogurt is always chilled in the fridge, so yours. So I always remove the required amount in small bowl and keep it on countertop. So it will come to room temperature while the milk is cooling down.
6) Let’s check the milk is lukewarm or not. You can use thermometer (110 degrees F or 43 degrees C), but who cares for the exact temperature. I do it this way - stick your clean finger in the milk, you will feel like warm water bath (not hot).
7) Ok, now milk is lukewarm and starter yogurt is at room temperature. Add that yogurt in the milk.
8) Mix well using spoon or you can use hand blender.
9) Now cover the container with lid. Keep in the warm place without disturbing for 5-6 hours. I usually keep the container in the oven with light on.
10) During the summer in India, it can be ready very quickly (with in 4-5 hours), so do check after 4 hours and see if it is set or not. During the winters, you can cover the container with warm blanket. During winters, I just turn on the oven at lowest temperature for few minutes just to warm up the oven (not pre-heating) and then keep the container in oven (turned off) overnight.
11) Once the curd is set, pop the container in the fridge for further setting or to make this thicker. Keep refrigerated for 1-2 hours or till it gets chilled. Then yogurt is ready to use. If not chilled in the fridge then yogurt will stay runny and watery.
Here I have made with 1 litre milk, you can double, triple or halve the recipe as required.
Shelf life: It stays good for 4-5 days in refrigerator.
Serving suggestion: plain curd can be served as a side with your meal. You can use it in the many different recipes.
Recipes using curd/Yogurt/Dahi:
Smoothies
Chaas, Lassi
Raitas
Kadhi recipes
Instant dhokla, Instant idli
Dahiwale aloo, Kofta curry
Curd rice (Thayir sadam)
Why my yogurt (curd or dahi) is sour?
Once the yogurt is formed and you forgot to put in the fridge. Meaning you kept it outside even after it is set for longer period of time. As the time goes it will becomes sour. But no worries, It is still edible. You can use sour yogurt for making kadhi, dhokla, handvo.
Why my curd has too much watery part/whey?
Because it is set at the high temperature. Always set the yogurt at warm place. OR the starter yogurt is too old and so bacteria are not that powerful to make the thick yogurt. So always buy the new starter yogurt after using the same for about 2-3 months over and over. Other than buying, you can ask a spoonful of it to your friendly neighbor (that’s what we do in India).
Can I use any milk?
I prefer to use whole milk (full fat milk) which gives the thick and luscious yogurt. If fat free or low fat milk is used then yogurt may be thin or runny (not thick). You can use use cow’s milk, buffalo’s milk, goat’s milk. If the raw milk is used then yogurt will be runny compared to the made from pasteurized milk.
Why the yogurt does not set? Why is it still milk?
you may have added less yogurt. OR the starter yogurt does not have active bacteria in it. OR you have added starter yogurt to the hot milk or cold milk instead of warm, so the active bacteria got killed
Homemade yogurt, How to make curd (dahi) at home
Ingredients
- 4 cups or about 1 litre Milk
- 3-4 teaspoons Yogurt (curd or dahi) from previous batch or store-bought
Instructions
How to make curd at home:
- Pour the milk in the pan and turn the heat on medium-high and bring it to a boil
- Once it comes to a boil and rises, lower the heat to lowest and simmer for 2-3 minutes and then turn off the stove.
- Pour the milk into the container in which your are going to set the yogurt or you can set the yogurt in same patila or pan.
- Let the milk cool down till it becomes lukewarm.
- Also remove the starter curd in a small bowl or katori and let it come to room temperature.
- Let’s check the milk is lukewarm or not. You can use thermometer (110 degrees F or 43 degrees C), but who cares for the exact temperature. I do it this way - stick your clean finger in the milk, you will feel like warm water bath (not hot).
- Ok, now milk is lukewarm and starter yogurt is at room temperature. Add that yogurt in the milk.
- Mix well using spoon or you can use hand blender.
- Now cover the container with lid. Keep in the warm place without disturbing for 5-6 hours. I usually keep the container in the oven with light on.
- During the summer in India, it can be ready very quickly (with in 4-5 hours), so do check after 4 hours and see if it is set or not.
- During the winters, you can cover the container with warm blanket. During winters in USA, I just turn on the oven at lowest temperature for few minutes just to warm up the oven (not pre-heating) and then keep the container in oven (turned off) overnight.
- Once the curd is set, pop the container in the fridge for further setting.
- Keep refrigerated for 1-2 hours or till it gets chilled.
- Then yogurt is ready to use.
Hi,
My husband spent time in India almost 50 years ago and he has always told me that he had the best yogurt in the world there and could never find yogurt as good here in the US. So when I saw your recipe I wanted to make it right away! It turned out really delicious but I have a couple of questions.
First, the pan got scorched when heating up the milk, even though I rinsed it with water as you suggested beforehand. I kept stirring it and turning it down, but it took a very long time to boil and the bottom of the pan was still scorched.
Second, when milk is boiled it forms a skin that separates from the liquid, so I just discarded that. Is that what I should have done?
Third, my husband said the yogurt he had in India was sweeter than this but maybe that means I just cultured it for too long? I left it for 6 hours.
Thanks in advance for any help and advice!
Glad that yogurt came out good.
The pan should have thick, heavy bottom. Yes, it takes time for the milk to come to a boil. I would remove the milk from the fridge few hours earlier and let it sit on the countertop. So it comes to a room temperature. Then when I enter the kitchen for cooking, I turn on the stove. As room temperature milk boils faster, less use of gas energy and it has less chances of scorching at the bottom. When the chilled, refrigerated milk gets heated up, it gets a temperature shock and the chances of getting scorched are high.
Yes, the skin separates, that is fat content. Personally I discard that. But if my mother-in-law sees that she would be mad at me that I have wasted the good fat from the milk. She would use the hand blender and blend that back into the milk. I skip this one extra step and honestly I don't need any extra fat😂.
Your husband is right, the yogurt in India has slight sweet flavor profile. That is because of the quality of milk. Here in the USA, we have 3.25% fat content in whole milk. Vs, in India milk has 4.5% to 6% fat content. Hence the yogurt in India is more creamy and has sweet flavor profile.
Hi so can I use store bought Greek style yoghurt as a starter?
yes you can
I knew how to make curd, but it used to become stringy... Now I know...
Thanks for ur small tips! Very useful...
Glad that it was helpful
It was my first time setting curd and I must say your recipe worked like magic. What is even more adorable is that my husband found it similar to the store bought curd 😀
very glad to know that yogurt came out good.