Listen to your gut… isn’t that what we do for every important decision that we have to make? And when it comes to food for a healthy gut, probiotics are the best answer. Yogurt is one of the most common probiotic foods that we can to add to our diet. It is one of the key foods that make a daily appearance on our table. Making it at home is very easy and much cheaper than store-bought yogurt. You will need only two ingredients for this – yogurt starter and milk. You can make a one-time purchase of yogurt to use as a starter or if you prefer, you can make your own with just milk and one red or green chili. Here’s how to make homemade yogurt…

WHAT YOU WILL NEED for HOMEMADE YOGURT

Ingredients

Note: 1 cup = 235 ml

• 2 Tbsp. water
• 500 ml milk 
• ½ Tbsp. yogurt / homemade yogurt starter – optional, but highly recommended

Kitchen tools

• Heavy bottom sauce pan
• Kitchen thermometer – optional, but highly recommended 
• Scoop Ladle
• Small cup and spoon
• Mason Jar
• Instant Pot – optional (if you don’t have a conventional oven)

PREPARATION – Homemade Yogurt (with step-by-step photos)

Step 1  – Set a heavy bottom sauce pan on medium heat and add 2 Tbsp. water

Adding a little bit of water to the pan prevents from milk sticking to the bottom of the pan

Step 2  – Add 500 ml milk and heat it about 180°F – 200°F. If you do not have a thermometer, then look out for a cool molecular pattern on the top like googly eyes and you can turn off the heat. Alternatively, simply wait for the milk to start to boil over and you are good to go

Step 3  – Allow it to cool down to about 120° F. If you do not have a thermometer, touch the outside of the pan and you should feel it hot, but comfortable to touch 

Step 4  – In a small cup, combine ½ Tbsp. homemade yogurt starter and ½ Tbsp. milk (@ 120° F) and mix it well

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Step 5  – Add this mixture to the entire milk from step 3. Mix thoroughly and pour it in a mason jar

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Step 6  – Leave it overnight in a warm place for the yogurt to set. Over here in Calgary with its cooler climate, I set it inside my conventional oven with the light on or use an Instant pot on Yogurt Mode

Depending on the climatic conditions of the place you live, this time can vary from 6 – 12 hours

Step 7  – Enjoy your sublime homemade yogurt in every meal😋

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Thair-Saadam and Tam-Bram are inseparable😋. Preparing yogurt at home was part of our daily cooking routine while growing up. After my wedding, when we moved to Gurgaon, I noticed that my husband preferred ‘Nestle Dahi’ to homemade yogurt mainly because the taste was consistent and it was also firm (unlike yogurt made at home which some days turned runny or extra sour). A little research helped me to come up with consistently good results and now store bought yogurt is only a rare occurrence. The amount of water in the milk, the temperature while setting the yogurt, the ratio of milk to starter, the time taken to ferment, and the weather of the place you live in play a vital role in achieving results. And many thanks go to my aunt, Chitra Thyagarajan, who shared a crucial tip that you can get going without starter yogurt. All you need is a green or dry red chili with its stem. After the boiled milk cools off to the suggested temperature, submerge a chili in 1/2 cup of this lukewarm milk and set aside for fermenting. You can then use the resultant yogurt as a starter for your next batch (but again using only 1/2 cup lukewarm milk). You will need to repeat this a total of 3 times until you get the desired taste and consistency of your starter after which you can use it with larger quantities of milk to get regular yogurt. I was unsure about that theory until I was in a situation where I had to make yogurt without a starter and it was a lifesaver🤩

Related Recipes

Cilantro Yogurt Dip

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