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How to make Yogurt at home-Making Curd (dahi)-Curd Recipe

January 15, 2013 by PadhuSankar 22 Comments

Curd/ Yoghurt is an important part of Indian diet. In most Indian homes curd is prepared almost everyday. Home made curd is not only very simple to prepare but is also delicious.Moreover it has no preservatives and is also economical.Yogurt has many health benefits. It is an excellent source of calcium. It has vitamin B and protein also. It keeps the body cool, aids in digestion and is a well known beauty aid. Curd is considered a wonderful beauty aid as it does wonders to your hair and skin. It keeps your hair and skin soft and silky. Check out beauty uses of curd. Being a South Indian, curd is an indispensable part of our meals. We have curd everyday for lunch and I use curd to prepare a variety of dishes like aviyal, raita, mor kuzhambu, salad, smoothie etc.
How to make yogurt (curd) at home

How to make Yogurt/Curd at Home


How to  make yogurt

 Prep Time : 10 mins

 Cook Time : 5 hours 30 mins 
 Yields:2 1/2 cup
 Recipe Category: Kitchen Basics
 Recipe Cuisine: Indian
 Author:Padhu Sankar

   Ingredients needed

   Milk – 500 ml
   Curd/ Plain Yogurt from previous batch as a starter – 2 tsp

Method

1.Boil milk in a pan and switch off. Leave it to cool. Let it become lukewarm.
2.When it is lukewarm, (just dip you little finger to check the temperature) add 2 tsp of curd and mix well. Alternatively you can pour milk for one container to another 2-3 times so that the curd mixes well with the milk. Then transfer the milk to a container with lid. Keep a separate container for making curd. You can also set curd in individual cups as shown in the picture above.
3.Leave the container undisturbed in a warm place for 5-6 hours.The curd will set within 5-6 hours under favorable conditions.

4.Refrigerate once the curd sets. It becomes firm after 2-3 hours of refrigeration. If you leave the curd outside for a long time, it will become sour.

Curd-thayir

Tips to make curd in winter


In winter or in cold places, curd takes a longer time to set. In addition to following the above steps, these tips might help you.

You can set curd in a casserole and add more culture or starter.(around 1 tbsp)

Cover the container with a thick towel or woolen cloth and then store it in a warm place.

Preheat the oven at 180 degree C for 2 minutes. Switch off the oven.Then keep the container in the oven for 6-7 hours or overnight leaving the oven lights on.

Note


If the milk is too hot, it will not set into curd or your curd will be watery.

If the milk is cold or less hot, the bacteria will not activate and it will not set into curd. So see to it that  milk is lukewarm (neither hot nor cold)

Get good quality curd from the supermarket, if you do not have curd from the previous batch.

Do not set curd in the same vessel you boil milk. Have a separate container for making curd.

Always save a little yogurt to make your next batch of homemade yogurt.
Making yogurt at home sounds so easy, isn’t it? You do not need any machine or thermometer or any gadgets for making this delicious yoghurt.
I love to have a cupful of plain curd every day. At times I love to have it with fruits and nuts topped with honey as in the picture below. You can add any seasonal fruits of your choice. At times I add finely chopped dates instead of honey.
Yogurt with fruits
Yogurt with fruits and nuts

Curd/ Yoghurt Recipes -Though there are many recipes using yogurt/curd in this space, I have just given a few below.

Mor Kuzhambu 

Curd Rice

Vazhai thandu Mor Kootu 

Aviyal 

Carrot Orange Salad 

Cucumber Raita 

Carrot Raita 

Onion Pachadi (raita) South Indian style

Tomato Raita 

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Related posts:

Misal Pav Recipe-How to make Misal Pav

Ginger Garlic Paste Recipe-How to make Ginger Garlic Paste

Thayir Vadai-South Indian Style Curd Vada-Dahi Vada Recipe

Persian Dill Rice Recipe

Filed Under: How To, Uncategorized Tagged With: Fruits, Salad, Uncategorized, yogurt/curd




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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Nabanita Das

    January 15, 2013 at 4:48 pm

    Lovely and yummy curd……..

    Reply
  2. divya

    January 15, 2013 at 5:06 pm

    yummy n perfect

    Reply
  3. M D

    January 15, 2013 at 5:55 pm

    That so basic at my place that I cant imagine surviving without it even for a day. Beautiful click.

    Reply
  4. Priya

    January 15, 2013 at 10:03 pm

    Nothing will beat the homemade curd,well done.

    Reply
  5. Sireesha Puppala

    January 15, 2013 at 10:15 pm

    neatly set thick curd..miss home made curd..well done padhu

    Reply
  6. pradeep shah

    January 16, 2013 at 1:17 am

    I also add thicka (spicy) sev on top of yogurt
    Yogurt is the best for humans in every respect

    Reply
  7. Anandhi

    January 16, 2013 at 6:02 am

    really superb aunty..yummy..

    Reply
  8. R.Ramakrishnan

    January 16, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    Dear Padhuji
    You have used the words cured & yoghurt alternatively to describe the same product. Are not curd & yoghurt slightly different ? As I understand curd is plain while yoghurt is flavored.
    Warm Regards Ram

    Reply
  9. PadhuSankar

    January 17, 2013 at 7:27 am

    Hi Ramakrishnan
    Yogurt is made by adding some starter culture bacteria like lactobacilus to warm milk and allowed to set.But in India, the term curd is most commonly used for it. Btw You get plain yogurt also.

    Reply
  10. shaveta sharma

    February 2, 2013 at 6:55 am

    plz tell me baout youself

    Reply
  11. Raj

    May 12, 2013 at 5:13 am

    Why the curd we set at home not as thick as what we get in hotels? Do the hotel guys add any other stuff to milk?

    Reply
  12. pari

    October 15, 2013 at 4:05 am

    i have kept my curd for 24 hours but stil itz milky not thick wht can i do and itz cold here in melbourne plz help

    Reply
  13. Padhu Sankar

    October 15, 2013 at 8:07 am

    Pari -Warm temperature is required to encourage bacterial growth for the yogurt to set. Keep the container in a bowl of warm water or wrap the container in a warm woolen blanket. You can preheat the oven for 2-3 minutes to a desired temperature, turn it off and then keep the container in it with the oven lights on.It might take more than 24 hours in colder places.

    Reply
  14. ramesh m

    November 2, 2013 at 7:11 am

    Thank you very much. This was very helpful… will try it and see how it comes out.

    Reply
  15. P Sreedhar

    January 12, 2014 at 3:47 pm

    We bought a yogurt maker at home. But we are unable to get plain yogurt or yogurt starter. Is there any method to set yogurt without starter or using any other means? Kindly suggest.

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      January 15, 2014 at 10:09 am

      To my knowledge, you need a starter to make yogurt. Yogurt starters can also be purchased dried online.

      Reply
    • P Sreedhar

      January 16, 2014 at 2:55 am

      Thanks for the reply. Can you mention any shop in Chennai /Bangalore?

      Reply
    • sandra hasan

      February 27, 2017 at 8:37 pm

      Have just read on line that you can make yogurt using chilli stems as a starter.

      Reply
  16. Akumla Jamir

    March 25, 2014 at 5:39 am

    How do I make curd if previously batch curd is not available?

    Reply
  17. kay

    October 9, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    Thanks for the recipe, what type of milk do you use for curd.. Is it 2%,1%

    Reply
    • Padhu Sankar

      October 10, 2014 at 5:26 am

      You can use any milk above 2% fat but if you use milk with more fat, curd will be creamy. I have used milk with 3.5% fat.

      Reply
  18. Padmakshi

    February 20, 2020 at 2:29 am

    If u don’t have starter, u can add squeeze juice of half a lime to a cup of milk and set aside. That first cup of curd may be a bit citrus in taste (tasty in its own way) subsequently curd can be made with a bit of this for starter.
    It’s good to change the starter occasionally. So this comes in useful.

    Reply

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Meet Padhu, the Chef, the photographer, recipe developer and web designer behind Padhuskitchen which features Simple Indian Vegetarian recipes, healthy recipes, kids friendly recipes, Indian festival recipes, traditional South Indian Vegetarian ...

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