Yogurt is a fermented milk which has Turkish roots as it is understood from its Turkish name used almost all around the world. Yogurt in Turkish means to thicken or coagulate. The nomadic Turks not only had found this milk derived nutritient fermented food, but also they were the first to evaluate yogurt’s medicinal use for a variety of illness and symptoms such as diarrhea and to alleviate the discomfort of sunburned skin.
A homemade yogurt is a fermented food that delivers the beneficial probiotics we need for our health. It contains many of the same beneficial nutrients as milk, like calcium, phosphorus, potassium, riboflavin and vitamin A. Furthermore, in its traditional form, yogurt is a nutrient dense food that is rich in high-quality protein, beneficial probiotics for cancer-fighting.
Nowadays, one should be wise to look beyond the packaging to realize most commercialized yogurts that are sold in grocery stores which contain added sugars, artificial ingredients and fillers, but has a minimum amount of probiotics, sometimes even without probiotics.
Homemade yogurt with home made starter is an excellent way of getting probiotics into your system without the unnecessary chemicals and flavourings found in commercialized yogurts. All you need is preferably a high quality of milk or else a pastorized milk but not UHT milk as it never thickens. If the milk is thick in consistency (creamy), then the yogurt starter (curd) also sets with thick consistency.
I tried 3 different methods to get a home made starter and all of them was perfect!
I.st Method:
Boil the milk until it simmers once. While letting cool for a while, pour it to a glass pot. When the milk is warm enough that you can put your little finger on the bottom of the pot , pour 1 lemon juice to thelukewarm milk.
Cover the starter curd with a tap and then cover the pot with a towel tissue. Keep it in a warm place for 12 hours to set.
During winter it takes a little bit more time to set.
II.nd Method:
Simmer the milk with the same way and when milk turns warm, transfer it to a glass pot.
Drop the red chilies in lukewarm milk. Be sure that the stalk of the chilies are submerged in the milk. The enzymes of the red chili stalk helps the milk to convert it to yogurt.
Close the tap and cover with towel tissue and set aside in a warm place for at least 12 hours. After set remove the red chilies from the glass pot.
III.rd Method:
Simmer the milk with the same way and when milk turns warm, transfer it to a glass pot.
Drop 8 raw chickpeas in lukewarm milk.
Close the tap of the glass pot and cover it with a towel tissue. Put it in a warm place like oven -but unheated- for at least 12 hours to set. After set remove the chickpeas.
After having your starter, keep it in the refrigerator as it gets thicker in the fridge. Also if you find water on top of the pot, it won’t condense but it densifies more inside the refrigerator.
After the starters thickens, take a wooden spoon and check if they are set nicely.
Use 2 tablespoons of home made yogurt starter for making home made yogurt. For re-culturing, use the yogurt starter within 7 days to make a new batch.
You can find home made yogurt recipe from here.