MayaKirana

Make Your Own Yogurt

Posted on 07. Aug, 2007 by Maya in Food

I learnt how to make yogurt from my yoga teacher many years ago. I still keep in touch with Dada Lalitesh whenever he is back in Malaysia because he’s always a fount of knowledge about philosophy and books and of course, yoga asanas! He’s the first person I’d refer to if I have some niggling doubt about yoga which I have been practising for the past 6 years.

But more than a teacher, Dada has always taught me about eating well too. He’s often telling me about foods that I should look into - through him, I’ve learnt how to pay attention to what I eat and really investigate my food.

It is true that you are what you eat these days. I may not be a total health freak (I do indulge in Pringles sometimes and I adore food which most people won’t touch - duck tongues, chicken livers, phoenix claws which is an euphemism for chicken feet lah and more…yes, the stuff Nic and I eat can be quite barbaric to most civilised folks) but sometimes I do get into my “I-want-to-detox” mood.

When that happens, I make salads. I like nothing simpler than chopping up some fresh garlic, tossing them in a bowl with lots of extra virgin olive oil, some sea salt, pepper and some fresh lemon juice and beating the whole mixture well. Pour this lovely vinagrette over cherry tomatoes, cos lettuce, raisins, cucumber, and whatever vegetable you can find in your fridge.

Other times, I make mango lassi which is really good for the digestive system. Now, Dada taught me an ingenious method to make my own yogurt. It’s fresh and cheap and you know it’s homemade 100%. To make yogurt, you don’t need any fancy-schmancy equipment like a special yogurt maker or sachets of starter culture.

Buy a small cup of Marigold natural yogurt (no flavours - just plain old unflavoured yogurt). It costs about RM1.40 per cup. Don’t ask me why it has to be Marigold - Dada told me once that he’s been using this yogurt for all his homemade yogurt and it creates the yogurt he likes. You can experiment with other brands - Dutch Lady or Nestle but why make life difficult? Just go for Marigold. Tried and tested.

In a bowl, mix 6 heaped tablespoons of milk powder (any brand will do) with some hot water. Add lukewarm water and keep mixing well. Put your pinkie finger into the mixture. Is it warm? If it is, that’s the right temperature. Oh, it’s not rocket science - you need a warm environment for the live culture to live and make yogurt.

If it is too hot (which means you cannot even put your pinkie into the mixture), leave it for a while to cool down or ‘tarik’ the milk for a few seconds.

Next add a heaped tablespoon of the Marigold yogurt as your starter culture. Mix well into the milk. Pour milk into a glass container and cap the lid tightly. Wrap this glass container in some towels (to maintain warmth), place the whole thing in a plastic bag and tie up the plastic bag handles and leave the whole thing in a dark and warm corner of your kitchen. It is best to do this at night because the milk needs about 10-12 hours to become yogurt.

The next day, open up the glass container and the milk would have set and become yogurt! Keep this in the fridge (can be kept up to 5 days) and use for mango lassi, nasi briyani, etc.

Simple and very healthy too!