Home made Yoghurt

We use a lot of yoghurt in our cooking, from marinating the meats in it to using it for the Raita, Lassi, Kadi... most Indian homes always have yoghurt or "Dahi" as it is called, as a base for next day's yoghurt, a spoonful is always kept aside for setting the Dahi for the next day.
Yoghurt is good for health, in a way better than milk, not only because it has live bacterial cultures which give a number of health benefits, but also since volume for volume, it has more calcium too ! But the health benefits are considerably reduced when we buy ready made yoghurt, since it would have been pasteurized, the harmful as well as the useful bacteria would have been killed - so the benefit from the live culture is reduced - and most yoghurt we buy here in Shanghai has added sugar - which adds unnecessary calories.

It is quite easy to make at home, and the taste of homemade yoghurt is unparalleled - try it !

Preperation time :
Cooking time : 10 minutes. Waiting time : 6 hours
Ingredients :

Milk - 500 ml ( or more if you would like more yoghurt)

Yoghurt culture - 1 Tablespoon
Please buy it from any Indian restaurant- ask for Plain Dahi., or take from some one who makes it regularly - you can use the store bought yoghurt, but the results are not that good .

Method :

1. Boil milk. Let cool upto 120 degrees F. If you dont have a thermometer, don't panic ! The milk needs to be just a little warmer than luke warm - if you take a spoonful of it and touch it, it should be a just hot enough, not burn.
2. Add the culture, or Dahi.
3. Cover the container and keep it in a warm place, undisturbed, for six hours.
4. In winters, it takes a longer time to set, and in summer, less.
5. Yoghurt needs temperature between 98 F and 115 F to set well. When the temperature drops in winters, you need to cover the container with an old scarf, and place it in a warm place - say a microwave oven, or ordinary oven. Since it needs to be undisturbed for six hours, if you are placing it in a microwave, it would be better if you plan it in such a way you dont need to use the microwave for that long !
6. Once set, store the yoghurt in the refrigerator or it will get sour.
7. This can be stored for one week to ten days in the refrigerator, at 40 deg F.

Home made Cottage Cheese - Paneer

You can make good cottage cheese at home. Lot of Indian dishes use this, so I am giving the recipe here, and some photographs I took as I made it. I hope it helps my students to make it - so they can try dishes like Palak Paneer, Kadai Paneer, Paneer Tikka... List is endless !

You will need, beside the ingredients, Two utensils, a colander, a chopping board, and a thin linen cloth - any cotton cloth, which is thin - and does not have the loops of thread on the surface, so the regular hand napkins we use are not suitable. I bought mine in Ikea. Any clean, thin, cotton cloth will do.

Preperation time : cooking time : 15 minutes Waiting time : 1 hour

Yields about 150 grams of cottage cheese .

Ingredients :

Fresh Milk - 1 carton

One Tablespoon White vinegar.

I used this carton of milk, but Bright brand Fresh milk is good as well. I found that these two brands make good cottage cheese. With one carton of milk, you will get a block of cottage cheese, about 150 to 200 gms - If you want more, use more milk. The whey has lot of nutrients - so I don't throw it away - I use it to knead my roti dough - gives soft, tasty and nutritious rotis !

Generally lime juice is used in India to split the milk , but here in Shanghai, I found that lime juice does not always work, so I have started using the white vinegar.

Method : Pour the milk into a container and place it on the stove.Bring it to boil.

While you are waiting for the milk to boil, place a colander on a utensil, which can hold about 600 ml or more of liquid, since this is

going to hold the whey which seperates once the milk is split. If you use a smaller one, it will overflow with the hot whey. Also take care that the utensil is such that does not mind hot boiling liquids - do not use light weight plastic ones. Make the napkin a little damp, just wet it and wring it out - this facilitates easy draining of the whey - and drape it on the colander.

When the milk comes to boil, it will start rising up. At this point, add the vinegar to it, and mix well, turn the heat to low.

After one minute or so, it will split.
Turn off the heat, when you can see greenish whey seperate, like in this picture.

Now strain the split milk through the napkin draped on the colander, and you will have the cheese remaining on the napkin.

If you are uncomfortable about pouring the hot mixture out, you can wait a few minutes and do this step after the mixture cools - it will not effect the quality of the cheese.

Lift the four corners of the napkin, twist the napkin above the cheese contained in it. take one corner of the napkin and wind it around the place where you twisted it. You can also tie it with a piece of string, if you wish. You can tie it up and let the liquid drain out, if you can , and it will take a longer time to drain this way, I just place a chopping board on it, and put a weight on it. You can do it either way, if you are hanging it up for drain, be sure you make arrangements for the whey draining out - either hang it up above the sink or place a container beneath to catch the drips.

So if you wish to use the weight, then :

Place the bundle on an upturned dish or, if you have a strong colander, on the colander, and put the chopping board on the bundle. Place a weight - even a one kilo bag of grocery will do - on the board, leave for one hour. After one hour, remove the weight, the board and you will have your cottage cheese ready.

Now you can cut it into pieces, if you are using it in a dish like palak paneer, or grate it and use it as you like.

This is what I made that day - Palak Paneer - or Spinach cooked with cottage cheese - Yum!!

Ginger - Garlic paste

This is the basic paste used for many curries and other dishes. Most of the recipes call for this so I shall give the recipe for this.
Ingredients :
Garlic flakes, peeled - 10
Ginger, 2 inch piece, peeled and cut into small bits.
Oil - 2 teaspoons.
Method :
Grind the the garlic flakes and ginger pieces, using a food processor, into a smooth paste. Use the oil to facilitate smooth grinding. Store in a air tight glass jar in the refrigerator.
Since we use only a little for each curry, this recipe yields more than you need for one use. But most food processors will not grind such small quantities, it is easier to grind more quantity and store - it can be stored upto one month in the refrigerator. You can freeze it, if you wish, but it does take away some flavour from it.
Note:
1. If you do not have a food processor, you can grate the ginger and garlic seperately, using a grater. In this case do not cut the ginger - just peel a two inch piece and grate it. Then mix the grated ginger and garlic together. This will not give you the smooth paste, but you can use it.
Alternatively if you have a mortar and pestle - you can find them in Metro and Ikea - you can use that as well.. that is the way it was done in India since ancient times !
2. The traditional recipe does not call for oil. But here the garlic has something in it, that if we grind or grate it, after sometime, it just turns green! To avoid this, I use the oil, so that the paste keeps its colour, and stores well in the refrigerator.