Dairy Foods 102 Dahi (Yogurt)

Dahi is plain yogurt with live culture. Yogurt is the most important dairy product used as a food and as an ingredient in Indian Cuisine

Making Dahi

In the olden days, fresh raw milk drawn from the dairy-livestock, brought to a boil, and then cooled down to warm. The warm milk was transferred to a clay pan. The live culture from a previous batch was added to seed the new batch. The pan was covered with muslin cloth and left to incubated overnight. During winter time, the clay pan was wrapped in a blanket to keep the milk warm. In the morning, Dahi was ready.

Now, we understand the chemistry that takes place in making Dahi (Chemistry behind making Dahi yogurt). Even a novice can make Dahi with a 100% success rate with this insight.

Selecting Milk to make Dahi Yogurt

Selecting starting culture to make Dahi Yogurt

Incubators for making Yogurt Dahi

Yogurt and Cooking

- Yogurt is used to thicken the curries and give them a creamy texture. Yogurt is a high-protein high-acid (lactic acid) food, prone to separate with heat. In the olden days, buffalo-milk Dahi was used for cooking. The high butter-fat in buffalo milk lowered the protein proportionately, making it less prone to separation. The cow-milk yogurt will separate at some point with heat. The separation can be avoided by stabilizing yogurt by adding starch (Corn starch, Wheat flours, Chickpea flour) Curry Making - Prevent yogurt curdling
- Baking soda helps to neutralize the lactic-acid in yogurt for leavening effect in making breads such as Naan, and other baked products.
- The lactic-acid and butter-fat in yogurt makes it ideal to tenderize and enhance flavor of chicken fish and meats when used in a marinade. Other spices and herbs are added to infuse more flavors
- Yogurt helps tenderize starch in wheat products such a Roti, and keeps them moist.
- The yogurt is tied in a muslin cloth to drain away whey. This hung yogurt has the consistency of smooth cheese, and used to make desserts such as Shrikhand. 3 cups of yogurt will yield one cup of hung yogurt.

Popular Foods with yogurt

Beverages: Lassi (whipped yogurt), Chach (skimmed butter-milk), Smoothie
Curries: Aloo Gobhi, Rogan Josh, Korma, Kadhi, Yakhni, Pasanda, Mughalai, and Makhani.

Cold Soup: Sweetened Fruit Raita, Namkeen Vegetable Raita

Dips and Salad dressings
Makhan (Cultured Butter), Makhan is also used to make Ghee
Marinate for: chicken, lamb, and seafood
Shrikhand (Dessert)

Health Benefits

The live culture in yogurt has been credited for low occurrence of cancer-of-colon, breast-cancer, and yeast-infection.
Protein, Calcium, and lactic acid in yogurt are beneficial to skin. Yogurt facials are made with honey strawberries lemon etc. Yogurt tones down dark spots by bleaching action, cleanse pours, and moisturize skin.
Casein helps relieve the burning sensation caused by hot chili peppers. Yogurt has the casein in precipitated form and helps most efficiently.

Label information - Yogurts sold in USA

Culture Related Information

Contains active culture, live culture: The yogurt contains live culture. US Government regulations dictate minimum of two culture. Some brands may have up to five cultures

Made with active cultures: After the incubation was complete, the yogurt was either Heat treated, or Pasteurized to kill the active culture that was used to produce the yogurt.
Heat treated, or Pasteurized: The yogurt has been pasteurized. It kill the culture. It is done to extend the product shelf-life

Fat Content

Whole milk, or Regular yogurt: The yogurt has 3.25% to 4% butter-fat
Low-fat yogurt: The yogurt contains 0.5% to 2% butter-fat
Non-fat, fat-free yogurt: The yogurt contains less than 0.5% butter fat

'Certified Organic'

Yogurt made from milk produced by cows on organic diet, no anti-biotic, or growth hormones

Additives

Omega 3: DHA.
Vitamin-C
Vitamin-D
Stabilizers such as: starch, gelatin, pectin
Thickeners such as non-fat milk-solids
Sweeteners such as sugar, honey, and aspartame
Food coloring
DHA, and Vitamin-C are widely used additives for Yogurt formulated for Children

Product Styles

Sundae: Fruit on the bottom, filled with plain or flavored yogurt
Blended, Swiss pudding, Custard style: Pureed fruit mixed with yogurt
Lite, Light: Fat-free yogurt sweetened with aspartame