Homemade flavoured yogurt

Last month being a festival and wedding season, our taste buds were in for a party while our tummies went in for a gastric tumult. The rich and spicy gravies from the dinner buffets had to be balanced with something stomach soothing and nutritious during breakfast so we could stretch the patience limit of our tummies. Nothing better than a homemade flavoured yogurt which is healthy and calming for the stomach. It is such a loved dish in the family that people who do not like fruits also lick their bowls clean in moments. Apart from the health factor I also love this recipe for its versatility. One can make it in innumerable flavours and it tastes just the same or perhaps better than what is sold in the market.And of course the homemade yogurt has no preservatives..one may not require it as it would not last long ..I promise.

My personal favourite is Vanilla yogurt with a medley of fruits thrown in.It is also a wonderful substitute for heavy fruit cream. But I also make Pineapple and strawberry flavoured ones often too. I also experimented with coffee and chocolate flavours which I must confess did not turn out great. My father is fond of rose flavour and it was a hit with him too. In fact I often serve the saffron and cardamom flavoured yogurt with nuts as a final dessert in a lot of dinner parties at home and people love it. Enough raving about it..here goes the recipe.

Milk-1/2 litre
Milk powder-1/4 cup
Sugar-1/4 cup
Vanilla Essence or flavour of your choice-1 tsp
curd for culture-1 rounded spoon

Boil the milk with sugar. Add the milk powder and keep stirring so that no lumps are formed.
It is the milk powder which gives a creamy texture to the yogurt and also increases the protein content.
Once cooled , stir in the vanilla essence or whatever essence  you are using.
Add the curd culture when the milk is warm around 45 centigrade.(I just dip my finger and check).
Put the lid on and leave it in a dark warm place overnight.
You will have a creamy stiff yogurt in the morning .  Cool it in the fridge and add fruits and nuts of your choice before serving.
Few points to note here
1.Temperature is crucial here, so be careful when you add the curd culture.
2.If making Pineapple curd,do not use fresh pineapple. Stick to canned ones.
3.Do not add fruits while making the curd the previous night,as the curd culture will not happen uniformly.
4.If adding saffron, soak the strands with little warm milk separately and add to the boiled milk.
5. Exercise caution while adding citrus fruits and kiwi fruits as it splits the yogurt if kept for long.