Yogurt

Make Your Own Fresh Yogurt

In Ayurveda, yogurt is, ideally, not refrigerated. Refrigeration makes yogurt less wholesome, more sour and more Amagenic. The goal is to fix yogurt daily and consume all that is prepared.

Fresh yogurt should be started the evening before or the morning of the day of consumption. Prepared correctly, it is well formed (semi-solid consistency that can be “sliced” and easily breaks up) and not very sour in taste. It is delicious on its own, with your favorite healthy addition(s) or in a lassi drink.

Yogurt Preparation 

  1. Bring milk to a boil
  2. Let the milk cool to 110° Fahrenheit
  3. Place the milk in a thermos or yogurt maker
  4. Add yogurt starter. An ordinary commercial organic yogurt is the simplest starter. I am a big fan of Snowville Creamery yogurt.You can buy it at Whole Foods. As a general guideline, place up to two (2) tablespoons of starter yogurt into one (1) quart of milk (prepared as outlined above). You can also purchase yogurt starter kits from most local health food stores or from online vendors like Cultures for Health.
  5. Leave the yogurt undisturbed for 8 hours
  6. Remove the yogurt from the thermos or simply unplug yogurt maker. Assuming that you are preparing yogurt for same-day consumption, leave it at room temperature until it is eaten

As you experiment with making your own yogurt, please be aware that issues can arise with your mixture. Here are a few:

  • Not well formed, which can mean:
    • Immature—and therefore slimy, too liquidy, etc., due to the temperature being too low or the processing time being too short.
    • Sticky and thick—a “mass of porridge” type of consistency due to the processing time being too long and/or the temperature being too low.
  • Distinctly sour due to processing time being too long and/or temperature being too high.
  • Bitter or sour in taste due to storage, much too long of a processing time, or a bad yogurt culture.

Try a Lassi

A lassi is a natural way to support your digestive health. It adds probiotics to your gut and, according to Ayurveda, is good for almost all gastrointestinal tract disorders. Fixing a lassi turns yogurt, which is considered cold, heavy, and difficult to digest, into a light and less Amagenic food.

Plain Lassi Recipe: Take 1⁄3 cup of fresh yogurt and 2⁄3 cup of room temperature water and blend (for 1 to 2 minutes) with 1⁄8 teaspoon cumin powder and 1⁄8 teaspoon mineral salt. Skim the froth and drink. It is drink after lunch.

Sweet Lassi Recipe: Take 1⁄3 cup of fresh yogurt and 2⁄3 cup of room temperature water and blend (for 1 to 2 minutes) with 1⁄8 teaspoon cardamom powder and 1⁄4 teaspoon turbinado sugar. Skim the froth and drink. Again, it is best to drink a lassi after lunch.

Love the idea of making your own yogurt, but are not sure how your body will respond?

You might be surprised. According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website, yogurt made with active and live bacterial cultures is a good source of calcium for many people with lactose intolerance. When this type of yogurt enters the intestine, the bacterial cultures convert lactose to lactic acid, so the yogurt may be well-tolerated due to a lower lactose content than yogurt without live cultures. Frozen yogurt, unlike fresh yogurt, does not contain bacterial cultures, so it may not be well-tolerated.