Making Curd (Yogurt) at home is an everyday chore in any Indian home and quite easy too. Homemade Yogurt (Curd) is always healthier and cheaper than the store bought ones and best in terms of flavor, freshness and taste. Usually we need a starter to make/set fresh thick curd which happens to be the left over curd from the previous day. But how to make curd if you do have any curd/culture at hand. You will be surprised at how easy it is to make yogurt at home from scratch without any fancy equipments/machine or candy thermometer to check the temperature of milk yet being able to make fresh homemade yogurt, day after day and enjoy reaping the health benefits by making it a part of your daily diet.

Tips & Tricks:

1. Using whole milk will give you thick yogurt while using 2% milk will result in a thinner one.
2. There is no need to heat milk before setting it (Step 4) if the milk is in room temperature. If it is cold, microwave it for 2 minutes. That heat would be exact.
3. I live in a tropical place where it is always hot, so adjust the hours according to the temperature of the place you live in.
4. If you want to set Yogurt during winter season, it may be a bit challenging due to the drop in temperature. During those times and if you want to set yogurt quicker, heat the milk and use a hot pack or a thermos ware for setting.
5. You may at times see whitish water on top of yogurt, which is just water content in the milk. You can discard it or mix it along with yogurt and use as it is perfectly safe.
6. For a more thicker yogurt / curd, place a cheese cloth or a multiple folded muslin cloth over a strainer and set it on bowl. Dump the set yogurt into the cloth and place the bowl in the Refrigerator. All the water will be collected in the bowl and you can use the thick yogurt left over in the cloth as you prefer.
7. Instead of discarding, you can use the water thus collected in the bowl as a starter for your next batch of yogurt.