How To Make Greek Yogurt At Home, Homemade Yogurt Recipe (2024)

Step by step how to make Greek yogurt recipe

Homemade Greek yogurtis a thick, creamy and indulgent yogurt. It doesn’t need much introduction as most of the people would know. I prepare it very frequently at home.Some times Ido buy yogurt from store but I don’t prefer it to feed my 1-year-old as I don’t know what ingredients they use. Also I feel that the home-made yogurt taste different and betterthan the store-bought.

Difference between yogurt and curd

In India, both terms yogurt and curd are used interchangeably but that ‘s not correct. Actually yogurt which in hindi called dahi is produced by fermenting milk using ‘yogurt cultures’. The bacteria causes fermentation of lactose and produce lactic acid. Whereas curd (phata or fatadoodh/ milk) is just obtained by curdling milk with an edible acidic substance such as lemon juice or vinegar andthen draining off the liquid portion which is eventually turn into paneer.

These days many recipes calls for Greek yogurt as a key ingredient. So I am sharing very easy and lazy method to prepare it at home. In this home-made yogurt recipe, I have explained all tricksfrom my experience. Once you try it, I am sure that you will never want to buy store ones. So make your own yogurt and enjoy !

There are some other homemade ingredients recipe available on blog

1. Boora sugar with video

2. Homemade ghee (Clarified butter

3. Homemade khoya recipe

Ingredients

1 litre full fat whole milk
1 tablespoon plain yogurt with live culture
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)

Step by step home made greek yogurt

Step 1. Place a heavy base pot on high to medium flame range and pour 1 tablespoon of water in it. Then pour milk before water gets burnt and pan bottom becomes dry.

Question– Why to add water ?

Answer– Adding water to the pan before adding milk forms a kind of protective layer between milk and pan. It prevent milk from burning and sticking to the pan.

Step 2. Let it come to a boil. Turn off the gas. Leave it to reduce and reach the temperature between 100 to 115 Fahrenheit. You can put the milk pan in ice cold water bath to cool quickly.

Step 3. After few minutes, check the temperature, it should be around 115 Fahrenheit.
Now Transfer the milk to a clean glass container.

Step 4. Now, whisk in one tablespoon of store-bought yogurt . At this point, you can also add a teaspoon of white sugar to help the bacteria grow.

Step 5. Cover the milk utensil with a clean kitchen tissue and keep it in oven undisturbed for 8-9 hours or overnight. To keep the temperature little warm keep the light on or you can heat the oven to full for 30 seconds when you put it in oven.

In case you don’t have oven, then try to find a warm and dryplace to enhance the fermentation.

Trick – Here is a trick my mother used, add 2 stems of green chili which promotes the fermentation. I use it every time I make yogurt.

Step 6. You can see that yogurt has formed. To test that yogurt is done or not, you can put a wooden skewer in centre if it stand straight, it has formed.

Now this is normal yogurt with whey (watery liquid in yogurt).

For Greek yogurt

Line a large fine-mesh sieve with 2 layers of cheesecloth and place over a large bowl. Spoon the yogurt into the cheesecloth, cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to 6 hours depending on how thick you want it.

How long does yogurt last

Yogurt can last from 1-3 weeks. After preparing it keep it refrigerated. It can last up to 2 months if it is frozen.