Yogurt

Natural yogurt, known as dahi in Hindi and Urdu, thayir or curd in South India, and dodhi in parts of Pakistan, is milk fermented with live cultures until it thickens and turns gently sour. It is the cooling partner to spice: whisked with cucumber and mint for raita, mixed through rice with mustard seeds and curry leaves for curd rice, and rubbed into chicken or lamb with ginger, garlic and spice to tenderise the meat before it goes in the tandoor or oven.

Set yogurt is left to ferment in the pot, so it is firm and holds its shape; it is the one closest to homemade dahi. Stirred yogurt is smoother and pours more easily. Greek style yogurt is strained, so it is thicker and richer, and works well in dips or as a quick base for shrikhand. For cooking, full fat yogurt is safer, as low fat versions split more easily under heat.

Make kadhi by whisking sour yogurt with besan and water, then simmering it slowly with turmeric and a tempering of cumin and dried chilli. For a thick hung curd, tip yogurt into a muslin cloth and let it drain in the fridge overnight. Keep a spoonful from each tub to set your next batch from fresh milk.

Store yogurt below five degrees, keep the lid on, and use it within a few days of opening. It travels on local delivery only. For sweet yogurts and puddings, see chilled desserts, and for buttermilk and lassi, lassi and flavoured milk. Both sit under yogurt and desserts.