Yesterday I wrote about my new culinary nirvana. I’m still smiling.
Last night in my email, I received some tips from a true yogurt expert whose family recipe has been handed down from generation to generation.
I’m a school girl in comparison.
This is the Azerbaijanian method of making yogurt. No yogurt makers, no thermometers, just experience. Read it and learn from the Yogurt Yoda:
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As one of Middle Eastern heritage yogurt has been a part of my diet since childhood. To this day I still make it the way my mother was taught by her mother, and her mother was taught by her mother…
We start the whole process in the evening by heating the milk in a dutch oven until it begins to rise, at which point it’s taken off the burner to cool down.
I find it takes about about 50-70 minutes (depending on the time of year) for it to cool to the point where we pour in the starter which has been diluted with a couple of tablespoons of the mostly cooled down milk.
Since we didn’t have thermometers to use, my mom used to dip her pinky finger into the milk. You want it to be not so hot as to require you to remove your finger, but just below that temperature. Today I don’t place my finger into the milk, but hold both hands around the dutch oven. If I have to remove my hands because of the intense heat, the milk is not ready for the starter. When I’m able to keep my hands on the pot and it’s still hot, that’s when I add the starter. Just make sure to stir it very very well so that it is fully incorporated.
I place a paper towel between the lid and pot making sure the paper doesn’t touch the milk.
Then I lay the pot on a terry cloth bath towel on the table, avoiding any drafts, place another small towel on top of the pot, and then bring up the sides of the bath towel to totally wrap the pot (using safety pins where necessary). I leave it that way overnight.
The pot should not be moved at all.
Deo Volente, when you get up in the morning, Viola! you’ve got a pot of yogurt which needs to go into the fridge.
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How cool is that? I’m going to try and wrangle out some of the recipes he uses his yogurt for. I understand they’re delicious.
Thanks E – you’re my new hero.
