Homemade Frozen Yogurt (Curd)

Sameer really enjoys ice cream. In the past few months his dairy intake had dropped quite a bit. So I tried making some frozen yogurt at home for him. I looked up a recipe online, reduced the amount of sugar and tried other flavorings and it came out really well each time, with hardly any crystals. I made it without an ice cream maker. The first time I tried it, I made it with mango pulp as Sameer loves mangoes. Second time was with vanilla extract. Another flavoring I tried was freshly squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest and some honey. I finally took a picture this time. I added some green food coloring on Sameer's request. Since my sister had asked me for the recipe a few times in the past, I thought I should finally try to write it now.

The recipe that I looked up online is from a book that another blogger modified a bit. The book is called: The Perfect Scoop - by David Lebovitz. The blog is 101 cookbooks.

The recipe that I currently use is:

1 liter full cream (full fat) milk
1 tablespoon yogurt culture -- I usually use a bit of previous day's yogurt or if that has gone sour, I buy a small cup of probiotic yogurt

1/4 cup sugar (you might want to use 1/2 cup if you like it sweet. I used granulated sugar, it works great too)

Flavorings I have tried so far:

1 tsp pure vanilla extract or

1 tsp lemon juice

all the lemon zest you can obtain from one lemon

2 tablespoons honey or

mango pulp from 3 mangoes (you can add more if you have more mangoes)

When warming the milk for yogurt, I warm the milk to the temperature at which I'll set the yogurt. No more than that. I definitely do not boil the milk, as that will separate the cream. In a jar or pot that you'll use for setting the yogurt first mix just one cup of milk with the starter. Then add the rest of the milk. Mix it properly. A traditional method that I use is to keep pouring the milk from one container into the other a couple times. It helps in mixing the culture thoroughly. Put it inside a cabinet for 2-3 hours and usually the yogurt is ready. Do make sure that it does not go sour. If it does, you need to start again.

To strain the yogurt, line a colander with a cheesecloth or a kitchen towel. Strain the excess water into the kitchen sink and then put a bowl underneath the colander to catch any drippings. Put the whole thing, with the cheesecloth loosely covered over the yogurt into the fridge. While not necessary, it helps to keep it in for atleast 12 hours. It drastically reduces the amount of crystals you'll end up with and reduces your work if you don't have an ice cream maker.

Take the yogurt out of the cheesecloth and add it to the bowl you'll freeze it in. Add the sugar and the flavoring you want to add. Mix it well and put it in the freezer. Take out the frozen yogurt an hour and a half after putting it in the freezer. Churn it well. The sugar granules have usually dissolved by this stage. Put it back. Take it out once it's set and enjoy.