Many a times, going through recipes that uses yogurt in cooking, I have always wondered..."but, does not it curdle ? Can yogurt be used in dishes while cooking on high heat ?...many doubts in these lines lingered, until I happened to read about it.
Just sharing few points that I came across, which eventually, did clarify my doubts in this regard.
* How to prevent yogurt from curdling when making curries?
Yogurt is a major ingredient in making Indian Curries. The cow-milk yogurt will separate when heated beyond a given point, unless it is stabilized.
In the olden days, yogurt for cooking was made from freshly drawn buffalo whole-milk. It did not curdle with heat. Technically, foods high in proteins and acids (yogurt has lactic acid), become unstable with high heat. Higher the butter fat, proportionately lower is the amount of protein, that is the case with buffalo-milk yogurt.
You may choose to add Cow-milk yogurt at the end of cooking to minimize effects of high heat. The only problem is that spice flavors will not fully permeate the yogurt.
* Steps to prevent yogurt from curdling during cooking
Following steps will prevent yogurt from curdling
1. Use whole-milk (high fat) yogurt.
2. Stabilize yogurt by whisking-in starch before cooking. Add one teaspoon of cornstarch, or 1½ teaspoon of other flours (Atta, Maida, or Besan) to one cup of yogurt.
3. Minimize thermal shock to yogurt when adding to curry being cooked. First shut off the heat. Start with yogurt at room temperature and not directly from the refrigerator. At this point, you may add starch to stabilize yogurt. Temper yogurt just like eggs are tempered in making custard. Raise yogurt temperature gradually by mixing hot curry sauce little bit at a time to the yogurt. After the yogurt temperature has risen sufficiently, add it to the curry. Turn on heat to finish making curry.
4. When the yogurt is made, it is not stirred during incubation, so the structure of yogurt is set in a matrix. After adding yogurt for cooking, stirring vigorously will break down the matrix and cause separation. Gently fold-in yogurt by stirring in one direction (either clockwise or anticlockwise), till the yogurt is well blended.
5. Sometimes, it is possible to fix the yogurt after it has separated. Shut-off heat. Make a paste by mixing one teaspoon of cornstarch (or two teaspoons of all-purpose flour) with ½ Tablespoon of cold water. Stir paste into the separated mixture. Gently heat curry to let it thicken and recombine the yogurt. Repeat if necessary.
lol :P
* Recipe for Stabilized Yogurt
Cow’s milk yogurt will separate when heated beyond a certain point.
Use of stabilized yogurt will minimize separation.
1. Whole-milk plain yogurt: 1 Quart
2. Large egg white, lightly beaten: 1
3. Cornstarch: 1 Tablespoon
4. Salt: 1 teaspoon
Mix all ingredients together in a heavy saucepan. Whisk. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, in one direction until mixture starts to bubble and comes to a boil (approximately 8 minutes). Reduce heat to moderately low, and simmer until thickened, it will take approximately additional 4 minutes.
Stabilized yogurt can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 weeks
...or.....
You can also stabilize cow-milk yogurt by stirring-in a starch to the yogurt before cooking. For starch, you can use any flour: Besan (Chickpea flour), Atta (whole-grain wheat flour), Maida (All-purpose flour) or Cornstarch. Cornstarch is flavor neutral.
"now...this, was the kinda tip that I was always on the look out for !!!".
.......will be right back, with a yogurt sauce based recipe..now..that I no longer need to worry about yogurt getting curled due to heat.
Until then..keep smiling...have a great day ahead !!!
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