Making Yogurt

Yogurt.

This is my first attempt on my own. I remember my aunt and mother making it a few times when we were little but it always seemed to be such a confusing lengthy process so you can imagine my surprise when I actually decided to try it. It not only worked out but it was SO EASY!

This is the leftover milk/heavy cream mixture that was used the day before to make Geymar.

What I was left with after the Geymar was a whole pot of milk!

The first step in yogurt making is to boil the milk and by that time I realized that there was only about a quarter of a prepared yogurt container in the fridge (I ate a lot of it this month!)

Now you need yogurt to make yogurt, the culture (bacteria!) in it. Most recipes said to use a lot more, but I decided to risk it and use what I had.

So I boiled the pot of milk, let it cool down until it was like warm drinking milk, mixed up the yogurt with a bit of the warm milk to make a nice creamy mixture and added it right into the rest of the milk and stirred it up.

At this point the pot needs to be covered and wrapped in blankets (?) So I wrapped it in towels and one big towel and placed it on the low rack in the oven (which was comfortably warm, like you could sit in there and not burn up or anything)

My mother said to leave the oven off, but the sites said to leave it on very low (lowest oven temp!) (making sure the towels do not touch the elements or anything to cause a fire!) You should definitely do this during the day while awake to supervise.

So now it sits there in the oven for 5-12 hours.

Then you place it in the fridge and let it chill for a few hours (overnight?)

Enjoy your homemade yogurt in the morning! :) I'm not a yogurt and fruit person but here I added a wedge of fresh spice mango.

If you've never heard of a spice mango then according to wiki they are " Buxton Spice mango. This mango is unique to Buxton (Guyana) being fleshy and sweet like others but having a unique spicy taste."

Maybe it will make a fantastic curry?! or chicken marinade?

Ok, not to get carried away.

Back to yogurt.

The yogurt can be made directly in plastic yogurt containers next time for easier storage and it can be used for just about anything you would do with regular store bought yogurt.

Strain it for a thicker creamy breakfast dip .. recipe here
And photo here

Beef Korma (Afghan Style)

This recipe is FANTASTIC! I mean it!

Usually the beef korma is something we order from an Afghan restaurant and we just love it but this recipe came so close in flavour that I would just make it all the time from now on!

If you've got a pressure cooker by all means use it, or even a slow cooker because the meat is going to need some cooking to tenderize. I cooked mine in a pot on the stove for about 5 hours.
Also it sat in the fridge for two days or so and developed even more flavour.

No caramelizing onions required so the recipe whips up in minutes!

Beef Korma

2 tbsp Oil (and 1 tbsp butter to brown meat)

1 tbsp fresh chopped garlic
1 tbsp fresh ginger

1 finely Chopped onions

Stewing beef (I used half a pound, which is everything in that plate - but you could use a whole pound to feed more people!)

4 tbsp yogurt (I added 6)

2 tsp fresh corriander (I added more!)

1 green chili chopped

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 whole tomatoes (from can or fresh with skin removed by quick blanching in hot water)

Cut the tomatoes finely with a knife.

1. First I started with a pot and butter, heat the butter and add a drop of oil and once it's hot adding all the stewing beef to brown on all sides. Don't be afraid just let it brown until you see brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

2. Remove the beef onto a plate.

3. Add some more oil if necessary to the pot and then onions and sautee until they look clear on medium (keep an eye on it, I burnt the first batch!)

4. Next to go in is the spices and they toast for a few seconds, then the fresh garlic and ginger (lots of!)

5. Meat gets added back in and finally the yogurt gets fried in the pot a bit until things look a little brown.

6. Add the chopped tomato and some liquid to cook. Simmer and let cook until meat is tender.

Cover the meat with water to cook, as it dries up keep adding more water until the meat is cooked... once it flakes apart if you touch it with a fork it means it's done.

If using a pressure cooker it will cook faster and then if there is extra liquid just let it cook and evaporate off. This should be on the dry size but not too dry. If you see the oils as you see in the plate and the meat is tender then you're on the right track)

I didn't have tomato paste but it turned out just great, also I used a little extra yogurt (double!) and added chopped cilantro 30 mins towards the end of the cooking time because I like my herbs to be "fresher" but not sure how the cilantro in the beginning affects the curry so maybe next time I'll add some in the beginning and end.

Served with little homemade naan breads.

A little yeast, a tbsp of yogurt, flour, salt, water and melted butter. Then they're garnished with sesame seeds and black seeds (Nigella seeds/kalonji/onion seed) before baking on 500 F for a few seconds.

This recipe for the bread was made up, it's not precise so I didn't list the amounts, if you're into bread making like me you'll just throw something together and know how to go by feel, what I would do next time is add more butter to make it flakey.

1 3/4 - 2 cups flour (start with less and use more after adding the water)

1/2 tsp instant yeast

little sugar to feed the yeast

1 tbsp yogurt
1/2 tsp salt

Melted butter - about 3 tbsp

Water to form a dough, just add a few tbsp at a time and knead

Get the yeast going by proofing with a bit of water and the sugar, then add:

Yogurt
The flour

Salt

Add in the butter and stir until it is all absorbed by the flour and distributed. Then add enough water to form a dough.

Let it rise for 4 hours. Make small balls and let them rise a bit more. Flatten out using knuckles and spread with some melted butter and the seed (or a bit of egg and melted butter)

Bake for seconds. (keep an eye on it!) Flip it over if necessary.

So if you're in the neighbourhood come by and share this pot of curry or for more curry recipes and info on the 'Cook & share a pot of curry' event click here

Making Manti

Some shots of manti making today using a recipe I found a short while ago, it was a perfect thing to do on this chilly November day while sipping a homemade pumpkin spice hot cocoa.

Manti are these turkish (also armenian and variations are made in different regions) dumplings made easy by stuffing a savoury spiced beef (or lamb) mixture into a wonton wrapper and baking until golden then baking one more time with a flavourful broth. The dumplings are tender with golden crispy tips served with yogurt sauce.



Recipe courtesy of My Barbarian Table