12 Ways to Cook With Yogurt

Yogurt is known to be used as one of the main ingredients in most of the cooking. You could use yogurt for making gravies, you could use it for marinades, you could add them to chutneys, you could make curries, you could use it to make desserts. Thus yogurt can work wonders in your kitchen. We could enjoy the maximum health benefits of yogurt only if we knew how to incorporate it in cooking. There are still many wonders of yogurt that we sometimes are unaware of. For instance you could use them as thickening agents, as tenderizers or substitute for cream. When it comes to cooking with yogurt, we need to follow some rules. Here are some tips that could help you to cook with yogurt.

12 Ways to Cook With Yogurt

1. Yogurt is an excellent option to thicken sauces. It works as a substitute for heavy cream. But whenever using yogurt as an thickening agent, make sure that you keep a watch. Or there is a possibility of curdling. To avoid curdling, make sure you add 2 tsp of cornstarch or 1 tbsp of flour to yogurt and make a paste. Keep whisking on a low flame until the sauce thickens and simmers. Never allow the sauce to boil.

2. There is a possibility that yogurt could separate and curdle when added to hot liquids. Hence in such cases make sure you use yogurt at room temperature.

3. If you need to freeze yogurt, you can do it up to six weeks. Make sure you freeze it in an airtight container. The results of yogurt may vary once they are thawed. Never re-freeze yogurt once thawed. There is a possibility that the yogurt may go little runny. This usually depends upon the quality of brand and the additives in it.

4. The acidity content of the yogurt makes it a great tenderizer and hence can be used to tenderize meat.

5. Yogurt should never be whisked vigorously. Instead it is advisable to fold yogurt gently with the other ingredients the recipe calls for.

6. For people who worry a lot about calories and choose their ingredients carefully, the ideal pick for them would be yogurt, as it is best substitute for mayonnaise and sour cream. Yogurt can be incorporated in salads as dressing to quit worrying about calories and enjoying food guilt-free.

7. For weight watchers who enjoy health diet plans, the ideal way to bake recipes is by substituting cream with yogurt.

8. Yogurt can also be used for tenderizing baked items like bread loaves which need to be moist.

9. Yogurt can be the best acidic counterpart for baking soda to produce a leavening effect.

10. To lengthen the storage period of yogurt, add some sugar to it.

11.  If you wish to prevent the souring of yogurt, add a piece of coconut to it.

12. If while cooking yogurt curdles, there is still a chance you could fix it. Make a paste of cornstarch and all purpose flour in a ratio of 1:2 along with little water. Make a thick paste and add to the gravy. Cook on slow flame and continue stirring until the gravy thickens and recombines.