What Can I Cook With Yogurt? 9 Drinks, Curries and Sweets From Our Recipes

The most useful tub in the fridge

Yogurt (dahi, curd or laban depending on where you are) does more jobs in a South Asian and Gulf kitchen than almost anything else: a cold drink, a curry base, a marinade for grilled meat, the starter for a dessert.

Below are nine dishes from our recipe library, sorted by what you want to make. Amounts are in metric and US units on each recipe page.

Drinks (5 to 15 minutes)

Lassi. 400 g (1.75 cups) of yogurt, 100 ml of milk, 3 tablespoons of sugar and 2 crushed cardamom pods, blended for a minute until frothy, then chilled for an hour. Full-fat yogurt gives the thickest drink. In a hurry, blend in ice cubes instead of chilling. For salty lassi, skip the sugar and cardamom and blend with water, salt and roasted cumin. 10 minutes of work for 2.

Laban. The Gulf salted version. 300 g (1.25 cups) of yogurt, whisked with cold water until thin, then salt and crushed dried mint, and chilled an hour. 5 minutes of work.

Borhani. A Bangladeshi spiced yogurt drink for 6, always savoury. 500 g (2 cups) of yogurt whisked with a paste of mint, coriander, green chilli and mustard, plus roasted cumin and salt, thinned with chilled water and strained. If it tastes flat, add salt or green chilli, not sugar. 15 minutes.

Cool, comforting meals

Curd rice. 400 g (1.7 cups) of yogurt with 200 g (7 oz) of very soft rice and 100 ml of milk, tempered with mustard seed and curry leaves and chilled for 30 minutes. Milk goes into the warm rice first, then yogurt once the rice is at room temperature. 30 minutes, Easy.

Kadhi pakora. 500 g (2 cups) of yogurt whisked with 150 g (1.25 cups) of gram flour and 6 cups of water, boiled and then simmered about 30 minutes, with fried gram-flour fritters stirred in for the last 5. Keep stirring while it comes to the boil, because stopping even briefly can split it. About 1 hour, Medium.

Dahi baray. Lentil fritters, 200 g (1 cup) of split black lentils soaked at least 3 hours and ground, fried, softened in warm water for 10 minutes, then drowned in 500 g (2 cups) of whisked yogurt with tamarind chutney and chaat masala. Chill 15 to 20 minutes. They are softer if served a few hours later. About 40 minutes plus soaking.

Meat and projects

Chicken tikka. 1 kg (2.2 lb) of chicken in a marinade of 200 g (0.75 cup) of yogurt, ginger, garlic, lemon and spices. Use thick yogurt. If yours is watery, hang it in a cloth for 30 minutes first, because a thin marinade slides off. Marinate in the fridge at least 3 hours. Roast or grill about 20 minutes until a thermometer reads 74 C (165 F). 45 minutes of work, plus marinating.

Labneh. The simplest project. 500 g (2 cups) of yogurt mixed with half a teaspoon of salt, drained in muslin in the fridge for about 10 hours until it is thick like soft cheese. Spread it with olive oil and za'atar. A few minutes of work, 12 hours of waiting.

Mishti doi. Sweet set yogurt from 1 litre (4.2 cups) of milk, 150 g (0.75 cup) of sugar and only 2 tablespoons of live yogurt as a starter. Half the sugar is caramelised to deep amber, the milk is reduced by about a third, then cooled to 40 to 45 C (a clean finger should be comfortable for 10 seconds). Hot milk kills the culture. The pots sit still and warm for 10 to 12 hours. 45 minutes of work, then overnight.

Why yogurt splits, and how not to

Heat and acid make milk proteins clump, so a yogurt gravy can turn grainy. Our recipes share a few habits:

• Whisk the yogurt smooth first. Lumps make splitting more likely.
• Add it off the high heat. For qorma, our recipe says to take the pot off the heat for a minute, add the yogurt a spoonful at a time while stirring, and then return to medium heat.
• Stir constantly as it heats, as in kadhi, where stopping even briefly can split it.
• Use full-fat yogurt. Low-fat splits more easily.
• Do not boil hard after cream or yogurt goes in.

Storing yogurt

• Keep it cold, at or below 4 C (40 F), and go by the date on the tub.
• Once opened, use clean spoons and keep the lid on. About a week is a common rule of thumb, but the printed date and your nose come first. If it develops pink or green mould, or smells sharp and yeasty, throw it out. A little clear liquid (whey) is normal. Stir it back in or pour it off.
• Not out of the fridge for more than 2 hours. On a hot day, one hour.
• Marinades with raw meat: throw the leftover marinade away, or boil it hard for a full minute before using it as a sauce.
• Freezing: plain yogurt separates when thawed. It is fine for cooking or smoothies, not for raita.
• Leftover curries with yogurt (kadhi, qorma, handi) keep three to four days in the fridge. Reheat gently and stir.

Swaps

• Greek-style yogurt: thicker, so good for tikka marinades. For lassi or kadhi, thin it with water or milk. Not tested in every recipe.
• Dairy-free? We have not tested plant-based yogurt here. Kadhi and labneh both rely on dairy proteins to thicken.

Cook it with Degchi

Add yogurt to your Degchi pantry and the app shows which dishes you can cook. Each recipe page marks ingredients Have or Out. The app is free and in closed beta; join the beta to try it.

Questions

Why did my curry split after I added yogurt? Usually the pot was too hot or the yogurt had lumps. Take it off the heat, whisk the yogurt smooth, add it slowly, and stir.

Can I use sour yogurt? For marinades and kadhi, a little tang is fine, and often wanted. If it smells off or has mould, discard it.

Is it safe to marinate chicken in yogurt overnight? In the fridge, yes. Our tikka recipe says overnight is better.

How long does homemade labneh keep? We have not tested its shelf life. Treat it like fresh cheese, keep it covered in the fridge, and eat it within a few days.