Is natural yoghurt & soured cream a good replacement for khatta dahi (Indian sour yoghurt/'curd')
Dahi is a natural unpasteurised yoghurt eaten as-is and an ingredient in India, aka curd in Indian English (different to curd in Br/Am E. though). Khatta dahi is more soured (khatta means sour).
What's a good commercially-available (outside of India/Asia) substitute? Natural yoghurt for dahi, plus some (how much?) soured cream for khatta dahi perhaps?
I don't think commercial natural yoghurt could be soured at home, since my understanding is that they pasteurise it (to prolong shelf-life) before re-introducing the desirable bacteria (but not the undesirables).
Or perhaps dahi is often only used because it's so common anyway, and actually if we're substituting it needn't be a yoghurt at all; we could just use (soured, for khatta) cream? - which is of course higher in fat, but so is buffalo milk, which is also used (I'm not sure whether it or cow's is more common) for dahi in India anyway.
(2)2 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
Natural yogurt is a perfect substitution for Indian style Dahi. That's what I use in all my recipes and I originate from the Indian subcontinent. Look out for low-fat or zero fat varieties. Lower the fat, more sour they are usually. At least this is what I have seen with natural yogurts in UK. You can mix in some lemon juice to add sourness since pasteurised yogurts commonly found here are not enough sour.
In Indian subcontinent, almost always the starter is from a previous batch and it's not pasteurised, hence the difference in taste and sourness. Older the starter, more sour the resulting yogurt is.
If you have any ethnic shops around you, you might be able to find some brand that will closely resemble. They are usually marked as 'Indian style' on the package.
There is quite a big difference in the process of making dahi vs yoghurt (aside from pasteurisation), as yogurt is made with bacteria (called yogurt cultures) and curd is made by curdling milk with an acidic agent (like lemon juice).
I would personally use full-fat greek yogurt and add a little fresh lemon juice to the yogurt for a quick-fix. You could, however, follow this recipe to make sour yogurt. I see the author also suggests just adding lemon juice to yogurt as a faster solution.
Let me know if this worked for your recipe!
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2025 All Rights reserved.