Yogurt

dahi · doi

Milk, soured and set — coolant, tenderiser, dessert.

What it is

Yogurt is milk set with live cultures into a mild, tangy curd. It plays three roles at once: a cooling counterweight on a spiced plate, an acid that tenderises meat in a marinade, and — sweetened and set — the base of Bengali sweets. Whisked, it enriches a gravy without curdling if handled right.

Where it comes from

Made and eaten across the whole subcontinent, plain yogurt is a daily staple. In Bengal it becomes mishti doi, sweetened set yogurt, one of the region's signature sweets.

What it's called

Yogurt · dahi (Hindi) · doi / mishti doi (Bengali). Sometimes called curd in Indian English.

In the kitchen

Whisked into marinades to tenderise and flavour (tandoori, kebabs), stirred into gravies for tang and body (added gently, off high heat, so it doesn't split), spooned as raita to cool a meal, and set-and-sweetened into mishti doi. Full-fat behaves best in cooking.

What we know about the claims

Yogurt is a good source of protein, calcium and live cultures — a genuinely wholesome everyday food. Its cultures are the basis of its gut-health reputation, which for plain live yogurt is reasonably founded.

Choosing and buying

Everywhere. Plain full-fat (or Greek-style, closest to thick dahi) works best in cooking; the sweet set kind is a dessert.