Yogurt is very easy to make at home. Many homes in India still make yogurt at home each and everyday. It is almost a ritual. Yogurt can also be bought fresh in India from a milk vendor. Special yogurt-making equipment allows for careful temperature control without a thermometer and reduces the chances of failure. But you can use any pot or bowl. Making yogurt at home is fun and less expensive than buying it.

Yogurt is made by inoculating certain bacteria Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus, into milk This is called - starter culture.

The easiest and least expensive way of obtaining a starter culture is to purchase "plain" yogurt at a grocery store. You must use a brand of plain yogurt whose label indicates that the product contains a live culture; some brands of plain yogurt do not contain a live culture because the yogurt has been pasteurized.

After inoculation, the milk is incubated until firm. Accurate temperature control helps assure rapid coagulation and a good-tasting yogurt.

1 gallon whole milk - you can use 2% or skim milk
1 cup starter culture - plain yogurt at room temperature

Bring milk to just a boil and then set aside to cool. Discard any "skin" that may have formed on the milk. Heating the milk to boiling kills any undesirable bacteria that might be present and also changes the properties of the milk protein so that it gives the yogurt a firmer body and texture. Just cool enough or until luke warm to touch. - about 110 degrees F .

Spread the starter culture into the container that you are going to make the yogurt in. Pour the warm milk into it. Mix well but gently. Do not incorporate too much air. If too much air is mixed in, the starter culture will grow slowly. Cover. Cover also with a couple of towels top and bottom to maintain an even temperature.

Keep covered at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Yogurt containers can be kept warm in a gas oven with pilot light and electric bulb, or an electric oven with light bulb of sufficient wattage - approximately 100 watts. Wide-mouth thermos bottles, heating pads, and sunny windows also have been used. Do not stir the yogurt during this period.

Refrigerate for 8 hours before serving. To store, keep in refrigerator. The yogurt will keep well, a week or two.