Yogurt
You make yogurt in the East in this traditional way. Normally, milk is boiled in India, even though you get it pasteurized. Because traditionally, Indians do not trust the pasteurizing process and would rather boil it again before use, then drink it straight from the milk bottle or from the packet.
So boil 1 L of milk. Allow to cool until it is lukewarm. You are going to see a thin layer of cream floating on top. You can keep it to add some taste to the yogurt you are making.
You need 3 tablespoons full of yogurt culture. What is yogurt culture? It is just the remainder of the yogurt, which was left behind after you finished the yogurt you made yesterday. Remember to keep at least 2 to 3 tablespoons full and do not empty out that yogurt bowl.
Dip your finger in the milk. If it is tolerably warm, in the warm weather, this is the time you put in the yogurt. Whip it briskly with a spoon, cover with a lid, and placed by one side of the stove in your warm kitchen. This is normally made overnight, so that you have perfect yogurt to eat for breakfast the next morning. The next morning, it has set, so put it in the fridge.
If you really want a traditional taste, boil this milk in a red earthernware pot, allow it to cool to lukewarm, add the culture, and leave the yogurt to set. This is considered to be one of the most delicious ways in which to eat milk products and meat products in India, and also in other countries in the East – cooking in earthenware pots. This yogurt is going to have the taste of mother Earth, in a sweetened form. I still cannot understand how that yogurt got sweet. I never added any sugar to it. It is also going to have a distinctly delicious wet earthenware aroma.
Also, I found a friend setting yogurt in cold weather, – freezing Missouri weather – by warming up her oven to 125°C for five minutes. Then she put in the yogurt container in the oven and left it overnight. Good idea!
Have you just spooned off a chunk of yogurt, only to find the rest of it turning watery? This is going to happen when you cut into the yogurt, just like you were cutting into a pie or into the cake. The best way to prevent your beautifully set yogurt from getting watery is to spoon off the yogurt, layer by layer. That means that you are spooning off the set yogurt instead of breaking it. That breaking process means you are mixing it with its watery composition and component.
According to research, yogurt has 18% more calcium than what is found in ordinary milk. For all those people who cannot digest milk, yogurt is the most nutritious diet food.
People suffering from asthma, respiratory problems, cough, and fever should not be given yogurt to eat. It should also not be eaten at night.
Lethargy
If you are suffering from lethargy, make buttermilk out of yogurt, and drink it every day. This gives you energy and also keeps your digestive system.
Constipation
If you are suffering from constipation, roast some ground cumin seeds, salt, and black pepper together. Now sprinkle this powdered powder with a peppers cellar all over your bowl of yogurt. Eat this everyday with your lunch, and you are never going to suffer from digestive problems or constipation, ever again. If you are suffering from acidity, do not allow the yogurt to get sour before you eat it. It should be eaten fresh and “sweet”, before it is allowed to get sour, which is what is going to happen when yogurt gets stale.
People suffering from migraines can eat a mixture of yogurt, rice, and rock candy first thing in the morning. Eat this for at least six days. I remember going to a friend’s house, to pick her up before our final exams in high school. Her mother immediately fed the both of us with a bowlful of yogurt with honey mixed in it, because she said we needed to keep our cool. We aced our examinations. Naturally, we had studied really hard, but yogurt and honey gave us plenty of energy during the three hour long grueling session which would either make or break us, those results being counted upper most towards our college admissions.
The Best Way to Eat Yogurt
This is a natural way in which yogurt should be eaten take fresh yogurt and add honey or molasses to it. Add a little water to this mixture. This was actually eaten at Dawn by the ancients during the first meal of the day, at Dawn break. The water was added to it to give it more power. The honey was an energy giving supplement. If your yogurt gets sour, just tie it in a muslin cloth, and hang it over a utensil. The water is going to drip out of it and the sourness is going to be removed.
Yogurt for Hair Care
Hair fall
Remember that you lose about a hundred hairs from your head, daily. Naturally, that is because they have to make room for a fresher head of hair. Do not get stressed and tense like the Empress of Austria, Sisi , who used to get her hair brushed three times a day, and yell at her ladies in waiting, because a hair had fallen out. In fact, she was so neurotic that she made them stick the hair on to her scalp so that she could persuade herself that the hair had not fallen out.
Do not get stressed if you find your hair falling out. They may fall out due to tension, and you get stressed because they are falling out due to stress and tension, and this is going to be a vicious circle. Instead, increase your iron content, vitamin B, and iodine quotient in your meals. Wash your hair with yogurt. This keeps your hair healthy.
This hair washing and shampooing is done by applying yogurt to the roots of your hair. This nourishes your hair. Let us say for half an hour, and then wash your hair with water. Do not shampoo it with any other soap or shampoo. Your hair is now clean, and well nourished.
If you want to keep your hair dark – this is not for blondes and redheads – you are going to put one lemon in half a cup of yogurt. Rub this mixture all over the roots of your hair, and over your hair. This should be allowed to stay on for 20 minutes before you shampoo them. This is a natural hair darkener and hair moisturizer. You will not need to condition your hair afterwards.
You can also keep your hair dark by putting 10 ground peppercorns in one cup of yogurt. This is excellent for cleaning your hair and keeping them shiny, dark, and healthy. This also prevents hair fall. You need to do this shampoo once a week.
Dandruff
Dandruff is the superficial dead skin of your scalp, which sloughs off every seven days. It is rather itchy, and that is why people keep looking for chemical shampoo in order to get rid of that dandruff.
This dandruff can also affect the whole of your body and you are going to find yourself itching and scratching your arms and legs. After all, it is dry skin. To get rid of this, you are going to add 3 tablespoons full of molasses to 1 cup of yogurt. This makes a powerful antidote to dandruff.
Apply it all over the affected areas on your scalp. Wash your hair after 30 minutes. This is going to get rid of all the dandruff.
Instead of molasses, which may not be readily available, you can also get a cure by adding 2 tablespoons full of salt to 1 cup of yogurt. Rub your hair and scalp with this shampoo. The salt is going to get rid of all the dandruff.
Yogurt for Beauty
Yogurt has long been known to be an excellent beauty agent, because after all, it has milk in it, especially fermented milk, and it has also skin whitening properties.
Skin Cleansing
Do this skin cleansing, every day before you go to sleep, by mixing one teaspoonful of lemon juice in one spoonful of yogurt. Dip a cotton swab in it, and apply it all over your skin get rid of the dirt and the grime by rubbing this swab all over your face, neck, and even on your hands in circular motions. This also keeps your skin smooth, dirt free, and well moisturized.
You can also put a teaspoonful of salt, and yogurt, and rub it all over your face, before going to sleep as a cleansing lotion. This gets rid of all the dirt and dead cells.
Blemishes and Pimples
If you find yourself suffering from skin blemishes, especially due to sunburn or sun damage, apply yogurt on your body like a scrub. Get rid of all the dirt, and have a shower after five minutes. Do not use any other soap or bubble bath. This gets rid of pimples as well as blemishes, when used regularly.