Curd milk is bad for your stomach if you drink it as it is, but curd serves many purposes in the kitchen, so learning how to make it is an art that can come in handy. Furthermore, it is a very easy process. Here's how to do it.
Ingrediants
For a cup (250 ml) of curd ':'
- 1 cup (250 ml) of fresh or soy milk
- 1 to 4 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar (optional)
Steps
Method 1 of 4: Method One: Curd the Milk with an Acidity Corrector
Step 1. Heat the milk a little
Pour it into a saucepan and put it on the stove. Gradually heat the milk to medium temperature until steam begins to form.
- While the acidity corrector you will use for this method can curdle the milk on its own when used in large quantities, the strong heat speeds up the process, causing the milk to clot faster and more clearly. This is especially important if you plan to separate the curd from the whey, for example to make cheese.
- Note that you can curdle milk using heat only, as suggested in another method in this article. This will produce small lumps, so if you need a large amount this is not the recommended method.
Step 2. Add the acidity corrector
Pour lemon or orange juice or vinegar into warm milk. Use the whisk to incorporate it.
- Milk contains a protein called casein. Casein aggregates usually distribute themselves evenly in milk, but when the milk turns sour, the negative charge that keeps them separate is neutralized. The result is agglomerated proteins that make the milk grainy and compact.
- Lemon juice is usually preferred, vinegar is the second choice. Both are much more acidic than orange juice or other edible concealers.
- The more acid you add, the larger the curd lumps will be and the faster they will form. For smaller lumps, use very little.
Step 3. Let it sit
Remove the pot from the heat and let the sour milk sit. Keep it uncovered for 5-10 minutes at room temperature. Don't mix it.
If the milk is not curdled enough for your recipe you can let it rest longer or put it back on the heat again
Step 4. Drain the serum if needed
If you need curd for cheese or other recipes, filter the contents of the pot through cheesecloth or cheesecloth. Wrap it tightly around the pot and drain the whey down the sink or into a large bowl.
- Depending on how liquid the curd is, it may be necessary to let it drain for several hours, or up to a full day, to separate it from the whey.
- If you don't need to filter the curdled milk, you can use it as is.
Method 2 of 4: Method Two: Curd the Milk with Heat
Step 1. Boil the milk
Pour the milk into a saucepan. Put it on the stove and heat the milk over medium-high heat. Once the milk comes to a boil, let it cook for one to two minutes.
- Note that fatty dairy products such as cream can be boiled without any problems. Skimmed milk will take a short time to boil and curdle, while whole milk will take longer.
- The milk will not begin to curdle until it reaches 82 ° C. To maximize and speed up the curdling effect, let the temperature rise further. You can monitor the temperature using a food thermometer.
- Stir occasionally but infrequently. Stirring would move the heat inside the liquid and the milk would take longer to boil.
- Leave the pot uncovered.
Step 2. Let it sit
Remove the pot from the heat and let the milk sit for 5-10 minutes. Don't mix it.
If you want the milk to curdle further, you can let it sit longer or bring it back to the heat and boil it until larger lumps form
Step 3. Drain the serum if needed
If you need curd for cheese or other recipes, filter the contents of the pot through cheesecloth or cheesecloth. Wrap it tightly around the pot and drain the whey down the sink or into a large bowl.
- Remember that the heat method produces a softer and less consistent curd. The other method is preferable if you need sour, grainy milk over solid curd.
- If you don't need to filter the curdled milk, you can use it as is.
Method 3 of 4: Method Three: Curd the Soy Milk
Step 1. Heat the soy milk if needed
It usually starts to curdle even if you don't heat it, but to create a certain amount of curd you can pour it into a saucepan and cook it over medium heat until it begins to steam.
Soy milk curdles more easily than whole milk, but if you add an acidity corrector without heating it first, the result will be smaller and less consistent lumps. Also, they will take longer to train. If you only need to sour soy milk or make it grainy and not quite curdled, you can avoid heating it
Step 2. Mix the soy milk with the acidity regulator
Add acidity corrector, for example lemon juice, mixing with a whisk. You should start to notice some clumps forming as soon as you add the acidic substance.
- Lemon juice is especially recommended for soy milk.
- On average, you'll need one tablespoon (15ml) of lemon juice for each cup (250ml) of soy milk. Note that adding more acid will result in larger lumps, while smaller granules will form.
Step 3. Let the milk sit
Remove the pot from the heat. Let the sour milk sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.
If you heated the milk before adding the vinegar, you should notice the curd forming. If it doesn't have the texture or size you want, you can let the milk sit longer or reheat it for another couple of minutes
Step 4. Drain the serum if needed
If you need solid curd for cheese or other recipes, filter the contents of the pot through cheesecloth or cheesecloth. Wrap it tightly around the pot and drain the whey down the sink or into a large bowl.
- It may take several hours to drain all of the whey, up to a full day, depending on how liquid the curd is.
- If you don't need to separate the curd from the whey, you can use curdled soy milk without draining it.
Method 4 of 4: Method Four: How to Avoid Curdling
Step 1. Use cornstarch or flour
Whisk 2 teaspoons of cornstarch into the milk as you heat it. The starch prevents the milk from clotting, thickening it.
- Starch is usually preferred over flour.
- You will need to use about a teaspoon of cornstarch or flour for every half cup (125 ml) of milk to make sure the milk doesn't clot due to the acidity corrector or intense heat.
- For best results, mix the starch into the milk with a whisk while it is still cold. Heat it and add the other ingredients.
Step 2. Heat the milk over low heat
If you need to heat the milk, bring it to medium-low heat and stir frequently to disperse the heat in the liquid.
- Fresh and soy milk shouldn't exceed 82 ° C if you don't want to get curd.
- Check the temperature using a food thermometer that clips onto the pot. Stick it to one side of the pot. Make sure the bulb is touching the milk but not the bottom of the pot, as the temperature of the metal at the bottom would be higher than that of the milk.
Step 3. Correct the acidity of the milk
If you see that the soy milk coagulates as soon as you put it in the coffee, try pouring it into the cup first, then slowly add the coffee. Pour in gradually to maintain the consistency of the soy milk.
- As for the coffee, it's a good idea to let it cool slightly before adding the soy milk. In doing so, the milk is less likely to clot.
- Note that although coffee is acidic, it is less so than vinegar and lemon juice. As a result, lukewarm and cold coffee will not cause fresh or soy milk to clot.
- While fresh milk is less likely to clot with hot coffee, if you have trouble combining them, you can apply the same practice used with soy milk.
