Soy Yogurt **

The soy yogurt is not identical to dairy yogurt but it works well in cooking. As a starter you can use soy or any plant based yogurt, if you can get it commercially. If not, use dairy yogurt or rejeuvelac to start. This is just to introduce the right bacteria for the culture. Once you have your own soy yogurt, don’t forget to freeze a little starter so that you will never be without it.

Ingredients

1 litre soya milk

2 tbsp starter

Method

Bring the soymilk to 42-45°C. The culture will only thrive in a narrow temperature range, too cool and it won't be active, too hot and it will die. It is just below body temperature so it should be the same temperature as baby's milk. Add the starter to the soymilk and mix well with a sterile spoon. Do not stir or move the container till the yogurt sets in - about 5 - 6 hours. Chill.

Making the soy yogurt thicker

You will notice that home made yogurt will be a little runnier than dairy yogurt. To improve the thickness of the soy yogurt you can add one level teaspoon of agar powder, which is premixed in 50 ml water, to the soymilk when it starts boiling. You can also use corn starch or arrowroot as a thickener. Disperse 2 teaspoons of starch in 30 ml cold water and add this mixture to the soymilk just before boiling.