Frozen yoghurt
I only discovered Indian cuisine when I left home to go to university (my mother didn't like curries). The cheapest, most delicious, and nutritious place to eat was the Hare Krishna restaurant on Auckland's Queen Street. It was the year that the movement's leader Swami A. C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada died, causing a rift amongst his NZ followers. The original lot kept the restaurant, while the group I had made friends with kept the farm. This breakaway sect, who called themselves Hare Bol ("Chant the names of God"), met each Sunday evening in a parking garage (how edgy that was!) to eat an elaborate feast, pray, and listen to live music...and it was FREE! Today it would be called a pop up. That was my real introduction to Indian cuisine.
I only ever visited the restaurant again once. It was after they'd moved and downsized their premises and menu. They'd bought themselves a soft-serve ice cream dispenser and were doing a roaring trade in frozen yoghurt. What a revelation that was! The day I was there, they had apricot frozen yoghurt on the menu.
This recipe is for plain frozen yoghurt (which, trust me, is delicious enough), but you could add some stewed dried apricots to the mix...or swap out some of the sugar for honey and throw in some chopped pistachios at the end. It really could not be easier, especially if you have a stick blender. I've even made it with a whisk before - in which case I would use a deeper container, and I'd beat the yoghurt more often as it freezes.
Makes a large tub (a bit more that the 500g pot of yoghurt you start off with); serves 4 - 5 as a side...or maybe just 2 hungry people sharing???
Ingredients
500g pot of Greek-style yoghurt
65g sugar (approximately 3 barely-rounded tablespoons)
4 tablespoons milk (preferably full fat)
Method
1.
Measure out the sugar.
2.
Add the milk, and store it in the fridge while the milk dissolves the sugar. Give it a stir every so often, breaking up the sugar granules with the back of a spoon.
3.
Scrape out every bit of yoghurt into a suitable container then thoroughly stir the sweetened milk in. Into the freezer it goes.
4.
It can take 6 - 7 hours for the yoghurt to freeze. Beat it every two hours. You don't want it freeze completely before you start beating it.
The idea is to bring it almost to the point of freezing and then to break up the ice crystals as they form. Every two hours is perfect.
5.
You can serve it soft after the final beating or pop it back in the freezer for a short while to firm up.
If you leave it till the next day, you'll need to remove it from the freezer 30 - 40 minutes before attempting to scoop it...or thaw for an hour or so before starting the beating and freezing cycle over again.
Any questions? You can use the comments form at the bottom of the page.
Did you know?
You'll find recipes at the back of all the books in the Send for Octavius Guy series: