Yogurt or Curd is relished by most of us and is a crucial part of our diets but there might be an occasion when you get confused between Yogurt and Curd! Funnily, some of us think that it’s the same dairy product and Curd is for ‘India’ while Yogurt is for ‘West’ or sometimes flavored Curd is misconceived as ‘Yogurt’. But interestingly, the answer is plain NO! Although both of these are dairy products & formed by fermentation of milk they are an entirely different ball of wax. Let’s catch some interesting, useful & unknown facts about these two:
Curd
The curd is made by coagulating or curdling of milk, and by adding some acidic substance (Obviously edible one!) to it such as lemon juice or vinegar. On adding any of these in milk, it will start coagulating thus separates into a solid and liquid part. This solid part is Curd or Dahi as we usually call it in India, having milk proteins while the liquid part is whey proteins.
It’s slightly tangy in taste obviously because of acidic substance in it. It can be prepared easily at home by adding a teaspoonful of curd into the milk, which is boiled and then cools down to 30-40 degrees. Curd itself has a form of bacteria called Lactobacillus which helps in formation of Lactic acid thus converts the milk into curd
Benefits:
The curd is quite nutritious. Other than the Proteins, carbs, and fats, it also has vitamins A, E and K; thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sodium, zinc, copper, manganese, fluoride and loads of Probiotic enzymes which promotes digestion and keeps your colon clean and healthy.
Interesting facts:
- As Curd is formed by curdling of milk thus called CURD in a generic term.
- Red Chillies too aids the formation of curd! Yes, you may be astonished but the fact is Red Chillies are the rich source of lactobacilli, the bacteria that help in the fermentation of milk to form Curd.
- It is believed that first curd was accidentally formed when old milk started souring when remained for long, thus got fermented by microbial activity.
Yogurt
Yogurt is usually an industrial product and not prepared at home. However, it is a far healthier option than curd due to ample amount of phosphorous in it. For the preparation of Yogurt instead of one strain of bacteria akin to curd, two strains of bacteria are required i.e. Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophiles for the fermentation of milk.
Benefits:
Vitamin B12, calcium, potassium, protein, Zinc, Vitamin B5 and iodine. For health obsessed & fitness freaks, Yogurt is always considered as an elixir as it not only helps in weight loss but also dwindle your high cholesterol levels & keeps high blood pressure at bay.
Interesting facts:
- Yogurt derives from the Turkish word ‘Yog’ which means ‘condensed’ or ‘intensify’
- Yogurt is available in flavors in the market like mango, strawberry, and blueberry while curd is plain and you can add sugar and salt in it according to your taste!
- Frozen Yogurt which we usually savor today was first introduced in the world in the early 1970s in New England.
So next time we hope while you pamper your taste buds with either yogurt or curd you will savor it without getting confused between the two!!
