Breed news
HerdingStarted by a grandfather in 1937, this Florida ranch now covers 50,000 acres, feeds local communities and...BreedsKasaragod Kullan set to be Keralam’s third indigenous cattle varietyHistoryAncient cattle love affairs: East Asian cattle genomes reveal Tang-Song dynasty mixing and wild bovine introgressionHealthState announces public comment period for proposed bovine tuberculosis testing areasShowsNortheast 4-H Livestock Show celebrates 91 years of traditionShowsAnnual Webster Parish 4-H Livestock Show set to begin next weekBreedsA Leap Forward in Indigenous Breeding: ICAR–IVRI’s Breakthrough in Producing Sahiwal Calves through Advanced Reproductive TechnologiesBreedsBoyd Beef Cattle to Donate 2027 Angus Foundation Heifer PackageBreedsU.P. State Fair dairy show highlights youth, dairy cattle and communityBreedsHereford Cattle Society wins landmark court case over breed statusHerdingStarted by a grandfather in 1937, this Florida ranch now covers 50,000 acres, feeds local communities and...BreedsKasaragod Kullan set to be Keralam’s third indigenous cattle varietyHistoryAncient cattle love affairs: East Asian cattle genomes reveal Tang-Song dynasty mixing and wild bovine introgressionHealthState announces public comment period for proposed bovine tuberculosis testing areasShowsNortheast 4-H Livestock Show celebrates 91 years of traditionShowsAnnual Webster Parish 4-H Livestock Show set to begin next weekBreedsA Leap Forward in Indigenous Breeding: ICAR–IVRI’s Breakthrough in Producing Sahiwal Calves through Advanced Reproductive TechnologiesBreedsBoyd Beef Cattle to Donate 2027 Angus Foundation Heifer PackageBreedsU.P. State Fair dairy show highlights youth, dairy cattle and communityBreedsHereford Cattle Society wins landmark court case over breed status
EveryCow

Curd and fermented milk

Dahi (curd)

Milk set overnight with a spoon of yesterday's curd: the everyday soured milk of South Asian homes.

Dahi is milk boiled, cooled to lukewarm and set with a spoonful of the previous batch. By morning it has turned into a soft, mildly sour curd. It is eaten with rice and dal, whisked into raita and kadhi, churned for butter and buttermilk, and offered at temples. In South India the same food is called thayir or mosaru and ends almost every meal as curd rice.

What goes in

Whole milk: 77%77%Curd starter: 8%Clay pot: 15%15%3parts
  • Whole milk1077%, Boiled and cooled to lukewarm.
  • Curd starter18%, A spoon from the last batch.
  • Clay pot215%, Draws off a little whey for a firmer set.

Rough parts by weight. The ring shows each input's share of the product.

Made step by step

Each drawing shows the operation for that step. Quantities and timings differ from house to house and herd to herd; this is one traditional way, in outline.

  1. Step 1: Boil Bring the milk to the boil and let it cool until a finger can stay in it.
  2. Step 2: Ferment Stir in a spoon of curd from the last batch.
  3. Step 3: Set Cover the pot and leave it undisturbed in a warm corner overnight.
  4. Step 4: Serve Chill the set curd and serve it plain, with rice, or whisked into raita.
  5. Whole milk: 77%77%Curd starter: 8%Clay pot: 15%15%
    Finished Dahi (curd), by share.

The starter that never ends

Most households keep their dahi going from one day's pot to the next, and a neighbour's starter is borrowed when a batch fails. Unglazed clay pots are favoured because they draw off a little water and give a firmer set. In winter the pot is wrapped in cloth or placed near the stove; in summer the milk sets in a few hours.

Custom and ritual

A spoonful of dahi with sugar before a journey, an exam or a new job is a common custom for good luck in North India. Dahi is one of the five foods of panchamrita, poured over images of the gods. At Janmashtami pots of dahi are hung high for the Dahi Handi contests, and in Bengal and Odisha sweet set curd is a fixture of weddings.

Where it is used

Curd riceRaita and kadhiChurning for butterPanchamrita

The breeds behind it

SahiwalDairy zebu of the Punjab plains.Red SindhiDairy zebu kept across Pakistan and India.GirGujarat's best-known milk breed.DeoniDual-purpose breed of the Marathwada plateau.

More on EveryCow

No breeds here yet. New pages are added every day.

Sources and further reading

About this page

Original text and drawings by the EveryCow desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The shares are a rough, illustrative ratio, not a recipe: every family and dairy makes it differently. If we have something wrong, tell us.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven cattle breeds you may not know, the cattle days of the week ahead, and one product explained step by step.