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Doogh

It is fermented for three or four days after the salt goes in, so it is not diluted yogurt.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (whole milk), dairy (yogurt).

Ingredients

Method

  1. IT IS FERMENTED FOR THREE OR FOUR DAYS AFTER THE SALT GOES IN, SO IT IS NOT DILUTED YOGURT. Its article makes the distinction itself, against the Turkish yogurt drink: doogh is not diluted yogurt. The method says why. Milk and plain yogurt are mixed at fifteen parts to one, warmed gently until uniformly warm, salted, and then put in a closed container somewhere warm for three to four days. So the fermentation happens in the finished, salted drink -- it is not a yogurt that was made first and then let down with water. Thinning yogurt with water and salting it gives you something that looks the same and has none of the sourness.
  2. THE RATIO IS FIFTEEN TO ONE AND THE YOGURT IS THE STARTER. A litre and a half of milk to a hundred grams of yogurt. The yogurt is not there for body, it is there for its culture, so it has to be live -- a pasteurised set yogurt will do nothing at all.
  3. IT IS WARMED, NOT HEATED. Its article says low heat until uniformly warm. Blood heat, about 37C: warm enough for the culture to work and well short of the temperature that would kill it. Heat it to a simmer and nothing will ferment.
  4. THE SALT GOES IN BEFORE THE FERMENT, NOT AFTER. Two teaspoons, stirred in while the mixture is still warm. Salting at the end gives a raw saline edge; salted first, it ferments into the drink.
  5. THE CONTAINER IS CLOSED AND KEPT WARM FOR DAYS. A jar with the lid on, somewhere around 25 to 30C, three to four days. There is nothing to do in between.
  6. THE LONGER IT SITS, THE MORE SAVOURY IT GETS, AND THAT IS A CHOICE. Its article is clear on this: the longer the fermentation, the more savoury the drink, and many subcultures within the country prefer a longer one. Taste at three days. If it is mild for you, give it another two.
  7. DRIED MINT AND FIZZ ARE BOTH OPTIONAL AND BOTH COMMON. A tablespoon of dried mint stirred in at the end, and the whole thing cut with sparkling water at the glass if you want it carbonated.
  8. IT IS SERVED WITH FOOD, NOT ON ITS OWN. Its article names it as one of the main beverages served alongside meals, and specifically with the mashed meat stew and the rice-and-kebab plate -- both of which are pages here: Abgoosht, as on its own page, and Chelow Kabab, as on its own page. It is also drunk with a fried pastry in Isfahan.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Iran · All recipes