Hung Curd | Homemade Greek Yogurt Recipe

Consuming curd on a regular basis is one of the easiest ways to include probiotics in your everyday meals. A classic Indian foodstuff, curd is even better if you prepare it at your home. Also, homemade Greek Yogurt or Hung Curd is a form that can be easily prepared from your regular curd, and is as beneficial as yogurt. This Hung Curd recipe is an easy DIY way of making a creamy batch at home, without any fuss.

About Hung Curd

Hung Curd or Greek Yogurt is simply the curd or yogurt, which has been drained completely of its whey. Since you have a reference to my post of How To Make Curd, after preparing that, you can easily head to this Hung Curd recipe.

Different people may have different ways of making Hung Curd at home. However, the method that I have explained here does not require you to hang the curd outside for a fresh batch of homemade Greek Yogurt.

In this Hung Curd recipe, you can easily keep the entire apparatus in the refrigerator itself. I developed this method more so keeping in mind the extreme hot Indian climate. Placing the apparatus in such weather conditions can turn the Hung Curd sour and even spoil it. So, refrigerating it helps.

However, if you stay in a cold climate or in a place with cooler weather conditions, you can hang the curd in your kitchen on a hook arrangement. You can tie it on the kitchen sink tap as well. 

About Making Greek Yogurt

Making homemade Greek Yogurt is no rocket science. In fact, I would suggest you make your own by following this method, as it is the best way to get some fresh Greek Yogurt without any added chemicals or preservatives.

Just make sure that you are going through these below points thoroughly before starting the process of making it. Once you do that, it is going to be as swift as the wind for you to make Hung Curd at home, whenever you want.

Points to remember

• DO NOT use sour curd or sour yogurt to make the Hung Curd or Greek Yogurt.
• Ensure you are using fresh homemade curd/dahi or yogurt. If in any case, you end up using a store-bought one, then check for the expiry date.
• Whether you are keeping your apparatus in the refrigerator or outside, keep a bowl under the muslin. This will help to collect the whey, which is rich in nutrients and can be used in place of plain water in any dish.
• Obviously, you can’t discard the whey as you can use it to make your chapati/bread doughs as well as cake batters. You can even add it while making pulao or other rice-based dishes, lentils, soups and gravies.
• Usually, the Greek Yogurt is ready in about 4 to 5 hours. But if you want a Hung Curd, which is thicker, smoother and creamier, then keep it overnight or 10 to 12 hours more in the refrigerator.
• Once ready, make sure to refrigerate the Greek Yogurt or Hung Curd and use it within 4 to 5 days.

How to make Hung Curd (Greek Yogurt)

Preparation

1. You need 4 things :

• 1 deep bowl
• 1 strainer or sieve
• 1 muslin cloth or cheese cloth
• 1 heavy weight bowl, pan or lid

Instead of muslin cloth, you can also use a cotton kitchen napkin. First, line the bowl with the strainer.

Make sure that all your bowls, strainer and muslin cloth/cheese cloth are clean and dry.

2. Then, line the strainer with the muslin cloth.

Make Hung Curd

3. Pour the fresh curd. I added 4.5 cups curd (made from 1 liter milk, about 1.125 kgs), since I was making Shrikhand with it.

For making tikka marinade, spreads or raitas, you can add accordingly.

4. Bring the 4 edges of the muslin cloth together and tie one edge tightly around the rest.

5. Gently press and you will see the whey dripping.

6. Now, place a heavy bowl, lid or tray on the tied muslin cloth bundle. If you have a hook, you can also hang the muslin cloth bundle in your refrigerator.

7. Here’s a picture from distance. Now, keep the whole thing in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. I kept for 24 hours.

Do use a deep bowl below, so that there is some distance between the yogurt in the strainer and the collected whey.

Otherwise the whey will touch the strainer as well as the curd. Thus, there will be some whey in the curd.

8. Next day, the whey will be drained off and you will get the Hung Curd.

9. You can see how creamy and smooth it looks. The texture is similar to that of cream cheese. From 1.125 kgs, the yield was 425 grams of Hung Curd.

Collect it in a container or lidded bowl if not using. Cover with its lid and refrigerate. Use a silicon spatula to collect the Hung Curd.

Even when using it, better to use silicon spatula as you can easily scrape it off from the sides or edges of the bowl.

10. Here’s the nutrient rich whey. I add it to the chapati dough and in pulao or currie.

Note that in chapati, the curd like flavor and taste is not felt. But in gravies, rice and pulao, you will get the taste.

11. Use the Hung Curd immediately for any recipe or keep it refrigerated till further use. It keeps well for 2 to 3 days in the fridge.

Uses of Greek Yogurt

Greek Yogurt is also known as ‘dahi ka chakka’ in Indian regional languages. Since the whey is completely drained off from the curd and what is left of it is a thick, creamy and smooth Hung Curd, it is apt to make raita, dips, chutneys and other similar accompaniments/condiments.

Because of its natural consistency and texture, Greek Yogurt becomes a great base for making salad dressings too. Make a simple and potato salad by just tossing some boiled baby potatoes in a lightly spiced and herbed Greek Yogurt dressing. You can modify it by adding more veggies. Makes for a yum and filling lunch.

Hung Curd is also an integral ingredient in many Indian recipes which involve marinades. For instance, a Paneer Tikka or any other tikka.

We can’t really imagine making a perfect Dahi Kabab or even Shrikhand without using Hung Curd in their recipes. Another unique recipe is this Curd Sandwich, which is an easy way of using Hung Curd to make a satisfying snack.

I also make this luscious and decadent Amrakhand (Mango Shrikhand) at home, during the mango season along with Hung Yogurt in it. Besides this, raitas and tikkas are common at my place as well.

You can even make cheesecakes and cream cheese frostings with Greek Yogurt since they have a similar soft and creamy texture. But I still have to try these at home.

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This Hung Curd recipe from the archives first published on April 2015 has been republished and updated in January 2023.