This is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to make a vegan curd starter at home. The credit for this idea goes to Dr. Sneha Rajurkar, who suggested in a vegan Facebook group that we can soak moong dal in water for a few hours and use that water as a curd starter. I tried it and it works beautifully! Actually, we can soak just any lentil in water for 10-12 hours to make a starter. However, I prefer yellow moong dal because it has a shorter fermenting time and a milder flavour as compared to other common lentils like urad or arhar.
The image featured is of soy cashew set with this starter.
Time taken: 10-12 hours
1 Indian tea cup = 150 ml
Yields ½ cup starter liquid
Ingredients:
- 1 level tablespoon yellow moong dal
- A pinch of sugar/jaggery, optional
- ½ cup water
Method:
- Mix the yellow moong dal, sugar/jaggery (if using), and water in a bowl. Cover and keep aside for 10-12 hours.
- The water used for soaking will become a little bubbly/frothy. This means the soaking liquid is teeming with the good bacteria necessary for setting curd! Filter out the yellow moong dal and reserve the bacteria-rich water.
- One tablespoon of this liquid can be used to set approx. 500 ml of any vegan curd.
Click on the given links for a few other types of vegan starter and different varieties of plant-based curd to try!
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