Summer's here, and the Number 1 drink, say doctors, dieticians and grandmothers, is chaas or buttermilk. There's no arguing with that. Everyone agrees, that there's nothing quite like a well-set bowl of pristine-white dahi that's not too sour, but isn't milky tasting either. However, there is a wonderfully age-old debate about HOW to set the perfect dahi or curds. Summer is a particularly tricky time for this art-n-science. This is when, the yogurt tends to get too runny, or too sour, or too watery. Come monsoon and winter, it stubbornly doesn't set at all, some complain. And the solutions that people swear by are many, varied and most intriguing. They involve temperature of the milk, of the room, of the container; quality of the starter curds that you use, of the milk; how you stir it in, how long you keep it, where you keep it, does it go into the fridge, do you cover it, whether porcelain is the best container, or whether steel does the trick…even what the temperature and mood of the person setting the dahi is at that moment!

There is one theory (seriously, we are NOT making this up) that once you heat the milk to body temperature and add the little starter-spoon of dahi, you must stir it 20 times in one direction and 30 times in another. Someone else swears that the introduction of a single red dry Kashmiri chilli into the setting bowl does the trick. Others insist that you must mix it with your hand, gently stirring three or four times. If you're not a whiz at it, here are a few pointers.

Temperature: Avoid overheating the milk. This leads to curds turning sour, and sometimes worse: a floating half-inch of dahi-like material and a whole lot of water underneath. Under heated milk means that the dahi may not set at all, or set in that half-fashion where it's no good as milk and useless as curds too!

Container: While glass and ceramic are more popular, even stainless steel works well (remember most thali joints have superbly set dahi in tiny steel katoris).

Starter: The little bit of dahi that you use for setting should never be too old or sour. Sometimes, if your curd has been coming out consistently bad, it's better to simply throw it away (feed old dahi diluted to your kaddi patta plant) and start with a nice fresh start from your friendly neighbour or from your friendly neighbourhood dairy.

Placement: Once you've mixed in the starter, keep the container in a place where it won't get shaken or moved around. Putting it in your oven or micro (turned off, of course) helps, because this way it remains undisturbed and temperature-controlled. If you want it to set quickly, you could put the container into a hot case or an empty ice bucket and cover it. In winters, you could even cover the container with a shawl or a tea-cozy.

Timing: In summers, 4-5 hours is enough for dahi to set. After this, it should be put away in the fridge. In winters, you may need another couple of hours for setting.
Finally, you simply have to find the right combo on your own. It's easy for some, and not that simple for some. Grown men are known to give up eating dahi, because no one, not themselves, their wives or their cooks, can set it the way mommy used to. Perhaps she had some little trick of her own, or maybe she was just a natural-born dahi maker. And she's not telling!

Soul Food
Most of us associate curd-rice with Mom. She'd mix it lovingly for you when you came in hot and bothered from school, or pack it for a train journey…And somehow, it made everything alright! It's a national favourite, made a little differently in different parts of the country. It could be a simple mix of curds and rice with a dash of salt, or it can be served with a variety of interesting seasonings and accompaniments.
But first, some universal rules for that perfect curd-rice base:

Good, well-set dahi.

Soft-cooked rice that has been cooled thoroughly (or else the whole dish can take on a slightly bitter after-taste).

Clean hands to mix it with.

A dash of salt and perhaps a hint of sugar (depending on which part of the country you come from).

If you're using it as travel food, then equal parts dahi and milk to be used, so that the dish 'travels' well…which means, it does not sour too much. Whoever thought of this was ingenious indeed: between the time that you pack it and actually eat it, the milk sets into dahi.

Once you've mixed your basic curd-rice, here are a few touches that take this dish on to another plane!

• A tempering (tadka) of: chopped green chillies, mustard (rai), cumin (jeera) and asafoetida (hing); garnished with fresh green coriander.

• A tempering (tadka) of: urad-channa dal roasted pink, kaddi-patta, dry red chilli pieces and asafoetida (hing); garnished with thin juliennes of ginger.

• The addition of a couple of teaspoons of oil from your favourite pickle.

Accompaniments could include roasted papads; fried stuffed chillies (the variety that is sun-dried after it is soaked in masalas and dahi; it's known as 'kutachi mirchi' and available at south Indian and Maharashtrian grocery stores); karela chips; or simply a smattering of crunchy red-hot sev.

Anandi