Yummy Delicious

It looks like a milkshake; it’s rich, creamy and delicious. The difference is you can down this guilt free. There’s no ice cream or full cream milk that goes into its making unlike a regular milkshake. The milk, ice cream and generous amo unt of crushed ice are replaced by low-fat yogurt and fresh fruits. Well-travelled Hyderabadis are familiar with yogurt chains in the US, Europe and South East Asia. Flavoured non-fat yogurt topped with fruits and nuts or worked into a fruit smoothie are pick-me-ups at international airports as well. Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai boast of their share of yogurt-smoothie bars and now Hyderabad gets a taste of it.

The humble dahi reinvented itself a couple of years ago urging foodies to think beyond raitas, buttermilk and lassis. Fruit flavoured yoghurt, yogurt desserts and pro-biotic yogurts adorned the shelves of supermarkets.

Those cued into health foods whipped up yogurt smoothies at home to beat the heat.

“A dessert made with hung curd, sugar and fruits is much better than ice creams and Indian sweets,” endorses Sheila Krishnaswamy, founder of NICHE (Nutrition, information, counselling and health education).

“Curd is rich in calcium, protein, Vitamin B12 and B5 and calories from fat are far lesser than when consuming ice creams,” she reasons.


For those of you who think a smoothie is a fruit lassi in the garb of a milkshake, here’s some help. Frozen yogurt used in the preparations of smoothies is made with hung curds.

With the excess water being drained, the yogurt is whipped into smooth, creamy consistency and mixed with fruit pulp of choice. Sugar is optional and so is gelatine, added to give a creamy consistency.

Cocoberry, the yogurt chain that opened to a warm reception in Delhi, has begun operations in Hyderabad, inviting health food loyalists to try the plain and fruit-flavoured pro-biotic low-fat yogurt with a range of toppings — chocolates, cookies, seasonal fruits and exotic fruits like blueberry and blackberry, imported from the US.

“We use refined sugar but there are no additives,” says Sandeep Singh, manager-operations and training. Calorie charts will soon be in place to emphasise the advantages of yogurt smoothies over ice creams. The idea of a yogurt chain stemmed from observing the popularity of such chains in the US.

The tough part in India, nevertheless, is to market the idea to a population that incorporates dahi into its daily meal plan — as plain curd, lassi, buttermilk and curd rice. Step into any South Indian home and no meal is complete without a helping of curd rice with pickle.

“Yogurt chains are success stories in the West where people are primarily meat eaters and don’t make curd at home. They preferred buying flavoured yogurts off supermarket shelves. But we’ve been making curd at homes for centuries. In our cuisine, pro-biotic variants do not carry more benefits than normal low-fat curd,” adds Sheela.

The next time you crave for a dessert, try whisking chilled hung curd with fruit pulp of your choice. Top it with fruits and nuts for a quick fix dessert.