When you think of yogurt, depending on where you grew up, it conjures up diverse images, tastes, and smells. For me, growing up in India, yogurt, or as we called it ‘dahi’ (दही) or ‘curd’ - was set to be made everyday in a brown ceramic bowl. My dad filled it with fresh milk and added a spoonful of the previous lot of curd, mixed it well, and left it in a warm place in the kitchen to set.

We then used curds/dahi in many different dishes - chutneys, relishes, curries/kadhi, and of course, dahi-wada. A delicious snack of fried lentil balls in curd sauce. But the most important use was for wishing us good-luck before our exams. My mom would ladle out a spoonful of dahi on my palm and sprinkle a bit of sugar. I slurped that off my palm and went off to school to battle the day’s exams, reassured of my anxieties that this sweet little delight would be an auspicious shield to ward off failure.

But coming to America, you realize that yogurt here is just meant to be eaten by itself, often sweet and sprinkled with granola and fruit.

The astonishing varieties of yogurt now available in any grocery store in America, reflects the current and future food trends as this article informs in detail..