Isn't Yogurt a common thingy in various countries. At least, in India it is known to have been used for a long time (specifically the clarified butter derived from the yugurt[1]).
Ghee is clarified butter and has nothing to do with yogurt. Now, when the native to Bulgaria bacteria has been spread around the globe, yogurt is available worldwide, but not until recently.
But what I meant is that ghee is not made with yogurt and not solely from fermented milk - and ghee doesn't have to be cultured either (most brands available in US stores are not). Again, my point was, that for fermented milk to be called "yogurt," it needs to have a particular Lactobacillus profile, which is not traditionally available in India. Nowadays, maybe you use the imported starter cultures just like Japan, USA, and EU does.
Please do :-)! The butter by itself is quite tasty; more tangy than store-bought butter and delicious when whipped with powdered sugar then spread on bread.
> it needs to have a particular Lactobacillus profile, which is not traditionally available in India
Sorry, do you have a source for this? I was unable to find anything. I don't think it would've been too difficult for yogurt cultures to diffuse gradually from Bulgaria to India in ancient times. There were plenty of traders and conquering armies going back and forth. Yogurt has been in India for thousands of years.
With regard to yogurt cultures used in India, I only found the following: "In India, a combination of "Lactobacillus bulgaricus" and "Streptococcus thermophilus" is used for commercial production." [1]
I've had ghee before, and I like it - especially the one I buy at the farmers market from grass-fed Jersey cows.
Every country has some regulation on what should be marketed as "butter," "cheese," "yogurt" so that consumers are not deceived. For example, in Bulgaria, recently there's been "butter" on the market with 70% hydrogenated palm oil! If there's no precise definition of what "yogurt" is, kefir, butter milk, and lassi can be sold as yogurt then - they are fermented dairy products as well
In Bulgaria, for example, there's strict standard, which even limits the types of containers that can be used to sell yogurt (as some may alter the taste or leach chemicals).
I know that there's EU regulation on yogurt as well, but I'm not able to find it, unfortunately.
[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghee