LAAL MISHTI DOI

If you live in East India there is very little incentive in making sweet yogurt at home. Every place has a sweet shop selling it within a mile. Even in every other major Indian cities there are good Benagali Sweet Shops selling Lal Mishti Doi.  The sweet dish that I am going to share today is the signature Bengali Yogurt called “ Mishti Doi”. Probably it’s the second well-known and popular in rest  of the India, next to Rasogolla. The word “mishti doi” immediately reminds all of a clay pot filled with brownish sweet yogurt. It is fermented sweet yogurt and a Bengali delicacy. I don’t have any Bengali roots but still, I enjoy having chilled Mishti Doi from an earthen pot and I believe earthen pot enhances the taste of the dahi / yogurt and it also absorbs excess moisture. Instead of caramelised sugar you can add jaggery to make it reddish in colour. When you add jaggery it gives a strong smoky aroma to yogurt and tastes even better. But this is not the Authentic recipe to make mishti doi because mishti doi is always prepared with sugar or caramelised sugar or nolen gur [date jaggery]. This is the traditional way of making mishti doi which is off course time consuming and you will need almost 6-8 hours depending on the local weather for the yogurt to set. Hope this post helps you to make Mishti Doi at home, which is simple and easy, so give this recipe a try and do share your comments and suggestions if any.   

INGREDIENTS:

6-7 Cups Full Fat Milk [1 ½ lit]

½ Cup Thick Plain Yogurt

½ Cup Granulated Sugar [adjust]

5 tablespoon Sugar [for caramelising]

2 tablespoon Water

Some chopped nuts for garnishing

METHOD:

STEP 1 – Ina heavy bottomed pan, heat milk at medium flame.

When it starts to boil reduce the flame to low and let it thicken to half the quantity.
 STEP 2 – Stir it occasionally so that the milk does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

STEP 3 – When the milk reduced to half, add granulated sugar in it

and mix well till it get dissolved and milk get thickened to almost malai or rabdi consistency and the colour is turned to light brown.

STEP 4 – Now in another separate pan, add 5 tablespoon sugar and 2 tablespoon water

and heat at medium flame. Let the sugar melt to form a syrup. Do not stir it.

STEP 5 – Continue cooking until the syrup changes to golden brown in colour.

Switch off the flame and very carefully add to the thickened milk and give a nice stir. Keep this mixture aside and let it cool down slightly.

STEP 6 – When the milk mixture is just lukewarm and not so hot, take a measuring cup and add the plain yogurt to it.

STEP 7 – Whisk it with whisker to form a homogeneous mixture.

STEP 8 – Pour the mixture on to earthen pots of glass bowls.

STEP 9 – Cover them with aluminium foil or plastic wrap

and place the pots on a tray and cover with a warm piece of cloth.

STEP 10 – Keep the tray in a warm place undisturbed for about 6-8 hours or overnight.

STEP 11 – After resting for 8 hours, the yogurt will set.

STEP 12 – Transfer to the refrigerator for at least 1 -2 hour or until serving. Serve it chilled.

Serve it chilled at the end of meal and enjoy.