Mishti doi is Bengal’s sweet yogurt: milk reduced until creamy, sweetened with caramelised sugar for its colour and flavour, and set overnight in clay pots. The clay soaks up extra moisture, which makes it thick enough to cut with a spoon.
Ingredients
- 1 litre full-fat milk
- 1/3 cup sugar for caramel, plus 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp water
- 1/4 cup thick, fresh curd (starter), whisked
- Clay pots (matkas) or small bowls
Instructions
- Reduce the milk. Boil the milk in a heavy pan and simmer, stirring often, until it reduces to about 600 ml.
- Make the caramel. In another pan, melt 1/3 cup sugar on low flame until it turns deep amber. Carefully add 2 tbsp water and stir into a smooth syrup.
- Combine. Pour the caramel into the hot milk with the remaining 2 tbsp sugar and stir until dissolved.
- Cool. Let the milk cool until lukewarm: a finger dipped in should feel comfortably warm.
- Add the starter. Mix a few spoons of the milk into the curd, then stir it all back into the milk.
- Set. Pour into clay pots, cover and leave in a warm place for 8 to 10 hours, until set. Chill for 2 hours before serving.
Siddhi’s Tips
- If the milk is too hot when you add the starter, the doi turns grainy and watery.
- Soak new clay pots in water for an hour and dry them before use.
- In winter, set the pots inside a switched-off oven with the light on.
Serve it after a Bengali meal with rasgulla. More desserts are in the recipe index.
Prep time: 10 minutes · Cook time: 40 minutes (plus 8 hours setting) · Serves: 4