Simple Bengali Sweet Yogurt (Mishti Doi)
There is a phrase in Bengali, “mishti mukh kora”, which roughly translates to “sweeten your mouth”. It is generally said whenever something good or celebratory happens. So, what better way to celebrate the birth of my blog, than with a recipe of a Bengali dessert.
Mishti doi literally translates to sweet yogurt. It is a traditional Bengali dessert, commonly found in Bangladesh and in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a classic dessert with milk which is thickened and sweetened with either sugar or jaggery along with some yogurt starter. This mixture is then allowed to ferment overnight in earthen/clay pots.
The traditional process of thickening the milk by boiling, and then incubating the yogurt is time-consuming and tedious. After years of fiddling with different recipes, my family came up with a simple and fast way to recreate this beloved dessert. This “cheat” recipe requires only 3 ingredients and hardly any prep time. It has a pudding-like creamy texture, and I like making it a day ahead before serving.
Kitchen Notes:
If you are baking in a traditional unglazed clay pot, the baking time will be a little longer because the water evaporates slowly through the micro pores of the pot. So, adjust the baking time accordingly. For my small clay pot, it usually takes 30 to 35 minutes.
Unglazed clay pots require some prep before they are ready for use. Check out https://bit.ly/2ZkrN2N for additional information.
If you like your desserts sweeter, feel free to play with the amount of sweetened condensed milk.
INGREDIENTS
1 can Evaporated Milk 2 cups Plain Full-Fat Yogurt ½ can of a 14 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk
METHOD
Preheat oven to 275 F.
Whisk all the ingredients thoroughly, making sure there are no lumps.
Pour the mixture into an oven safe unglazed clay pot**, any oven safe glassware or even aluminum foil tray.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the center is barely set or jiggles a little when shaken.
Let it cool completely. Then refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours before serving. Serve chilled.
** See kitchen notes.
