Mishti doi / Bengali Sweet Yogurt Recipe

                                   

Mishti Doi is a classic dessert from Bengal in East India. In Bengali "mishti" means sweet and "doi" is curd, so Mishti Doi translated to sweet curd. It is basically a fermented sweet yogurt made with thickened milk, sweetened with sugar or jaggery to which curd culture is added and fermented overnight. Here i have used jaggery as the sweetener which is healthy and imparts a mild sweet taste to the dish. Mishti doi can be mildly flavored with cardamom or kept plain. Mishti doi has a rich and exotic taste. Traditionally it is prepared in earthen pots as the gradual evaporation of water from the earthen pots leads to further thickening of the yogurt.

                                      

       

Durga Puja also referred to as Durgotsava or Sharadotsav is an annual Hindu festival in south Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It is  particularly popular in Indian states of West Bengal , Odisha, Assam and Tripura. Durga puja festival marks the battle of goddess Durga with the powerful buffalo demon Mahishasura, and her emerging victorious over the evil. Thus the festival epitomizes the victory of Good over Evil, but it also is in part a harvest festival that marks the goddess as the motherly power behind all of life and creation.

                             

I had made this emboss painting 20 years years back and it still adorns the  wall at my parents house :)

Durga Puja a major festival of Bengal is a five-day celebration that run parallel with Navratri, a Hindu festival where none forms of Goddess Durga are worshiped. The five days are Shahsthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navmi and Vijaydashmi. It is believed that during Durga Puja, Goddess Durga, accompanied by her four children, Ganesh, Karthik, Lakshmi and Saraswati- desends on earth every year to visit her parents and to fight evil. As a part of Durga Puja celebrations, huge pandals with idols of Goddess Durga are set-up and devotees come in large numbers to offer prayers to the goddess. During this festivalof Durgostav, devotees wear new clothes, indulge in sweet and traditional food and enjoy cultural programmes. The rituals that start off on Shashthi come to an end on dahmi, when idols of the goddess are immersed by teary-eyed devotees in ponds, lakes and rivers. Source

Bengali's celebrate Durga Puja festival with dance , food , music , grandeur and community gatherings. While in Northern and Western India, people observe 9 days of fasting during Navratri, Bengali's (die hard foodies) enjoy scrumptious food during Durga Pooja. Many mouth-watering sweets like Sandesh, Rasgulla, Payesh , mishti doi are made as offerings during Durga Puja. A typical Durga Puja Thali will have Mishti doi served as a side dish for sure.

This is an old post which i had published in 2015 during my initial blogging days. Few days back when i visited this post, i felt the pics were very dull and even the written content of the recipe was not up to the mark. I have many such old posts which needs to be updated. Thanks to Renu, my dear friend and a fellow blogger who came up with a Facebook group, Foodies_Redoing Old Posts as an initiative, wherein we bloggers update our old posts with new pictures and written contents every two weeks. This is my 7th entry into this event (4th October). Here i have updated the recipe with both the pictures and the written content.

                         

                                          

Preparation Time: 10-12 hours
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 1 liter full fat milk
• 3/4 cup grated jaggery
• 2 tablespoon fresh curd

Method 

1. Take milk in a heavy based pan or wok and heat it on medium flame. Once the milk comes to a boil, simmer and stir it frequently to ensure it does not catch the bottom.

2. Keep stirring and scrapping the sides of the pan to collect the milk solids and add it to the simmering milk. Continue to cook the milk until it thickens and reduces to 1/3 or 1/2 of its original volume.

3. Put off the flame and allow the thickened milk to cool down for about 8-10 minutes. Now add the grated jaggery to it and stir well until the jaggery dissolves completely. 

4. The temperature of milk will drop down as you dissolve the jaggery. Now dip your finger in the milk and check for the temperature. If you feel the milk warm and not hot, this is the right time to add the curd culture. Stir well with spoon or whisk until the curd dissolves well with the milk.

 5. Now, pour the doi mixture into earthen pots and cover with lid or seal with aluminum foil. Keep the pots in warm place overnight for the misthi doi to set. In winter months it make take longer to set. You may keep the pots in an oven with the light on.

   6.  Once set, refrigerate it for a couple of hours and serve chilled. I have garnished the mishti doi with dried rose petals, few saffron strands and pistachio slivers to give it a festive touch.

                              

Recipe Notes:

•  Do not add the curd when the milk is too hot or else the milk will curdle. 
• The amount of  jaggery can be increased or reduced to suit your taste.
• Very often the yogurt is delicately seasoned with a hint of cardamom (elaichi) for fragrance. You can also garnish it with few saffron strands, pistachio slivers and dried rose petals the way i have done .
• Use full fat milk for best results.

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For more Bengali recipes from this blog, check out the following  

• Sponge Rasgulla

                     

• Bengali Sandesh

                    

• Durga Puja Platter / Bengali Vegetarian Thali

                    

• Begun Bhaja

                    

• Kasundi

                   

• Vegetable chop - Bengal Style vegetable Cutlet