Start the day before. The setting alone is 6 hr, against 60 min of actual work.
Allergens in Mishti Doi: milk.
Ingredients
Quantities for 6.
- 1.5 litres, full fat Milk
- 150g, date palm (nolen gur) if you can get it, chopped Jaggery
- 2 tbsp Sugarfor caramelising, which gives the colour
- 3 tbsp, live and at room temperature Yogurtthe starter
- 2, bruised Cardamomoptional
Cookware
stovetop, oven
Checked against the ingredient list for ten allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, soy and gluten. Brands vary, so read the label on anything new to you.
Before you start
- Take the starter yogurt out of the fridge at least an hour ahead. Cold starter sets slowly and unevenly.
- Soak an unglazed earthenware bowl in water for 30 minutes if you have one; the porous clay draws out moisture and gives mishti doi its texture.
- Plan around the setting time: 6-8 hours undisturbed in a warm place after the cooking is done.
Method
- Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy pan, then lower the heat and simmer 30-35 minutes, scraping the skin at the sides back in each time, until it reduces to about 900ml.
- Meanwhile melt the 2 tbsp sugar in a small dry pan over medium heat until it turns the colour of dark honey, about 4 minutes.Take it off the heat the moment it darkens. Burnt caramel makes the whole batch bitter.
- Stir the caramel into the reduced milk (it will hiss) and cook 2 minutes more.
- Add the chopped jaggery and cardamom and stir off the heat until fully dissolved.Add the jaggery off the heat. Boiling acidic jaggery into hot milk is the classic way to curdle it.
- Cool the milk to 45C. Warm to a fingertip but not hot enough to sting.Too hot and you kill the culture; too cool and it never sets. Blood-warm is the target.
- Whisk the starter yogurt smooth in a cup, then whisk in a ladle of the warm milk.
- Pour that back into the pan, stir twice only, and pour into the earthenware bowl or ramekins.
- Cover and leave in a warm, draught-free place (a switched-off oven with the light on works well) for 6-8 hours without moving it.Moving the bowl while it is setting breaks the curd and you get whey at the bottom.
- When it is set firm enough that the surface does not wobble as a whole, chill for at least 4 hours before serving.
Storage
Keeps 4 days refrigerated, covered. Serve cold, straight from the setting bowl; it does not travel or freeze well.
Nutrition Medium estimate
One serving of Mishti Doi (295 g) is about 278 calories, or 95 calories per 100 g.
Low protein: 8 g a serving, 12% of the calories
| Per serving295 g | Per 100 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 278 kcal | 95 kcal |
| Protein | 8.4 g | 3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 42.7 g | 14 g |
| of which sugars | 43.3 g | 15 g |
| Fibre | 0.0 g | 0 g |
| Fat | 8.7 g | 3 g |
| of which saturated | 4.9 g | 2 g |
| of which unsaturated | 2.7 g | 1 g |
Ingredients given to taste count as zero, so the real figures run a little higher. Nearest database match used for jaggery. Estimated from raw ingredients using USDA FoodData Central.
More like this: Vegetarian Indian recipes · Gluten-free Indian recipes · No onion no garlic recipes · Bengali recipes
Times, yields, allergens and nutrition are guidance. Use your own judgement on doneness and on storing. More in About.