Mishti Doi

"And what are you making for dessert?" I asked

"Sweet curd" she said.

"Adding yogurt culture to sweet milk ?" I asked

" Nah re! like mishti doi, the Bengali sweet you know" she said

My mind flew back to nearly 4 years ago when M and I were in Kolkata and how we had devoured mishti doi everyday, wishing we had some more!

I greedily asked if she know how to make it and I was rewarded not just with the recipe, but the real thing too!

A couple of weeks ago, Prajakta and Rucha, two of my friends dropped in at home and Rucha had this bag in her hand that she plonked on my dining table and smiled as she opened it.

It was sweet curd or mishti doi as I like to call it.

Call it what you will, this simple dessert is rich, creamy and delicious and satisfying. It reminded me of the misti doi in Kolkata and also faintly of the shrikhand my father makes.

The fact that it takes minutes to make just adds to its other merits.

Many moons ago, Prajakta got this recipe from a Bong friend and it has been passed on to many by word -of- mouth and having once tasted it, I can vouch for its popularity and can only regret that I did not know of it earlier.

Rucha's pyrex bowl reminded me that I had to return it and more importantly, make a batch of mishti doi for M ( he was not at home that day). So this weekend I made my first bowl of mishti doi and it was M who, on tasting the first creamy spoonful said," this one is for the blog!"

Here's how I made it:

1 can Evaporated Milk

1 can Sweetened Condensed milk

Yogurt (as per Prajakta, use a can - evaporated milk canful of yogurt)*

Kesari milk masala powder or

Cardamom powder or

crushed nuts of your choice to garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a bowl mix the Evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, yogurt ( * I used about 4 tbsp. of thick home made yogurt) (edited to add: I used less yogurt only because I had a little on hand, but I do recommend you use the suggested quantity of 1 evaporated can full of yogurt)

Whisk it together till all three are well blended (I used my hand-held mixer)

Garnish with topping of choice ( I used the milk masala)

Cover the bowl tightly with aluminium foil

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 30 mins.

Switch off the oven and leave the bowl in it for about 5-6 hours

Remove the bowl from the oven and keep in the refrigerator

Serve chilled

Thank you, Prajakta and Rucha!