Mishti Doi

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“De doi, de doi paate| ore beta haari haate||”

The above quote is from a poem I read long time back, but can’t exactly remember the poet now. It says, give me the sweet yogurt the one who carries the pot with him.

A few days back when I saw Dolon write about Mishti doi on her blog, the sweet greedy Bong awoke within me. Mishti doi reminds me, and probably all Bengalis an earthen pot filled with a brownish mass of sweet curd. Misti doi is an inseparable part of all festivals in Bengal- be that a tika (a dot on the forehead) for Bhai phota (festival to mark the well being of brother), or the charanamitro (offering made to God during worship), or just a dessert to end the meal for a feast.  While we were searching for links on Mishti doi, K found an interesting one. I never knew this; SJ prepared it in an oven. That is really a nice and quick way to prepare misti doi, I believe. The post even wrote about the mention of curds in Vedas as the “Food of God”, and probably that explains why it’s offered during all rituals.

I have tried out mishti dahi in Bangalore too, but here it’s sold in plastic containers. The smell of the wet earthen pot holding the misti doi gives the actual feel of this dessert. So, when I came back to Kolkata yesterday I just couldn’t wait to devour some misti doi. Earthen pots are easily available here, and mom had some handy in her kitchen, so that was not a problem at all. While the color of the yogurt helps all to remind them of this dessert, there are some sweet shops in Kolkata too where mishti dahi looks white similar to the set sour curd.

Mishti doi though a very popular dessert throughout Bengal, it is rarely prepared at home. This may probably because it’s readily available in the market (sweet shops in Bengal are more frequent than light posts on the streets) and also preparing it takes a long time almost over night and even more. So a time taking recipe, but still is worth all the labor. Here, it is all for you to grab.

Ingredients:

• Full Cream Milk (Dudh): 1ltr
• Sugar (Chini): 8 tablespoon
• Yogurt (Dahi): 1 tablespoon
• 1 Earthen pot (optional)

Preparation:

• Pour the milk in a thick bottom vessel and start heating over low flame
• As it starts boiling add 4 tablespoons of sugar and keep on simmering till the volume is reduced to little less than half
• Take the remaining sugar with 2 tablespoons of water and heat till the sugar melts and attains a golden brown color
• Gradually add the molten sugar over the milk and boil for another 15 minutes over low flame
• Take out of flame and let it become lukewarm
• Pour the milk over the earthen pot and add the yogurt
• Keep the pot in a cool dry place, and let the yogurt set over night
• Refrigerate the set dahi and serve as a dessert

Hot tips – Instead of using yogurt to set the dahi, freeze-dried bacteria can also be used for the same purpose.

Further readings – Bengali sweets, Yogurt in ten steps, List of misti doi

Linda is celebrating the World Breast Feeding Week on her blog with the event Got Milk?. Mishti doi is on way to the event.

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