Mishti doi
Mishti is sweet. Doi is yoghurt. We used to come to Kolkata for our annual summer vacation. And most of the days, our lunches used to end with that special Mishti doi in small, medium, big earthen pots. I have seen some of my relatives polish off huge pots of Mishti Doi in just no time! We…
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Pakshaal
Mishti is sweet.

Doi is yoghurt.

We used to come to Kolkata for our annual summer vacation. And most of the days, our lunches used to end with that special Mishti doi in small, medium, big earthen pots. I have seen some of my relatives polish off huge pots of Mishti Doi in just no time!

We were told, eating too much of that sweetened curd was not a great idea as it could give us bad stomach aches. So, we happily, stuck to our one small bowl of the goodness and always longed for more!

I have never seen anyone make Mishti Doi at our home. It was readily available at any Para’r Mishti’r Dokaan (neighborhood sweet shop). By the way, you should know this; in Bengal, every second structure with a roof and walls is a Sweet Shop and every fourth one is a Chemist shop! So, if you ever desperately needed to take a bite of some Mishti Doi before signing off for the day, you just had to take a walk to your nearest Sweet Shop (most of them kept open until 11 in the night) and then if you felt, you needed to calm your stomach down (signs of acidity) for a peaceful sleep at night, you could always go to the Medical Shop to buy a bottle of Carmozyme 🙂

Coming back to the yoghurt story… So, as a child I have only seen Mishti Doi as a firm chunk of reddish yoghurt set and served in an earthenware. With time, came the variations. We started getting cardamom flavored mishti doi, mango doi, strawberry doi,vanilla doi in the market. With the flavors, the method of setting Mishti Doi also changed over the years. We did hear of Bhapa Doi (Steamed yoghurt), but recently baked doi is making a fad.

Old school method of making Mishti doi

Here,the milk is boiled and cooked on medium heat for a thicker consistency. The idea is to reduce it to half. Next step is to add sugar to the hot milk. In a different pan, some more sugar is caramelized (to get the brown colour of the Doi) and added to the milk. Then, once the milk cools down slightly (you can tell the right temperature only through practice!), beaten yoghurt is mixed thoroughly with the milk and the mixture is poured into pots. Mishti doi is ready to be set (in a warm place, for few hours). Once set, the pots are moved to the refrigerator.

P.S: I have also seen some sweet makers mixing a coloring agent called “Chapri” to the milk. But that’s an artificial way of doing it.

Bhapa doi

Steamed yoghurt or Bhapa doi are made my steaming those pots of yoghurt, in a double boiler or pressure cooker. Once it’s ready, you just keep it the refrigerator until it is chilled. And you are good to go.

Baked doi

In the baked version, you need to bake the yoghurt mixture at a right temperature. Cool it down. Refrigerate. And serve it chilled.

Mishti doi is one of the best-sellers at Pakshaal. And we do come with different flavors time and again. Last summer, our Mango doi got a lot of admiration!

I generally, steam or bake my Mishti doi and it’s totally addictive! Mishti Doi with a hint of Nolen Gur ( Date palm jaggery) is supremely delicious. Try some? I’m sure you will not regret and just cannot stop at one!

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