Kolkata Mishti Doi -- Bengali sweet yogurt

Kolkata's Mishti Doi | Laal Doi

Mishti Doi is a sweet yogurt that is very popular in Bengal. The yogurt has a reddish tinge due to simmering milk for a long time and caramelizing sugar. This recipe gives both an oven as well as a non-oven version to set the doi.

In my childhood, Kolkata was the land of two kinds of "doi" or yogurt.

Tok doi -- the regular tart yogurt, white in color, which we always had with a sprinkle of sugar and the only kind available where we lived.
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Mishti Doi -- a reddish tinged, sweet and creamy yogurt served in small earthenware cups. This was only available in Kolkata in those days and was high on the list of our things-to-eat during our annual visits.
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Some people called this "laal doi" or red yogurt because of the reddish tinge. Some stores went all fancy and branded it as "Payodhi". My Baba was a huge fan of this one and since we didn't get mishti doi where we lived, he had it almost every day during our Kolkata visits.
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But still basically two types of yogurt.
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Last year, when I went to Balaram's outlet in MishtiHub, I was confronted with myriad varieties of yogurt. There was "Kheer doi" , "Aam or Mango Doi", "Baked Doi" (which seemed to be bhapa doi) and then our "Mishti Doi".
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This was all very good but the "Mishti Doi" was white. I mean no reddish tinge ar all. White as if it was washed in Surf Excel!! I squinted and looked at it from all angles but it looked nothing like that "laal mishti doi" of my childhood 😩😩. (It tasted very good though).
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I even asked the servers at the store about the color, and the young men gave me weird looks and said "Mishti Doi has always been white".

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Now for me Mishti Doi is always reddish with a caramel tinged color. It is said that the original Laal Doi attributes its origin  to Nabadwip's Phasitala, and Kali Ghosh. Kali Ghosh and Hari Ghosh were two brothers, who used to make curd and whey. They would boil buffalo milk and let it simmer in a gentle fire for a long time, to thicken and condense it. The milk took on a reddish tinge as it simmered and thickened. This milk was then sweetened and used to set Yogurt. Later the store bought Mishti Doi always had a layer of dalda or some kind of fat reddish in color on the top. It was really delicious!!

When I saw this reddish colored Misthi Doi made by a friend last week, I knew I had to make it. However I got the red color by caramelizing the sugar.
I basically used the same recipe as I have for my Bhapa Doi but I used caramelized sugar instead of Condensed milk. Also this was not bhapa so there was no steaming. I did not do the water bath in the oven that I do for my bhapa doi. Instead I kept the oven temperature low at 200F and kept this yogurt to set in the oven for 2 hrs. A lower temperature and longer time is better.

Few points to Note:
1. I used Evaporated Milk in this recipe so my process was fairly quick and easy. If you are using Whole Milk, you have to reduce the milk.
2. My sugar got caramelized a little bit more. I should have stopped a few secs early.
3. I think adding 2-3 Tbsp of Condensed Milk would be more to my taste for this Mishti Doi.
4. This tastes best chilled for 3-4 hours.

Mishti Doi -- Bengali sweet yogurt

Serving Size: 6 servings

Evaporated Milk - 1 Cup
Note: If you don't have evaporated Milk, check the alternate recipe I have added

Thick Yogurt - 1 Cup
Note: If your yogurt is watery then strain in a strainer to get rid of excess water

Sugar - 1/4th Cup
Condensed Milk - 2 Tbsp (optional)
Water - 1/8th Cup

Caramelize Sugar
In thick bottomed pan add 1/4th Cup of Sugar and about 1/8th Cup of water.
At medium heat combine the sugar and water. Make sure there is no sugar crystals on the side of the pan.
Turn the heat to medium. Once the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil and you see bubbles, DO NOT STIR anymore.
Keep a close watch. In a few minutes the water will evaporate and sugar will caramelize. To get uniform color gently swirl the pan.
Stop the process as soon as you see the brown liquid, by taking pan off the heat for a minute.

Add Milk
Once the sugar has caramelized, reduce heat to low.
Slowly add a little evaporated milk and stir with whisk. The milk wilswoosh and steam so be careful.
Gradually add rest of the milk and mix well at low heat until you get the uniform coloring. Around 5 minutes.

Add Yogurt
Now switch off the heat, wait for a 5 minutes and add 1 Cup of thick Yogurt. Mix well

Add Condensed Milk -- optional
Add 2 Tbsp of Condensed milk and mix to get a smooth caramel colored thick liquid.

Put in oven to set
Pour it out in oven safe containers.

Pre-heat oven to 200F (bake mode). Put the yogurt containers in the oven for almost 2 hrs at that temperature.

Chill in refrigerator for 3-4 hrs. Serve cold.

Mishti Doi -- Bengali sweet yogurt
Without Evaporated Milk and Oven

Serving Size: 6 servings

Whole Milk - 3 Cup
Milk Powder - 1 Cup (optional)

Thick Yogurt - 1/2 Cup
Note: If your yogurt is watery then strain in a strainer to get rid of excess water

Sugar - 1/4th Cup
Water - 1/8th Cup

Boil and Simmer Milk

In a deep thick bottomed pan, add 3 Cups of Whole Milk. Let the milk come to a boil. Simmer for around 30 minutes to reduce the milk and make it thicker. Ideally you should reduce 3 Cups Milk to 2.5 or 2 Cups.
Add 1 Cup of Milk powder to the milk and stir until smooth. Let the milk come to a boil. This makes the milk thick and creamy.
If you don't have Milk Powder you can skip it. You can also add about 2-3 Tbsp of Condensed milk to the milk to get a creamier texture

Caramelize Sugar
In thick bottomed pan add 1/4th Cup of Sugar and about 1/8th Cup of water.
At medium heat combine the sugar and water. Make sure there is no sugar crystals on the side of the pan.
Turn the heat to medium. Once the sugar is dissolved and the mixture comes to a boil and you see bubbles, DO NOT STIR anymore.
Keep a close watch. In a few minutes the water will evaporate and sugar will caramelize. To get uniform color gently swirl the pan.
Stop the process as soon as you see the brown liquid, by taking pan off the heat for a minute.

Add Milk
Once the sugar has caramelized, reduce heat to low.
Slowly add milk and stir with whisk. The milk will swoosh and steam so be careful.
Gradually add rest of the milk and mix well at low heat until you get the uniform coloring. Around 5 minutes.

Add Yogurt
Now switch off the heat and wait for few minutes(5-8 minutes) until milk is not steaming hot.Add 1/2 Cup of thick Yogurt. Mix well.

If you don't have Oven
Wrap the bowls in a cloth or kitchen towel and put it on a Tawa or inside a Dekchi on very low heat. Yogurt should set in 2-4 hrs.
Chill in refrigerator and serve cold.

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