Mishti Doi, a fermented sweet yogurt is pure delicacy of the sate of West Bengal, Odisa and Bangladesh. Any auspicious occasion requires Mishti Doi. It is made of thickened milk, yogurt culture and sugar, set in an earthen pot, wrapped in a heavy blanket then left in warm place to ferment overnight. Traditionally Mishti Doi gets its light brown color by caramelized sugar. It doesn't need any flavoring or toppings. 

Mishti Doi is baked in the oven here in USA. It was my second dessert that I learned here and my first attempt of making Mishti Doi was total disaster. Someone advised me to bake in 500 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. Guess what! It turned into Rabri type(reduced by 70%) rather than yogurt. I never used oven before. So I had no idea what 500 degrees temperature would do. I still wonder if it was a prank. 

I didn't give up easily! After a few more  trial and error, I finally figured it out. It’s actually super easy. I use earthen pot,  glass dish, even an aluminum foil pan. The secret is to bake on lowest setting for 5-6 hours or until nicely set, not jiggly at all. Earthen pot needs water bath. Yogurt maker works well too. 

The key is getting the right texture. High heat will solidify quickly. The texture may be more like cheesecake. Misti Doi must be smooth and creamy, not dry at the edges and not pulling away from sides like cakes. Low and low is bit time consuming but worth every bit of patience.  

The easiest recipe uses evaporated milk, condensed milk, and plain yogurt. Or, if you're feeling ambitious, you can reduce whole milk, add sugar, let it cool, gently stir in some strained yogurt, and then bake it, use a yogurt maker, or even let it set in a warm place during the summer.

Ingredients~

(US customary units)

4 cups milk

1/2 cup white sugar or as per taste

1/2 cup strained yogurt at room temperature

Method~

In a pan boil milk till it reduces by 3 cups. Add sugar and continue reducing milk until its not too runny. Wait for milk and sugar mixture come to lukewarm temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once preheat set temperature at lowest setting. Whisk yogurt and milk mixture together and strain on oven safe baking dish. Bake for a 5-6 hours until set. Let it cool completely and refrigerate 3-4 hours before serving. Enjoy!

Happy Cooking!