Mishti Doi Wont Set

[anm]

I have been trying to make Mishti Doi . I have made two variants so far

a.Reduced a liter of full cream milk to half the qty or lesser and the sugars in milk have caramalised turning milk light brown and thicker .caramalised around 1.5 cups of plain sugar added cream to make a caramel sauce , waited till it cooled down and mixed it with milk .Allowed it to cool down until it was warm to touch and added a spoon of curd[mixed well] and poured into a earthern ware pot .

b.same as above without cream .

In both cases they dont set . I have used set curd from Britannia,Nilgris,amul and nandhini . I have also used loose curd from nandini .

No luck

I have tried referring to Harold Mcgee's book to see if I am doing anything wrong ,no luck ... I have also verified with a thermometer to hit 40C before I added a spoon of curd .

I have heard Mishti Doi is rarely made at homes[i am not a Bengali] . Any help is deeply appreciated

[Nayan Gowda]

After putting the mixture in the earthenware pot do you put it in the fridge or leave it out?

[anm]

@Nayan . I keep it outside and have so far waited for 8/12/24 hours so far . It hasnt spoiled either .

[Jenni]

I have heard that it is harder to set mishti doi than regular dahi because of the sugar in it. You need to make sure it stays nice and warm whilst it is setting. I have made it with success in the UK by keeping the pot in an insulated bag (like a "cool" bag you use for picnics) that was first warmed by leaving an open jar of hot water in it. If you put the mishti doi in whilst it is warm, it stays at that temperature for some time. Mind you, I have never made misthi doi with cream, only with very rich whole milk so your experience may be different.

Edited June 5, 2010 by Jenni (log)

[Yajna Patni]

Mishti Dahi is HARD to get to set... I have made it best with unpasteurized and unhomoginzed milk, btu that has more to do with the texture than the set. For it to set it just all has to be at the exact right temperature. I am not familiar with the different yogurt brands you are listing. But be sure it has live cultures. Once you put the culture with the cooked down milk you need to keep it at the same temperature as the milk.So a constant warm temperature. Out side may or may not be good depending on what the temperature is where you are. I make regular yogurt in the gas oven with the pilot light on, but i think mishti dohi needs to be slightly warmer. I made one kind that worked well, not strictly mishti dohi, but a variant that was set in a water bath. I think it was in a book by Madhur Jaffrey, and it may have been a recipe from somewhere in a place that was once in the USSR.... Sorry for my memory not being that sharp.

I am pretty sure thought that for mishti dohi, the temp needs to be hotter than for regular dahi, and it also needs to be kept more constant. It is pretty unforgiving. It can be done though!

[Yajna Patni]

In general, milk sweets are not very complicated to make. However, they require a lot of practice to get them just right. Mishti Dohi is just like that. You just need to figure out the trick. The way I learned milk sweets, was watching other people make them, and if at all possible, that is by far the best method.

[Jenni]

I made one kind that worked well, not strictly mishti dohi, but a variant that was set in a water bath. I think it was in a book by Madhur Jaffrey, and it may have been a recipe from somewhere in a place that was once in the USSR.... Sorry for my memory not being that sharp.

In two of MJ's books she has recipes for bhapa doi, which means steamed yoghurt. However, as well as steaming it many people cook it in a water bath. I believe that one of MJ's recipes is for bhapa doi which is actually put in a steamer, and the other is cooked in a water bath. It is a bengali dish.

[anm]

@Yajna and Jenni . Thank you for sharing your experiences .I live in Bangalore , and now with the summer on , temperature isnt an issue to being with

I am starting my next batch , not planning to reduce the milk much .Just going to stop when the sugars in the milk caramelize...

Unfortunately I dont have any one to teach me . on Bangla sweets ....