chane wala aam ka achar | raw mangoes pickled with whole chickepeas

Kachhe aam ka achar or raw mango pickle is a necessity in Indian homes.

If the stock of aam ka achar has finished, people start feeling seriously deprived.

Last month when I was talking to my sister about her fetish for aam ka achar, she was the one who would even steal pickles and eat it like a candy while reading a book or playing, we were reminded of how the chane wala aam ka achar (raw mango pickle with chickpeas) used to get over sooner.

Chane wala aam ka achar was a favourite of all of us and the pickle jar was never out of sight on the dining table. Everyone wanted to keep this chane wala achar closer to themselves so second and third helpings can be taken quickly without anyone else noticing it. How we used to blame each other about who finished the achar.

Those days of chatorapan.

My mother used to make this chane wala achar with both black gram (kale chane) and the garbanzo beans (kabuli chane) but her method was a little different. She used to soak the chickpeas in the water left after marinating the raw mango pieces in salt and turmeric. So the quantity of the chickpeas was always limited. That explains the scarcity of the chane wala achar.

Since my recipe of aam ka achar uses up all the liquids oozed out during marination time, I had to device new ways to add chana to the achar. 

Recipe and procedure of chane wala aam ka achar

During the making of the aam ka achar, the day I mix the the pickling spices (check the recipe and steps), I soak some chickpeas in advance.

The soaked chickpeas are mixed with salt and turmeric powder again and kept overnight. For each 100 gm soaked chickpeas I use 15 gm salt and 5 gm turmeric powder.

Then the overnight marinated chickpeas are added to equal amount of freshly mixed aam ka achar.

Note the amount of mixed aam ka achar left in the pan here. The chickpeas were added to that.

The chane wala aam ka achar gets ready to eat in a couple days and stays good for at least 6 months. I haven't seen this pickle lasting more than this, if the present batch lasts the whole year I will update this post.

Some people make this achar with grated mangoes too, Anjana's recipe can be referred if you want that type. I sometimes chop the raw pickling mangoes in smaller bits but never have made it with grated mangoes. 

The chane can even be added to sooran ka achar as well and I remember my grandmother used to like that one more.

The pickle can be served just as any other Indian pickle and the chickpeas taste really good while retaining their texture.

Do let me know if you try making this chane wala aam ka achar. 

mungodi made from scratch | how to make mungodi at home and guar mungodi ki subzi

Mungodi is made of mung dal (skinned mung beans) after a paste of mung dal is dropped into small pellets and then sun dried to make little nuggets of lentil, it can be spiced or plain. Badi is the generic Indian name for these lentil nuggets and the specific name changes with the kind of lentil used. If it is made of mung, it is Mungodi.

There are several names for these Mungodis or generic badis (or wadis) all over the country but in Bihar and eastern UP it is always prefixed with the type of lentil used. So there is Mungodi made of mung, Urdouri or Adouri made of urad dal, Masurouri made of masur dal, others are called as badi simply.

The other significant variety is called Kumhrouri which is made of urad dal and white pumpkin (Ash gourd) which is also called as kumhra, so the nomenclature has a clue to the origin of the badi. I love talking about these with the older women who never tire of sharing their wisdom with anyone. Sepu badi of Himachal is a different type of badi

When I posted about alu mungodi ki subzi many of you asked for the recipe of mungodi as no one makes these at home now and these are not even available in many places. Moreover, the quality of the ready made mungodi is not always good. I have been my grandmother's apprentice for long enough to recreate thing on my own, so here is the recipe of mungodi that can be made at home without much fuss, if you make a small quantity.

Note that making mungodis at home 'used to be' a humongous task but it was so because such things were always made for friends and family too. Huge dabbas were sent to kith and kin, badi, papad and achar were always exchanged between families and friends. Social bonding was real and tangible.

The good old days.

Let me tell you there is one encouraging fact, that we can make the mungodis fairly easily at home. For mungodis it is only one ingredient mostly as these are always made without any spices. But cumin seeds are sometimes added to bring a hint of spice in them.

ingredients
1 cup of mung dal
1 tsp cumin seeds

preparation

Soak the mung dal for one hour.  

Note that soaking the mung dal for longer will result in more water content and flat mungodis that do not soak up the curry flavour when cooked.

Drain the water. Make a coarse paste with the cumin seeds, without adding any water. The paste should look like this.

Now make a cone using a plastic bag, reused or fresh. Or use a piping bag with a small hole depending on the size of mungodis you need.

Fill the mung paste in the piping bag, secure the top and start piping mungodis on a smooth surface.

I used a silpat sheet because it is much easier to take the mungodis off the surface. They may stick on plates even if you grease them.

My piping skill needs some brushing up. I have decided on more mungodis now, no cake icing please. 

My grandmother used to make mungodis on old muslin saris so it was easier to sun dry them and once the mungodis are dry they peel off easily from the thin cloth. And she used to shape each single mungodi with her fingers, piping them perfectly, using three fingers and thumb.

Time your soaking, grinding and piping in such a way that you lay out the mungodis in good sun at the start of the day. It took me 2 minutes of grinding and 5 minutes of piping the mungodis for this quantity. 

And of course the whole day of fun watching the mungodis dry, updating a few instagram pictures in between.

Once dry enough the mungodis can be flipped. It took an hour this time. Flipping the mungodis ensures faster drying and I was concerned because it is the tail end of monsoon season here and I did not want the mungodis to stay damp.

You see I made the mungodis on a whim and the monsoon showers couldn't deter me. It took 2 days to sun dry them while keeping an eye on the sudden showers that are characteristic of this season. I had to bring the mungodis indoors a few times but thankfully there was strong sun in between the showers.

Once dry, the mungodis are lighter and make a rattling sound when tossed around. Damp mungodis wont rattle.

Make sure the mungodis are not damp, as it catches fungus really soon.

Note that the mungodis made during the rainy season wouldn't last the whole year, in all probability, it has the tendency to get damp even if dried completely.

If for some reason, for example rains, your mungodis are not sun dried well, try and deep fry them to dehydrate well and keep in air tight containers. The mungodis can be used directly in that case. Else we need to fry them before currying them like in this alu mungodi ki subzi or Guwar mungodi ki subzi which has a hint of fennel.

ingredients for guar mungodi ki subzi 
(2 servings)

1/3 cup mungodis
250 gm guar cleaned, stringed and chopped in small bits
1 medium sized potato peeled and quartered 
1/4 cup whipped yogurt
1 tbsp everyday curry powder 
1/2 tsp fennel powder 
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp red chilli powder
1-2 broken chopped green chillies
1 tbsp minced or grated ginger
salt o taste
1 tbsp mustard oil

procedure 

To make the guar mungodi ki subzi, heat the mustard oil in a pressure cooker, shallow fry the mungodis in the oil and once the mungodis are light pink and fragrant, remove the pan from the burner for a minute and add the everyday curry powder (or any light subzi masala of your choice), turmeric powder, red chilli powder and fennel powder in that order. Toss and mix while the spices get aromatic.

Return the pressure cooker pan to the burner, add ginger, whipped yogurt and stir to mix.

Now add the chopped guar, potatoes and green chillies, mix well an top up with 1/2 cup water.

Cover the lid and pressure cook till the whistle blows, lower down the heat an cook for a couple of minutes. Let the cooker cool down, open the lid and crush the potatoes with a ladle to make the curry a little mushed up.

Serve hot with drizzle of ghee with our Indian rice or roti meals..

sweet chilly-ginger and tamarind sauce...

Sweet chilly sauce is a common condiment and sauce in the western, Thai and Malaysian cuisine. Commonly used for seasoning stir fries or as a dip for fried snacks or to smear on sandwiches and rolls. The uses can always be to suit personal taste as I have liked Thai sweet chilly sauce with my omelets too. But this one is a slight variation of Thai sweet chilly sauce.

This sweet chilly-ginger and tamarind sauce is a versatile sauce owing to it's ketchup like consistency. Actually when I gifted this sauce to a friend, she thought it is a tomato ketchup. Tamarind and ginger make this sauce quite interesting in the taste. It suits both Indian dishes as well as western style stir fries or as a dip.

Big fat red chilies of the cayenne pepper variety, are in season normally from January to March in the north of India and people use it to make stuffed red chilly pickle mostly. I use this variety of chilly to make chilly jam and orange or kumquat and chilly marmalade mostly. I also use this chilly as a substitute for red bell peppers to get a capsaicin flavor in my stews and salads sometimes as the husband is intolerant to bell peppers. Have a look what all I made using these chilies.

This sweet chilly-ginger and tamarind sauce has become quite popular as an all rounder sauce at home. I don't do any straining when I make this sauce, except for the straining of the tamarind pulp after soaking seedless tamarind in hot water for an hour.

ingredients...

Fat red chilies (cayenne or jalapenos will be good to use) 200 gm
fresh ginger root 150 gm
seedless tamarind 100 gm
jaggery or raw sugar 650 gm
salt 1/2 tsp

procedure...

Soak tamarind for an hour in 2 cups of  hot boiling water and strain the pulp in a wide pan after mashing it properly.
Remove stalks from the chilies and chop roughly.
Clean the ginger root and chop roughly.
Puree the ginger and red chilies together in a blender.

Now keep the pan with strained tamarind pulp on gas stove. Add the chilly and ginger paste and the jaggery and salt and heat to boil the mixture. It becomes a little frothy first, lower the heat after this and simmer on low flame for about 45 minutes.

It can take a little more time to reduce and become the consistency of ketchup. You can reduce it further to a jam like consistency.

And the sauce is done. It is an easy sauce to make and you will be spared from many preservatives  colors and texture enhancers used in commercial ketchup and sauces. You might like to to strain the sauce half way into the cooking and then reduce it to desired consistency.

Fill the sauce in sterilised jars or bottles. This recipe makes about 900 ml of sauce. The sauce stays well on room temperature for about 4-5 months. Or keep it refrigerated if you live in a humid area or the jar keeps opening frequently. Using clean and ry spoons will be better or use squeezy type bottles if you wish to prevent contamination.

There are bits and pieces in this sauce since I haven't strained it after cooking the chilies and ginger etc but I like it this way. This way the sauce is not suitable for squeezy type bottles.

We like this sauce with our dahi bhalle chaat, as a dip for crackers, as a sauce for pakodas and even with parathas and omelet sometimes.

I am sure you would love this sauce, especially if you have kids at home. Many friends have been requesting me to make this sauce on a commercial scale and sell it in friends' circle. Yes, this sauce is that good. I will be making this sauce more and more to gift my friends and family as homemade gifts feel more personal to me.

what do you think?

home made paneer, the kind that can be cut into neat cubes...

Freshly made paneer is incomparable. Homemade makes it really the best available option. See how the paneer is porous and so soft that it can bend and take a new shape while it is still hot. I took this picture while the paneer was still hot. Just pick up a cube a eat it to believe how different and how much better it is from the store bought paneer.

You can make paneer within 20 minutes time if you need about 200 gm of paneer. This time is mostly the time required to bring one Liter of 3% milk to boil. After that it takes only about 2 minutes to curdle and then 2 more minutes to strain the whey and get the paneer. That is just about 5 minutes of your time when your hands will be engaged into real work. The time when the milk is brought to boil, can always be used to do other chores in the kitchen.

To make paneer, bring the milk to boil but watch the milk as soon as a thin layer of fat starts accumulating on top and starts making wrinkles and bubbles from the sides.The temperature should be around 90-95 C if you are using a milk thermometer. The curdling of milk at this temperature results in softer and more porous paneer as the milk solids coagulate slowly. The acid (lemon juice or vinegar) is also added slowly so the curdling is slow. Keep stirring the curdling milk so you can see the whey separating and know when it is ready to pass through the colander.

Things required...
1 liter of 3% milk
2 tbsp of white vinegar or Lime juice or 3 tbsp of sour yogurt diluted with a little water
a deep bowl shaped sieve or muslin lined colander

If the temperature is too hot or the acid (vinegar, lime juice or yogurt) is added too quickly, the milk solids coagulate quickly, leaving no pores and the paneer turns hard. So take care to let the paneer curdle slowly, taking about a minute's time and then pour the contents of the pan through a muslin lined colander. I use a steel sieve which can be fitted on another pan to drain the whey.

The contents of the pan are emptied into the sieve, the coagulated milk solids (paneer) is propped up in the middle, if it has spread all across the sieve or colander, and then it is tossed once and turned upside down so you get an almost smooth finish even when you are making a small quantity. For larger quantity you always get smooth finish as the weight of the paneer made, makes sure it gets smooth by the force of gravity.

The paneer can be transferred to a bowl if making a small quantity, to make sure it takes a shape that can be cut into nice cubes. It will keep releasing some whey and does not need to be hung to drip. Just take out form the bowl and cut it into pieces of desired size and shape.

Or mash and knead to make Rasgulle.

How about making some fresh palak paneer?

For that I would steam spinach while the milk boils, puree it nicely, add butter and salt n pepper to the green puree and then mix with paneer when it is ready and simmer for a couple of minutes. Quick and tasty meal is ready.

And do not waste the whey. It is a great source of proteins so use it to knead dough, make pancake batters or use it o make soups or drink it as it is. It is a great mild laxative that nourishes your gut as well. Making paneer at home has double benefits you see.

Have you been scared of making paneer at home? Did this post help you?
Please do write to me if it did.

indian flatbreads : whole wheat kulcha recipe, the way they make it on the streets of old Delhi

Kulcha is a yeasted flat bread and is commercially available in the northern India, especially in Delhi. The traditional kulcha dough is fermented with sourdough starter or the dough is left to ferment naturally and then flat breads are made in tandoor. But now a days the commercially available variety is baked in modern commercial ovens, made with yeasted dough they are soft spongy and spotless white sprinkled with some herbs sometimes.

Delhi street vendors sell chhole kulche on a typical street cart carrying a wide brass handi (urn) for the piping hot chhole. They use the ready made kulche out of packets,  just toasting the kulcha quickly on a hot griddle with some butter and serving with hot chhole. I have tasted that chhole kulchea few times and it is the best kind of street food you can find in Delhi.

Here comes the same bazar wala kulcha made with whole wheat flour ... I have tried baking this kulcha over the griddle, in the oven and in the microwave in the past and this version which involves cooking the kulcha first in the microwave and then toasting on the griddle works best to make it just like the ready made ones. They look and feel just like the ready made  kulche (when made with maida) when they are just out of the microwave, white and spotless. After microwaving they can be kept in the fridge and toasted when required. I have been getting requests from many of my friends for this bazaer wale kulche, so friends... the wait is over.

Here they are, toasted on the griddle for those brown spots....

Before moving to the recipe i must make it clear that it is somewhat similar to the pita bread and the pizza base available ready made in the markets, but this kulcha is thinner and softer and can be folded without breaking, as is shown in the pictures. The best part is, it can be made with the same yeasted dough. Just keep the dough a bit softer and you will see how the texture of the bread changes.

ingredients...

whole wheat flour 2 cups
all purpose flour (maida) 2 tbsp
salt to taste
any oil of your choice 1 tsp
mint or coriander leaves to garnish the breads
vegetable oil for greasing
fresh yeast 1 tsp (or dry active yeast 1/4 tsp, or sourdough starter)
sugar 1 tsp

procedure...

Heat a cup of water to 40 degree C or just warm to touch. Dissolve sugar into it and add the fresh or dry yeast to it. Keep this water in a warm place and wait till it gets frothy.

Add the maida and salt, it usually gets more frothy while adding the maida and becomes like a slurry. Whisk this slurry for a couple of minutes (it helps the dough to get a stretch). Add the remaining wheat flour and knead a soft dough adding some lukewarm water as needed.

Keep the dough in a warm place to rise and become double in quantity. At this stage the dough can be kept in the fridge too for a couple of days and then proceed with the rest of the process...bring it to room temperature and them keep it warm to proceed.

Punch the dough and make small balls, keep the balls greased and covered ....wait till they rise to double. Flatten the dough balls on a greased rolling board using your oiled fingers, brush plain water on the surface and stick some mint or coriander leaves. 

In the picture you can see the spotless microwave cooked  kulcha on the left side in the ceramic plate, on the right side you can see how i pressed the dough with hands to flatten it on the rolling board (chakla) and then coriander leaves are stuck to it.

As I said the dough for this flat bread needs to be a bit soft, so it is a bit tacky to roll using a rolling pin sometimes, using your fingers to flatten it is far more convenient.

I prefer keeping a hot griddle ready when the kulcha comes out of the microwave, toast the kulcha with some butter and it gets lightly browned in just a few seconds..

I served the kulcha with cheat's version of matar paneer, as I didn't want to have chhole with these whole wheat kulche. Matar paneer or any mutton curry is a great accompaniment to these whole wheat kulchas.

home made khoya in microwave

 Khoya or khoa is thickened milk till it gets dry , almost like a ball of evaporated unsweetened milk . It is normally used to make sweets like peda and burfi and many more sweets or mithais as we call them . I miss getting fresh khoya off the counter for making my gujias most and always end up reducing the milk for hours on end in a thick base kadai . But that i do when i have to make gujias for holi n khoya is needed in large amounts . Sometimes just a 100 gm or 50 gm khoya is needed and reducing it the traditional way is not at all practical . Milk powder comes handy for this purpose and that is a must have item in my pantry , milk powder or dairy creamer whatever you call it , it can give you khoya instantly without messing up with you kitchen and utensils.........yes in a glass or ceramic bowl and a couple of minutes in front of the microwave.............that's all you need to do .

making khoya using milk powder ...

A teacup of milk powder goes into a 500 ml capacity bowl .

Add a tbsp of water to make a loose paste....

Cover with a plastic lid loosely and microwave for a minute on high....the mixture will push the lid up as it heats up . Take it out and check , it looks like this....

Cover again and heat for another minute , this time the mixture will push up the lid after every 5 seconds or so , stop for 2 seconds every time and repeat for 3-4 times .After 10 seconds and pausing twice it looks like this....

 Another go in the microwave and it dries up and becomes crumbly , daanedar as we call it ........
........daanedar khoya minton me taiyyar ..........it took less than two minute (1 minute 25 second to be precise ) for this quantity and you get a tea cup of loosely packed khoya .

This khoya tastes similar to the one we get in khoya gali of Banaras n i suspect the traders make it with powder milk themselves. The khoya available in delhi is spurious and i never buy that after just one trial..

Home made khoya by reducing the milk in a kadai for hours tastes different and certainly better than this . This khoya wins hands down because of it's quick availability. I made it to make a special curry , khoya matar , a specialty of Banaras apparently , though i ended up adding paneer to the curry and it was a khoya matar paneer ....recipe coming up next , stay tuned ....

home made amchoor powder | how to make amchoor powder at home | a quick chhole recipe using home made amchoor powder

Amchoor or amchur is dry mango powder, a very intrinsic component of north Indian cooking. Amchoor is a popular souring agent in north Indian cooking.

Any simple curry or stir fry can get an added zing with a finishing dash of amchoor powder. It is also used for chutneys and some pickles too, like the famous bhari mirch ka achar, red Anaheim peppers stuffed with a hot and tangy spice mix and pickled with mustard oil.

My grandmother used to bring dried raw mangoes from the village which was actually dried when the raw mangoes were in surplus, we had mango orchards back home. Raw mangoes were peeled and cut into 4 parts with the stone, just discarding the inner seed, then it was dried and preserved for the whole year. The raw mangoes sun dried this way are called 'aam ki kaliyan' as it has a bud like appearance after drying. It is still available in some wholesale markets and some people buy it to get pure amchoor at home. Mangoes dried in this way was pounded in mortar and pestle to get amchoor powder, it was really labor intensive and the powder was a bit darker in color due to slow drying of the thick cut mango pieces, and the amchoor was not very fine.

Thankfully I found a better way to make my own amchoor powder.

A part of my brain belongs to my grandmother's generation and I am the only person from my whole extended family who tries to do such things at home in these modern times ...still.....

I make amchoor powder at home simply because the store bought one is not good enough. You will see the difference once you make it at home. I make a wet preserve of raw mangoes too for different recipes, especially chutneys and pickles, and will post later about that.

Making this powder is not at all labor intensive if you make a small quantity. A tiny quantity of this homemade powder lasts long as it is quite intense. I usually make powder of about a kilo of raw mangoes which yields about a cup of amchoor powder and this, to your surprise, is equivalent to 4 packs (100 gm) of amchoor powder.

This quantity lasts the whole year in my kitchen and if you need more than this you can conveniently make it twice. It will be easier to handle and grind in smaller quantities.

This time I took just 500 gm of raw mangoes as my previous year amchoor had finished and I needed some for the chhole I was so craving. Yes making this amchoor is that easy especially in this Indian summer heat when the sun drying was done within a day due to very hot sun. Fast drying the raw mangoes gets you lighter colored amchoor and is convenient as you have to sundry it just for a day. Or may be 2 days of north Indian summer sun.

See how do I do it. 

Using a potato peeler peel the green skin of mangoes and discard the peels.

Now using the same potato peeler, work on the white flesh and peel strips of mango flesh. I used 4 large mangoes and it took about 15 minutes. Discard the stone.

Keep the strips in a sieve or a shallow basket and sun dry till the strips get completely dry, you may want to turn the strips in between for faster drying and to prevent the thin strips from sticking together. It will look like chips and will sound crisp after drying.

Crush the sun dried strips of raw mango by hands and stuff it all into the grinder of your mixie and whiz n zap.

Fresh amchoor powder is ready.

Use this home made amchoor powder carefully. You need only 1/4 the amount as compared to the store bought one.

Isn't it easy and quick? It takes only 15 minutes to peel and a minute to grind in the mixie. And if you cannot sundry the strips like me I'll tell you another way to dry it. Only if you ask me.

And now the chhole I had been so craving for that I made the amchoor on a whim. Yes, normally I make the amchoor when the raw mangoes are a bit cheaper but this time it was bought for Rs.100 a kilo. Not regretting the expensive mangoes at all.

This is the quickest version of chhole I make and it is such a simplistic recipe that you can have chhole kulche even for a breakfast, or for your lunch box. It uses minimal spices and even lesser processing.

ingredients...

to be boiled into a pressure cooker ...
kabuli chana (garbanzo beans) soaked overnight 3 cups
chana daal (split chickpeas) 2 tbsp (this is the trick to make the chhole with a thick n dryish gravy
water 2 cups
salt to taste 

for tempering ..
mustard oil 1 tsp
everyday curry masala powder
or a mix or coriander, cumin, black pepper and bay leaf powders in 2:1:1:1 ratio
red chilly powder 1-2 tsp according to taste

for finishing..
amchoor powder 1 tsp or according to taste
green coriander leaves chopped (optional) Or mint powder


procedure...

Boil the first set of ingredients in the pressure cooker for 20 minutes after the pressure builds up. Or till the chick peas are very soft but not mushy ....

Heat oil in a tadka pan and dunk in all the powders and immediately remove from fire. Mix well and pour into the boiled chickpeas...

Sprinkle amchoor and coriander leaves or mint powder (or both) and mix well so that the chana daal is mushed up and the chickpeas get coated with a thick slurry. Deliciousness.

Serve hot as you like it.

I can have it as it is. Its great as a chaat served with some paapdi and a topping of chutneys, or with baked or fried kulche. With poori too...

Enjoy...

Mishti Doi recipe: a caramel flavoured sweetened yogurt from Bengal

Mishto Doi means meethi dahi or sweetened yogurt and is a famous Bengali delicacy. Once you taste a good Mishti Doi you will forget any frozen yogurt or ice cream, this is such a rich and creamy caramel flavoured yogurt.

We actually tasted Mishti Doi for the first time when my younger sister got married (this was a month before my own wedding) in a Calcutta based family and her mother in law sent a huge handi of Mishti Doi to our home as it is considered auspicious. We licked the handi clean within a matter of minutes once it was opened and tasted.

Later I asked a few Bengali friends from Calcutta an they would say Bengali shops in Calcutta use a lot of additives to make this special yogurt rich and creamy. Apparently few of them add trans fats and even corn starch to make the yogurt well set and rich in taste.

I happened to taste the bad, the good and one of the best Mishti Doi in Calcutta later, we even tasted Mishti Doi and other sweets from Bankura as a Mishtiwala used to ferry these to our Dhanbad campus.

The traditional way of making Mishti Doi is simpler but time consuming and the cost of making it becomes higher for commercial establishments. Full fat milk is reduced till the milk sugars (Lactose) caramelizes and the reduced milk starts looking brownish and gets thick. Then sugar is added and the milk is cooled down to lukewarm temperature, yogurt starter is added and the Mishto Doi is kept to set in earthen pots. Once set, it can easily be scooped out just like ice cream.

The total fat content of the reduced milk also becomes quite high and that helps the yogurt to set beautifully and smoothly.

If you make this Mishti Doi at home you can control the fat content if you wish.

You know I am a homemade freak and made this many times to recreate the taste of the best Mishti Doi I had back then. I succeeded and found that it was always better at home. The fresh ingredients, no added fat or color and sweetness just as much you want.

Initially I used to make this using condensed milk as the perfect dark color of Mishti Doi came from it but then it used to get too sweet. Later I tried reducing the milk at home and found the best results.

Whenever I forget the milk on the gas stove for a couple of hours (Yes it happens when I am busy with something or a phone call comes and I forget) and the milk reduces and becomes brownish, I don't feel bad as Mishti Doi is just a few hours away.

Ingredients 
(4-5 servings or as greedy as you feel)

Milk version..
Full fat milk 2 liters
yogurt starter (or fresh yogurt) 2 tbsp
sugar 3 tbsp or more to taste OR equal amount of palm sugar

The condensed milk version (this will be quite sweet) 
full fat milk 500 ml
condensed milk 200 ml
yogurt 2 tbsp

procedure...

If using the first set of ingredients for milk version reduce the milk so much that it becomes 700 ml. Cool down till lukewarm to touch.

Caramelize the sugar (if using) in a shallow pan by heating it with a tbsp of water while rotating the pan gently over high heat. The sugar melts and then starts browning, wait till it becomes like honey and then pour into the cooling reduced milk.

If using palm sugar no need to caramelise, add the sugar and whisk to dissolve.

Once the milk is lukewarm, add the yogurt starter and whisk nicely till the mixture froths. Cover and keep in a warm place till set.

If making the condensed milk version, just heat the milk, mix with condensed milk and wait till the mix becomes lukewarm. Ad the yogurt, whisk well and keep in a warm place to set.

Serve chilled with chopped nuts as a topping .

This Mishti Doi keeps well in the fridge for a week if you make larger quantities though it is difficult to save it for that long..