Sweet Yoghurt Dessert

Steamed yoghurt or 'Bhapa doi' is a must for feasts in Kolkata. The grand menu for any celebration, whether it is a festival or wedding, always ends with this dessert. Apart from the fact that this is only traditionally found in Kolkata, this dish is also considered auspicious for celebrations. This week I decided to attempt making this dish at home with local ingredients. The only difference was that I baked it instead of steaming.

Ingredients:
Yoghurt - 3 cups
Sweetened condensed milk - half of a can
Maple syrup - to adjust sweetness & add flavor
Butter or ghee to grease a baking pan
Almonds for garnish

The first step was to preheat the oven at 400F. The yoghurt, condensed milk and maple syrup was mixed using a hand whisker. I tasted a bit of  this mixture prior to baking and it was such a delicacy...yumm.. I thought of adding maple syrup because it has a faint flavor similar to that of sugarcane/palm jaggery, known as 'gur'' found in India. This is commonly used in making sweets in Kolkata sweet shops.

The yoghurt mixture was placed in the greased pan and baked in the pre-heated pan for 35 minutes. Then I garnished it with almonds, left it to cool at room temperature for another half an hour. The dessert was placed in the refrigerator until dinner time. What was the outcome? I don't know yet because I do not each much dessert myself but friends and family said they like it! :-)