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Bhapa Doi
Bengal's steamed sweet yogurt — silky, set like a custard — made with hung curd, milk and milk powder instead of condensed milk, and sweetened with nolen gur or jaggery.
- Region
- West Bengal
- Status
- Adaptation — milk powder and gur replace condensed milk
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Strain 4 h · Prep 10 min · Steam 25 min · Chill 2 h
- Serves
- 3 (1 ramekin, about 130 g, each)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Good for
- Festive meals, make-ahead dessert
- Tags
- Good source (High with boost) · Soy-free · Whey-free · Gluten-free · Meal-prep friendly
- Allergens
- Milk, tree nuts (pistachio garnish)
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 195 kcal
- Protein
- 11.5 g
- Carbs
- 21 g
- Fat
- 7 g
- Fibre
- <1 g
Headline values are per serving, as written.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Added sugar | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| As written | 195 | 11.5 g | 21 g | 7 g | 4 g | <1 g | 21 g | 8 g | 6.0 g |
Good source (just under 12 g). The boost below — 100 g more hung curd in place of the milk — brings it to about 12.5 g and makes it High protein. A condensed-milk bhapa doi typically has 20–25 g added sugar per ramekin. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 15 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 250 g hung curd (from about 550 g curd, strained 4 hours)
- 100 ml toned milk · 40 g skimmed milk powder
- 30 g nolen gur (date-palm jaggery) or regular jaggery, grated
- ¼ tsp cardamom powder · 5 g pistachios, slivered
Method
- Warm the milk and dissolve the gur in it. Cool to room temperature (hot milk would split the curd).
- Whisk hung curd until smooth. Add the milk powder and gur-milk; whisk until no lumps remain. Stir in cardamom.
- Pour into 3 small ramekins or steel katoris. Cover each tightly with foil.
- Steam over gently simmering water for 20–25 minutes until set at the edges with a slight wobble in the centre. (Or bake in a water bath at 160 °C for 25–30 minutes.)
- Cool, then chill at least 2 hours. Garnish with pistachios.
Protein optimisation
- Hung curd supplies 5 g per serving, milk powder 4.5 g, milk 1 g.
- Boost: replace the 100 ml milk with 100 g more hung curd (+1 g protein, +15 kcal per serving; denser texture; makes it High protein).
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: mishti doi — set sweetened milk with a culture overnight; caramelised sugar gives its colour (higher in sugar).
- Substitution: Greek yogurt for hung curd.
- Storage: 3 days refrigerated, covered.
- Food safety: chill within 1 hour of steaming.
- Meal prep: excellent — make a day ahead.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com