Cook in a Curry

I enjoyed a brilliant summer, but I feel like I’m yearning to stretch out the berry season. Found the most wonderful strawberries at my local farm shop over the weekend, sweet and bursting with flavour so I’m trying to make the most of it. Not commonly used in Indian dessert but I know a lot of Indian foodies adapt them into a lot of desserts we cook. And that’s exactly what I have done for this recipe.

Bhapa doi is one of my all time favourite Indian desserts. One that I remember eating at my Bengali friends’ homes back in India. Bengalis are known for their love affair with desserts & puddings. It’s a sweet that’s easy to put together with such few ingredients. A steamed yoghurt; with a texture quite like a cheesecake. My mother would make this over the hob & use a steamer to cook it through, hence the name (Bhap meaning steam). My recipe calls for making it in a conventional oven though if you prefer to steam it do so.

Traditionally bhapa doi is made simply with infused cardamom and maybe some saffron for colour. But I have added berry puree into the mix for an added flavour and presentation. All finished off with a few more strawberries and puree to serve. You can swap it for most fruits. It’s also a pudding you can make in advance for a dinner parties. Greek yoghurt gives that slight tang with the sweetness from the berries and the warmth of ground cardamom. Simply delectable.

Ingredients

300gms Greek yoghurt

225mls condensed milk

60mls berry puree (crushed strawberries or raspberries mix in with a touch of icing sugar)

½ tsp cardamom powder

4-5 chopped strawberries for garnish

Lined ramekins with baking paper

Preheat the oven to 140C or 275F. In a bowl whisk together the Greek yoghurt and condensed milk until smooth. Add most of the berry puree; setting aside a tablespoon for serving. Also add the cardamom powder. Divide the mix into 6 ramekins.

Put the lined ramekins in a roasting tin and pour water in the roasting tin to come a quarter of the way up the side of the ramekin. Bake in the oven for 35mins. Cool the pudding and then refrigerate them overnight.

To serve turn out the bhapa doi onto a serving plate top with strawberries and the additional puree.