Bhapa Doi Or Indian Cheesecake is a very simple recipe made with just curd and condensed milk. And it sets beautifully like a cheesecake. And then you can decorate it with nuts or fruit compote or have it plain, as it is. So, what about having this cake for your next birthday? Ideal for elderly people who don't like the usual cakes.
This pudding sets wonderfully without gelatin or china grass or cornflour. It has no flour, no baking soda, no baking powder, no eggs, no butter, no oil. Then what does it have?
Call it whatever you want to, it is a traditional sweet dish belonging to the state of West Bengal.
Bhapa Doi Or Indian Cheesecake?
How About This Cake For Your Next Birthday?
How To Make
Bhapa Doi Or Indian Cheesecake is a very simple recipe made with just curd and condensed milk. The mix of curd and condensed milk is steamed on medium heat for about half an hour. Once properly steamed, it sets beautifully like a cheesecake.
And then you can decorate it with nuts or fruit compote or have it plain, as it is. Today, I am making it with spices and nuts only. I have added cardamom powder, saffron, slivered almonds and blanched pistachios.
What does Bhapa Doi Mean?
The meaning Of Bhapa Doi is very simple. Its a Bengali word where, Bhapa means Steam and Doi means Curd, that is, curd which is steamed. Because of this reason, it is called Baked Yogurt or Steamed Yogurt pudding also.
I made this recipe of Bhapa Doi, especially for Jenny's Food Advent Calendar. Want to what this event is? Then read about it below in FAQs.
OPOS Method
The first time when I made this pudding, I made it in the oven using Bain-marie (or water bath) method, that is baked the yogurt on a water bath. It took almost 45 minutes, which is a pretty long time. Then recently I came across the Opos method of cooking, wherein, the same pudding gets ready in just 15 minutes. When I made this pudding following the Opos method, I was mesmerized.
Exactly after 15 minutes, it came out perfect, got unmoulded beautifully without any running the knife around the pudding. Though I checked for the doneness by inserting a knife but actually there was no need of doing so. This method of making pudding is FLAWLESS. This is similar to Bain Marie method only but a Pressure Cooker replacing the oven and hence reducing the time to one-third. Really, it is amazing.
Initially, it may appear to you that there are too many steps but actually it is a very simple method. Steps are given in detail so as to help you to understand the method clearly. Please follow the instructions given in the Method and Notes below for desired results.
Step By Step Instructions
- Take a round vessel of steel or aluminium, preferably of 4" or 5". Grease it with clarified butter. Keep it aside.
- Blanch Pistachios.
- Chop almonds. Prepare saffron milk.
- Ground cardamom finely.
- Take hung curd in a big bowl. Whisk it to smooth consistency
- Add condensed milk and whisk again.
- Lastly add the remaining ingredients, like almonds, pistachios, milk, saffron milk and ground cardamom.
- Mix everything nicely. And pour the mixture into the greased vessel.
- Sprinkle some pistachios and almonds on the top.
- Cover the vessel with a lid or aluminum foil.
- Take a 2 or 3-liter pressure cooker and put 1.5 cups water in it. I used a 3 ltr PC.Put the covered vessel in the pressure cooker. You can keep either on a stand or without the stand. I did not use any stand as my PC would not close properly then. So, just placed it amidst water.
- Close the lid of the pressure cooker, fix the weight also (whistle).
- Switch on the gas stove to medium flame. The flame should be such that it covers half of the base of the pressure cooker.
- Set the timer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes switch off the gas stove and wait till the pressure settles down.(around 3 minutes)
- Now open the pressure cooker, take out the vessel.
- Invert it onto a plate.
- Tilt the plate a little to remove the water.
- Invert it once again so that the garnished side comes on top.
- Nice and wobbly Ready to serve but it tastes good when cool.
- So, keep it in the refrigerator for a few hours.
FAQs
Q) Can I use a steel bowl for making this recipe?
Yes. You may use steel or aluminum or silicone or Borosil. Just ensure that it fits in the cooker.
Q) Why do we need thick curd for making Bhapa Doi?
This is because curd has a lot of water content which makes it sour. Once this water is removed from the yogurt, sourness also goes away and it becomes ideal for converting it into a sweet dish. For preparing hung curd, put the yogurt in a strainer and keep the strainer in a bowl which will collect all the whey (water from the curd). Do not throw away this whey as it is very nutritious. For details of how to use this whey and how to make hung curd, click here.
Q) Can I bake it in the oven?
- The best thing about this pudding is that you can make it in the oven or in a steamer or in the pressure cooker.
- For baking, bake it at 170 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes.
- No need to preheat the oven.
Q) Can I flavor it with anything else other than spices?
Yes. In summers, when mangoes are in plenty, then I like to add mango puree along with mango pieces in it. Similarly, you can make it with strawberries or any other fruit.
Q) What is Food Advent Calender?
Hello everyone... Happy St. Nicholas' Day to all. I am glad that I got the opportunity to post my feast recipe on this auspicious day, in the Food Advent Calendar hosted by Jenny Rojas.
St. Nicholas' Day is the feast day of Saint Nicholas. St Nicholas is none other than the man behind the story of Father Christmas or Santa Claus. To know more about this day, click Here.
Do you know while we are anxiously waiting and preparing for Christmas, What Santa is up to? Well, He is busy collecting exotic delicacies from all corners of the world. He has already collected Jenny's German Stollen, Rachel's Eggnog Cookies, and Natalie's Eggnog in his cart.
When He passed through India, He, first of all, grabbed Jyoti's delicious Kesari Angoori Rasmalai, and then when He was crossing over my kitchen, He couldn't resist the aroma of cardamom in my dessert and wanted to have it. He liked it so much that he gulped the whole dessert in a go and said that He wanted this 'Indian Cheese Cake' in his Christmas Collection. He didn't stop here and insisted I share this recipe with Him. And when He went through the recipe, he couldn't believe it was so simple to make it and said: "Who says simple recipes can't produce exotic results?" Being overjoyed by His response I decided to put up this recipe only for Jenny's Advent Calendar.
So, with Santa's approval, I am presenting Steamed Yogurt Pudding for all my readers.
For Jenny's advent calendar, once Santa approved it, even I found this very appropriate and decided to present this simple yet yummilicious pudding to you all. The main reason is that it is very much Indian, originating from the state of West Bengal in India. Besides this, it has spices like cardamom and saffron. It is a very healthy dessert. And lastly, as we all know Christmas is associated with cakes and puddings, so here comes a pudding cum cake only.
Q) What is OPOS?
Opos, is a revolutionary cooking method that means One Pot One-Shot. The OPOS methodology has been created and copyrighted by Mr. Ramakrishnan of One Page Cookbooks fame. Opos method of cooking is a scientific, simple, and very brief method of cooking. To know more about Opos, click here.
I have started following Opos in my day-to-day cooking but I am just a beginner and have a long way to go. This is my first OPOS post. All thanks to Mr. Ramakrishnan for this.
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Indian Cheesecake
This pudding, made with curd and condensed milk sets wonderfully without gelatin or china grass or cornflour.
- My Cup Measures 240 ml
- 1 Cup (240 ml) Hung Curd (Or Greek Yogurt)
- 3/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp (200 g) Condensed Milk
- 1/4 Cup Milk (At Room Temperature)
- 1 Tbsp Pistachios (Green)
- 10 to 15 Pieces Almonds (With Skin)
- 7 to 8 Green Cardamom Pods (or 3/4 tsp Ground Cardamom)
- Few Strands Of Saffron Soaked In 1 Tbsp Milk
- 1 Tsp Clarified Butter (Ghee) For Greasing The Pan
- Take a round vessel of steel or aluminium, preferably of 4" or 5". Whatever vessel you choose but ensure that it fits into your pressure cooker. Grease it with clarified butter. Keep it aside.
- Ground cardamom finely.(See Note 2)
- Blanch pistachios and chop these finely.(See Note 3)
- Chop almonds. Prepare saffron milk. (See Note 4)
- Take hung curd / Greek Yogurt in a bowl.
- Whisk it to smooth and creamy consistency.
- Add condensed milk and whisk again.
- Lastly add milk, slivered almonds, chopped pistachios, ground cardamom and saffron milk. (Reserve some pistachios and almonds for garnishing).
- Mix everything nicely.
- Pour the mixture into the greased vessel.
- Sprinkle the reserved pistachios and almonds on the top.
- Cover the vessel with a lid or aluminium foil.
- Take a 2 or 3-litre pressure cooker and put 1.5 cups water in it.
- Put the vessel in the pressure cooker.
- Close the lid of pressure cooker.
- Switch on the gas stove to medium-low flame. The flame should be such that it covers half of the base of the pressure cooker.(See Note 8)
- Let it get baked for 15 minutes by the clock. Do not count the whistles. (However, there will be 8 to 9 whistles) during this period.
- After 15 minutes switch off the gas stove and wait till the pressure settles down.
- Now open the pressure cooker, take out the vessel. By now the yogurt pudding must have set. But still can check for the doneness by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out sticky then again put in pressure cooker and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Invert it onto a plate. Tilt the plate little to remove water, if any.
- Invert it once again so that the garnished side comes on top.
- Though you can serve it warm also but it tastes good when cool. So, keep it in the refrigerator for few hours.
- Serve with love.
- If you are using store-bought Greek Yogurt then passive time is not relevant. But you can make Greek Yoghurt or hung curd at home also. For this, keep the curd in a strainer, resting on a bowl for few hours or overnight (depending upon the consistency of yoghurt). By doing so, all the water in the yoghurt will get separated and you will be left with thick curd. For the detailed method of making Hung Curd, click here.
- Cardamom, once ground, loses its flavour soon. Therefore it is best to ground it at the time of use only. To make Ground Cardamom: First, crush the cardamom pods to break them up so that the seeds get separated. Remove the skin and grind the seeds with the pestle or rolling pin or in the grinder.Whatever method you choose, grind cardamom along with 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. Sugar helps in grinding the cardamom better and quickly by creating the friction which cardamom seeds do not have on their own. The skins can be used for flavouring tea or curries or soups.
- You need green pistachios for this recipe. These pistachios are covered with skin. To blanch, boil these in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the water. Put pistachios on a napkin and rub the napkin for few seconds. By doing so, the skin will get separated and you will have bright green pistachios. Now chop these finely.
- To make saffron milk: Soak saffron strands in very little milk ( 1 tablespoon). After 5 minutes or so, muddle it with a spoon or pestle to extract fully the colour and flavour of saffron.
- You don't have to put any stand or ring in the pressure cooker. Simply put the covered vessel in it.
- Switch on the gas stove only after closing the pressure cooker lid. No preheating is required.
- Keep the flame on medium-low only. (Full pressure will build up in 6 minutes and the first whistle will come in 11 minutes).
- If making it on an induction cooktop, use 600-watt settings.
- Once the pudding is set, there are chances that some water gets into the pudding also. So to remove it just tilt the vessel a little.
- You may adjust the quantity of nuts and spices as per your taste and preference
Gratitude to the following links...
Looks wonderful.. Going to try it.. My daughter is fussy eater hope she loves it.. Thanks for the recipe..
You are welcome dear. If making for children, you can also add some fruit puree like of strawberries or mango.
This looks great! have been wanting to try this since a long time and your recipe sounds easy!
Hi Kaveri… nice to see u here. Yes dear it is easy, yummy n healthy.
Thanks Samira for sharing this delicious sounding recipe. I can’t wait to try it out. If I use Greek Yoghurt should I strain it to make it thicker like your hung curd? And also, if I don’t have a pressure cooker could I still cook it in a water bath in the oven? Thanks very much!
I am gladthat you liked it Rachael.
Greek yogurt is already thick so you can use it as it is.
Yes, you can make it in oven using water bath method. But it will take very long… approx 35 to 40 min.
Samara. This looks and sounds so delicious! I love the texture and all the nuts. Definitely trying this soon! Thanks for sharing!
My pleasure dear… do share your feedback once you try…
This gooks great Sharima. Happy holidays to you.
Thsnk you Renea…Happy Holidays to you too…
A very light but yum recipe Samira! Thanks for sharing, will definitely do this season.
Thank you so much Suneetha…Yes, it is very light. Do share your feedback once you try.
Hi Samira, those are super detailed instructions! Wow! This sounds good!
PS: I love the picture with Santa! And you are right, we have Saint Nicholas today 🙂
Thank you Jenny… Thanks for letting me a part of this gala event…🙏