Indians around the world are about to launch into festival mode. The months between August and November are packed with some of the biggest religious celebrations in a country that loves celebrating year-round, beginning with Ganesh Chaturthi, the birthday of the elephant headed god Ganesha, this week, and ending with Diwali, the mother of all Hindu festivals, in November.

These months will also see many other popular Indian festivals, including Navratri, observed in some states to celebrate Rama and in others as a celebration of the goddess Durga. In the south, Navratri is celebrated by creating exhibits of figurines of gods and goddesses in homes — an arrangement called “kolu”. Durga Puja is celebrated in states in the east, including West Bengal and Odisha.

Mishti Doi is a popular Bengali sweet that’s often made at festivals like Durga Puja and Diwali, and today I have for you a delicious but vegan version of this beloved dessert.

What is mishti doi?

Mishti Doi literally translates from Bengali to “sweet yogurt.” It is a yogurt-based sweet that’s often made during Bengali celebrations, including Durga Puja and Diwali. Its beauty, to my mind, is that it’s stunningly simple, relying on the natural deliciousness of yogurt combined with caramelized sugar or natural palm sugar to create amazing flavor.

Why you’ll love this vegan mishti doi

• It’s delicious. It’s hard to believe that sugar and yogurt can create such tremendous flavor together, but cooking the milk (nondairy milk in this case) and the sugar together and then letting it ferment with a probiotic makes all the difference. You get a sweet, thick, caramelized yogurt with striking, tangy notes.
• It’s simple. There’s not much skill involved in making a mishti doi, but be sure to follow directions or you may not get what you wanted. If you have an Instant Pot (you don’t absolutely need one for this recipe), your job’s that much easier.
• It’s everyone-friendly. If you, or someone you are feeding, cannot tolerate lactose, this is the recipe for you. It has all the flavor and none of the milk. It’s also soy-free, gluten-free, and you can make it with full-fat coconut milk for a nut-free version (although I do prefer the flavor of mishti doi made with cashew milk). See FAQs below on how to make this with coconut milk.
• It’s nutritious. There is sugar here but this is not a cloyingly sweet food. The probiotic yogurt packs in lots of benefits–and protein, if you make it with cashews.
• It’s great anytime. Mishti doi is usually classified as a dessert sweet but it makes a tremendous breakfast or anytime snack.
• It’s compassionate. Festivities in India are typically accompanied by lots of sweets, most of them dairy-based. But there’s no reason for animals to suffer when we humans celebrate and what better time can there be to show compassion?

Ingredients 

• 1 cup raw cashews (soaked in water for 30 minutes, then drained)
• 2 cups distilled or filtered water
• 2 tbsp almond flour (use the kind labeled “super fine” or “finely ground”)
• ⅓ to ½ cup sugar (preferably use coconut sugar, but vegan cane sugar or any sugar works just as well. If using jaggery see notes below for how to tweak recipe.)
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract (optional, but it helps stir in more sweetness. This helps as we are replacing dairy milk, which has lots of natural sugars in it)
• 2 vegetarian probiotic capsules

Instructions

• Blend the cashews with the 2 cups of distilled or filtered water into a very smooth milk/cream. Set aside.
• Place the sugar in a heavy saucepan with 2 tbsp water. Let the sugar melt and then caramelize. The sugar will clump before it melts and then loosen up, so don’t worry if it take a little while. Keep stirring the sugar frequently so it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.
• Let the sugar turn a rich caramel color, then turn the heat down to the lowest point or turn it off. Pour in the cashew milk gently. Take care and stand back as the milk can bubble when it hits the hot caramel.
• Turn the heat back on to medium high and let the milk come to a boil. Stir frequently. The milk will begin to thicken in a few minutes. Once it has thickened, stir in the almond flour and mix well.
• Add the vanilla extract, if using, and turn off the heat. Let the cashew cream sit for a few minutes until it’s lukewarm to the touch, around 110 degrees. Don’t add the probiotic capsules before it reaches this temperature or the high heat will kill the good bacteria and the yogurt won’t set.
• Open the probiotic capsules and stir the powder into the cashew cream. Immediately pour it into four ramekins or a single large heat-safe bowl. Make sure first that they will fit inside the Instant Pot liner, if you are using an IP.
• Place the ramekins or the bowl inside the Instant Pot liner. Close the IP lid and set it to the “yogurt” function for 8-10 hours. Eight hours will yield a less tangy mishti doi, if that’s what you prefer. I find 10 hours works just right for me.If you don’t have an Instant Pot, leave the mishti doi out in a warm spot for 24-36 hours, like a cold oven with the light turned on. My oven light is on the fritz so I left a ramekin on the countertop in my September kitchen, with daytime temps in the 70s, and it took around 36 hours to set.
• Once the mishti doi has set, garnish it with nuts and saffron, if you wish. Chill for a couple of hours at least before serving.