Baked Yogurt

Recipe No: 292
I ate this once from Thiruvananthapuram Taj during our last visit to Kerala a couple of years ago. It was one among the long array of desserts in the dinner buffet but, the best in my opinion. It took a while for me to get this correct but it sure is different, easy and delicious. Here it goes…

Ingredients                                                 Serves 4

• Greek Yogurt……….1 Cup (Substitute mentioned in ‘notes’)
• Condensed Milk…..1/2 Cup (Sweetened; Milkmaid)
• Saffron……………….a pinch
• Sugar…………………1 Teaspoon
• Cardamom…………3

Method of Preparation

1. Take the seeds out of the Cardamom pods and crush it finely in a mortar and pestle (or something in which you can powder stuff in small amounts.).
2. Add Saffron along with Sugar to the same Mortar with the crushed Cardamom seeds and crush finely.
3. Mix the crushed mixture with Sweetened Condensed Milk and Yogurt; mix till incorporated evenly. Keep it in the fridge for 5-10 minutes so that the Saffron can infuse properly. (Adjust the sweetness by adding more Milkmaid at this stage depending on the sourness of the Yogurt.)
4. Pour the Yogurt mixture equally into 4 Ramekins (small bowls that can withstand baking) and cover each of them with Aluminum foil.

To make Baked Yogurt in the Oven

1. Preheat the oven to 325˚F/ 162˚C.
2. Place the Ramekins in a big baking tray with hot Water till half way up the Ramekins.
3. Place this in the preheated oven and bake for 15-17 minutes. Remove it from the oven; take the Ramekins out of the water (be sure to use kitchen mittens to avoid burning) and let it cool.

To make Baked Yogurt on stove top

1. Heat some Water in a pan (that can fit the Ramekins) to a point just below simmering and place a small kitchen towel in the bottom (The kitchen towel will help to bake the Yogurt evenly.). Place the Ramekins on the towel; close the pan and let it cook for 15-17 minutes. Once cooked, take the Ramekins out of the Water and let it cool.
2. Things to remember: If cooking on stove top please adjust the temperature of the Water so that it never boils but remains hot. I suggest heating the Water till it starts to form small bubbles on the sides; place the Ramekins and then reduce the temperature to low (not too low) and keep the Water hot throughout cooking. Higher temperature will spoil the texture of the Yogurt. (It will become grainier; but it will still be tasty.)
3. The level of the Water should be till half way up the Ramekins. Once cooked, take the ramekins out of the Water and let it cool.

Chill the Yogurt for an hour in the Refrigerator. Serve Baked Yogurt in the same Ramekins or run the tip of a knife through the sides and turn it into another plate before serving.(The little yellow specks in the Yogurt is the Saffron.)

Notes:

• Please use Yogurt with minimum sourness for this dish. But it is possible to use whole, low fat or fat free Yogurt in this recipe. I used plain fat free Greek Yogurt.
• I made this dessert with regular yogurt too, but I like it the most when made with Greek Yogurt which is really thick and smooth. But in case Greek Yogurt is not available in your place hang the Yogurt and get rid of all the moisture before making.
• A very easy way to get rid of the water content in the Yogurt is by the following method. Place a large strainer on top of a bowl so that the bottom of the strainer does not touch the bottom of the bowl (You should leave the space for the straining Water.) Place a cheese cloth (or a cloth with slightly large meshes) on the strainer and put the Yogurt on the cloth. Cover this and let it stand in the fridge for 3-4 hours. By this time most of the Water will be collected at the bottom of the bowl. Discard the Water and use the thickened Yogurt.
• Saffron is used in this dish for the taste and color. So it is recommended not to use Saffron food color instead. However you can change the flavor of the dish by substituting Saffron and Cardamom with Vanilla extract or Rose Essence if you like.
• Crushing Saffron along with the Sugar makes the crushing process easy.
• This dessert should be served slightly cold. If you keep it for longer time in the Refrigerator it will become a bit hard. In that case either keep it at room temperature for sometime  or microwave it for 5-8 seconds to bring down the temperature before serving.

 



Make it, enjoy the deliciousness and 
serve it to your family with love…