The best mishti doi shops in town

There's something blessed about mishti doi. Its creamy white complexion hides a subtle mesh of textures — a mellow sweetness that leaves a soft, almost ethereal, aftertaste on the tongue. In the age of chocolate rosogollas and pineapple sandesh, the mishti doi still clings to its old Bengali lineage and sanskriti, a simple joy of taste harking back to a simpler, long-forgotten way of life.
Of course, it helps that every Bollywood heroine worth her soundbyte swears that the only thing she wants to have when in Kolkata is mishti doi!
But then, what makes this classic dessert of milk, yogurt and coarse sugar fermented overnight, such a hit across generations? We decided to deconstruct the mystique of mishti doi by visiting some of the city's most legendary sweet shops.
New Naba Krishna Guin sweets, Bowbazar

This 180-year-old shop boasts of a special item for every Bengali occasion, be it monda mithai for Poila Boishakh, malpoa for Jamai Shashthi or chhanar payesh for Rath. But the undisputed winner and an all-time favourite of loyalists remains the mishti doi. The secret behind their consistent taste and quality is that they keep boiling the milk (adding the correct measure of sugar) till it reduces to half the weight and turns into a thick creamy liquid. This is then cooled and finally the 'saja' is added to allow the doi to set. No artificial colours or flavours are used in this process. Shuprobhat Guin, owner, shared, "I went to Sydney last year for Bongotsav and there my workers made three types of doi — aam doi, sada doi and mishti doi — which were an instant hit not only with the probashi Bangalis but also with many foreigners." The shop sells a minimum of 80 kg of mishti doi every day and never compromises on quality. "Nowadays there's a huge demand for mishti doi even among the non-Bengali crowd," he added.

Amrit sweets, Fariapukur

If you were to ask your grandparents about the best mishti doi in the city, the answer will come in a split second. Amrit, they would say. That's the nostalgia value of this place! With a creamy texture, perfect sweetness and melt-in-your-mouth consistency, this shop's mishti doi is to die for. Not just senior citizens you'll even find a lot of college-goers flooding the shop to have their share of this divine delicacy.

Mithai sweets shop, Park Circus

Mithai has been known for its sada mishti doi for almost 50 years now. Without using any added colour or dalda and boiling the milk and sugar together for hours, they manage to impart a soft-glow texture to the yogurt. Their aam doi — made from real Himsagar mango pulp — is also a big hit with customers during summers. The rich taste and aroma will have you asking for more.

Jadab Chandra Das, College Street

This tiny shop on College Street — a passer-by wouldn't even notice it if he didn't know what made this place so special — has been the favourite of iconic Bengalis Satyajit Ray, Suchitra Sen and even Kishore Kumar. Interestingly, each one of them drooled over their mishti doi and paradise sandesh. Even today, filmmakers like Aparna Sen and Goutam Ghose make it a point to drop by every Saraswati Puja to buy a haanri of mishti doi. Following the tradition of excellence since 1836, their sada mishti doi has always been in high demand, but the shop fails to pull in the young crowd, feels Soumen Das, the owner. "Kids of today's generation choose ice cream over doi, which is very sad. The reason for this I feel is the lack of awareness about the health benefits of yoghurt," said Soumen. But he is hopeful that the situation will change in the coming years.

Putiram sweets, College Street

What makes for a perfect afternoon at boi para? Buying books from the stalls, having sherbet at Paramount and gorging on the delicacies at Putiram! In fact, the kochuri-chholar dal at this 170-year-old shop are as much in demand as their radhaballabi, rajbhog and their milky white mishti doi. Abhijit Modak, owner, said, "We don't know how to make doi using modern techniques. Our traditional way of preparing all of our sweets is what pulls the crowd. This is why the taste has also remained the same over the years. We have to make special arrangements on festive occasions like Durga Puja to meet the high demand."

Jugal's, Rashbehari Avenue

Remaining consistent at anything is quiet a task, but this shop makes it look like child's play. Established way back in 1925, this shop makes some mean mishti doi apart from their oh-so-awesome sweets. The secret behind the thick, creamy texture of their awesome doi is that they don't remove the fats from the milk. Boiling it for hours with sugar gives it a natural reddish tinge and a buttery appearance. Angana, daughter of the owner, said, "We cater to the demand for traditional sweets that are dying in the city due to proliferation of fusion sweets. It feels great when elderly customers, especially at our Rashbehari Avenue outlet, come and say that this is the place for authentic Bangali mishti."

Jashoda mistanna bhandar, Taltala

This shop at Taltala is the real deal. For six decades, the secret of making perfectly white mishti doi in the traditional way has been passed on by the generations of kaarigars. "Many shops make lal mishti doi but it can never match the quality of our doi. We also refrain from making aam doi, since we do not want to move away from our tradition and experiment with mishti doi using any artificial method," said Sanat Poddar, owner.

Suresh Mistanna Bhandar, Dhakuria

While many of the north Kolkata shops make legendary mishti doi, it's not that the south is untrained in this fine art. Suresh sells one of the best mishti dois in south of Bhowanipore. The 100 and 250 gm bhanrs are exhausted by seven in the evening. Their aam doi is just the right thing to keep you cool in summer. June 2016