Nabadwip-er Lal Doi

The milk is boiled over wood until it turns red, three litres down to one, before it is set at all.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (milk), dairy (yogurt).

Ingredients

• 3 litres buffalo milk, or whole cow milk
• 200 ml water
• 150 g sugar
• 3 tablespoons live plain yogurt

Method

1. THE MILK IS BOILED OVER WOOD UNTIL IT TURNS RED, THREE LITRES DOWN TO ONE, BEFORE IT IS SET AT ALL. Its article describes the first stage in detail and the colour is the whole point of the sweet. Buffalo milk is boiled on a gentle wood fire with a little water added, for two to six hours, and it is the long burning that turns the milk reddish -- nearly three litres becoming one. Only then is it sweetened, potted and fermented. So the red is not a colouring: its article says plainly that the makers achieve it WITHOUT any outer colour, and it comes from hours of caramelising milk sugars over a live fire.
2. TWO FUELS, IN ORDER, AND ITS ARTICLE SEPARATES THEM. Wood for the long reduction, then charcoal for the setting stage, with the pots stood around the coals. At home: the longest, lowest reduction your hob will give, and then a warm place rather than coals.
3. IT IS REDUCED MUCH FURTHER THAN AN ORDINARY SWEET CURD. Its article makes the comparison itself -- for white yogurt the milk is thickened, but red curd needs longer and the milk density is the thickest of any of them. Three to one, where Mishti Doi, as on its own page, goes down by only a fifth.
4. A LITTLE WATER GOES IN AT THE START, WHICH SOUNDS BACKWARDS. Its article says the milk is boiled with a small amount of water poured in. Over a direct fire it buys time before the bottom catches, which across four hours is the difference between red and scorched.
5. IT IS SET IN CLAY POTS SIZED TO THE MILK. Its article notes pots from a hundred grams up to five kilograms, supplied to demand. The clay does the same work as in any set curd: wicks water and holds warmth.
6. THE CULTURE GOES IN WHEN IT IS WARM, NOT HOT. Reduced milk holds heat for a long time. Let it come down to blood heat before the starter.
7. THE TEST IS STICKINESS, AND ITS ARTICLE GIVES TWO. The quality is judged on how sticky it is: the pot is turned upside down and should hold, and a knife is pushed in to see how it comes out -- which is where the name chakku, knife, comes from.
8. IT KEEPS FOR TEN DAYS, WHICH IS UNUSUAL FOR A CURD. Its article says so, and the reason is the reduction: there is very little free water left in it.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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