Although there is little in common between Marathi and Bengali food in terms of flavour, there are some ingredients that are commonly used. Yoghurt is one such ingredient, used in both savoury as well as sweet preparations. It is called dahi in Marathi and doi in Bengali.
As I started to think of what else I could do for a dessert option on our dining menu, the idea of playing around with all the versions of yoghurt started appealing to me. I have already spoken about shrikhand and sandesh (sandesh is technically made from curdled milk, but why let facts get in the way of a good story?) I decided to add another Bengali yoghurt dessert to my repertoire – Bhapa doi. Bhapa means steamed and doi is yoghurt, so this is a steamed yoghurt pudding.
You couldn’t find a simpler recipe to make – equal parts of yoghurt and condensed milk mixed together with a little vanilla essence for flavour. This is then steamed to allow the mixture to set and become like a pudding or cheescake.
And so with that I have a nice little trio of milk/yoghurt based desserts – Shrikhand tart with mango, Bhapa doi and sandesh! All light in taste and so different from typical Indian desserts! Only one more needs to be added to this….a shrikhand vadi. But that is going to take a little practice to get right 😉
Priya
Bombay Howrah Dining Car 
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