Recipe for Mishti Doi Banoffee Pie

I see the words 'Banoffee Pie' on a menu and my well-conditioned brain automatically thinks "OMG how am I going to burn those thousand odd calories!!" Ever noticed how most Banoffee Pies served in restaurants have a HUGE portion size, which most definitely needs half a dozen extra spoons so you can do justice to the dessert?

This is a classic English pie, a combination of bananas and toffee. The toffee is prepared by boiling a tin of condensed milk for 3 hours until the milk sugars caramelise and turn into toffee. This is also called dulche de leche. My version of Banoffee Pie has got an Indian twist that makes it a tad healthier, but has as much flavour as the original one.

Mishti Doi is a Bengali dessert where whole milk is reduced, mixed with some caramel and then set into yogurt in an earthen pot. The pores in the pot are said to absorb any excess water, making it a thick and creamy dessert, almost like a crustless cheesecake and the caramel gives it a toffee like flavour.

Ingredients for Mishti Doi

The recipe uses Mother Dairy Mishti Doi as the pie filling, which reduces time considerably in making the dulche de leche. You do of course have to let the Mishti Doi drain all the excess water overnight so you get a thick creamy filling.

Recipe for Mishti Doi Banoffee Pie

Prep time: 12 hours including yogurt draining time

Cooking time: Under 10 minutes

Yields 10-12 servings

Ingredients

2 x 400 mg tubs of Mother Dairy Mishti Doi

3 large bananas

200 ml cream for whipping (refrigerated)+ 1 tbsp icing sugar + 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

250 grams plain digestive biscuits

2 tbsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

For garnish

cinnamon powder

a small piece of dark chocolate + grater

a slice of banana

Preparation

Mishti Doi

Line a large sieve with a muslin cloth. Take a deep bowl and set the sieve in it. Empty 2 x 400 mg tubs of Mother Dairy Mishti Doi over the muslin cloth. Bring the ends together.

Place this sieve with the Mishti Doi over the bowl and keep this in the refrigerator for 8 hours or overnight. All the excess water from the yogurt will drain out leaving behind thick creamy yogurt. 

Whipping the cream

Keep whisking blades and bowl in freezer for 5-10 minutes. Place chilled cream in this bowl and keep the bowl in another bigger bowl filled with some ice. Whip the cream gradually until thick. Add 1 tbsp of icing sugar in this along with vanilla and start whisking again until it has soft peaks. Keep refrigerated until you are ready to assemble the pie.

Watch this video on how to whip cream.

For crust

Break the biscuits into pieces and add the melted butter. In a food processor, powder it until smooth.

Directions

1. Take a 9-10" pie dish or 2 smaller pie dishes. Lightly grease with butter.
2. Divide the digestive biscuit powder between the two, depending on the size of the pie dishes.
3. Using a cling wrap, pat the biscuit base to firmly cover the base and sides of the pie dishes.
4. Place this in the freezer for 10 minutes.
5. Remove the drained Mishti Doi from the sieve into a bowl. Whisk lightly with a fork.
6. Divide this between pie dishes and with a silicon spatula smoothen out the filling.
7. Place 2 layers of sliced bananas all over the Mishti Doi filling.
8. Cover with with whipped cream, smoothening it out or making small peaks with the back of a spoon.
9. Grate chocolate over the cream, and dust some cinnamon powder.
10. Keep a slice of banana in the center.
11. Chill the pie for 2-3 hours in the refrigerator before serving.

Taste verdict:

The pie flavours are enhanced by the slight tanginess of the yogurt filling, the contrast of the mildly sweetened whipped cream and the sweeter layer of ripe bananas. The digestive biscuits provide a crisp texture to add to the whole pie experience! With a very minimal effort, it is a delicious summer dessert to serve at a dinner party. 

This recipe is developed for Mother Dairy #summerofhappiness. Do check Chef Vikas Khanna's recipe, Mishti Doi cupcakes using Mother Dairy Mishti Doi and take part in the Summer of Happiness Challenge, creating a recipe like I have with one of the Mother Dairy products listed on their website and you have a chance to WIN! Details on summerofhappiness.in

(c) Nandita Iyer 2006-2015

Posted in: Veg-Recipes