Cream and Yogurt Cheese

Summer it is, and verily, yogurt or as we know it curd (dahi) is an intrinsic part of everyone’s daily diet. While there are many ways of consuming curd, most of them fall in the salt category, very few in the sweet or desserts category. And therefore, I resolved to try my hand at this sweet recipe made out of yogurt. This is a no-cook, no-bake recipe but preparation is a little time consuming, in the sense that you have to wait for the cheese to be ready. Well, having said that, here goes:

Serves: 6

Time taken: 2-3 hrs for cheese creation, ~20 min for preparation

Ingredients

Curd: 400 gm (for making cheese)

Low fat curd: 150 gm

Honey, clear: 2 tablespoons

Egg white: 1

Fruit: mango (1 medium, peeled and diced), or strawberry about 200-250 gm (washed, dried, halved or quartered, as the case may be, can also use raspberries, blackberries, etc. Do not use tinned fruit.)

Ramekin dishes: 6 or 1 medium sized bowl

Method:

1. Take the 400 gm curd and either scoop it into a muslin cloth/bag or a strainer, set aside for 2-3 hrs to let water drain out. Check after an hour has passed and stir gently with a spoon or fork to encourage water to drain out. Once all water has drained out, your cheese is ready. Scoop it out into a bowl. Do not throw away the water, you can use it to either knead dough or in soups or dals (lentils).
2.  In a bowl, place the cheese, add the 150 gm low fat yogurt, add the honey and mix well for about 2-3 min. Keep aside.
3. In a separate bowl whisk egg white until stiff, then fold into above mixture
4. Spoon this mixture either into individual ramekin dishes or into the medium sized bowl
5. Decorate on top with fruit
6. Place in refrigerator and chill until required.

This dessert does not use refined sugar and if you were to use low-sugar fruit with it, it could be suitable  for those with sugar issues. The yogurt/curd is cooling. I made this yesterday in the evening; my mom’s reaction: “I can have this everyday, and it is not very sweet but very nice”. The mango I used was not overtly sweet, (I did not use the Dussheri 🙂 ).

For my friends, Vasudha, Caroline, Ruchi, Ipsita and many others, here you go; up before the weekend 🙂