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Indian Cheesecake

Indian cheesecake is a pudding which sets wonderfully without gelatin or china grass or cornflour. It has no flour, no baking soda, no baking powder, no eggs, no butter, no oil. Then what does it have?

Course Dessert
Cuisine Indian
Keyword Baked Yogurt, Indian Cheese Cake
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Chilling Time 4 hours
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 8
Author Samira

Ingredients

  • My Cup Measures 240 ml
  • 1 Cup (240 ml) Hung Curd (Or Greek Yogurt)
  • 3/4 Cup + 2 Tbsp (200 g) Condensed Milk
  • 1/4 Cup Milk (At Room Temperature)
  • 1 Tbsp Pistachios (Green)
  • 10 to 15 Pieces Almonds (With Skin)
  • 7 to 8 Green Cardamom Pods (or 3/4 tsp Ground Cardamom)
  • Few Strands Of Saffron Soaked In 1 Tbsp Milk
  • 1 Tsp Clarified Butter (Ghee) For Greasing The Pan

Instructions

  1. Take a round vessel of steel or aluminium, preferably of 4" or 5". Whatever vessel you choose but ensure that it fits into your pressure cooker. Grease it with clarified butter. Keep it aside.
  2. Ground cardamom finely.(See Note 2)
  3. Blanch pistachios and chop these finely.(See Note 3)
  4. Chop almonds. Prepare saffron milk. (See Note 4)
  5. Take hung curd / Greek Yogurt in a bowl.
  6. Whisk it to smooth and creamy consistency.
  7. Add condensed milk and whisk again.
  8. Lastly add milk, slivered almonds, chopped pistachios, ground cardamom and saffron milk. (Reserve some pistachios and almonds for garnishing).
  9. Mix everything nicely.
  10. Pour the mixture into the greased vessel.
  11. Sprinkle the reserved pistachios and almonds on the top.
  12. Cover the vessel with a lid or aluminium foil.
  13. Take a 2 or 3-litre pressure cooker and put 1.5 cups water in it.
  14. Put the vessel in the pressure cooker.
  15. Close the lid of pressure cooker.
  16. Switch on the gas stove to medium-low flame. The flame should be such that it covers half of the base of the pressure cooker.(See Note 8)
  17. Let it get baked for 15 minutes by the clock. Do not count the whistles. (However, there will be 8 to 9 whistles) during this period.
  18. After 15 minutes switch off the gas stove and wait till the pressure settles down.
  19. Now open the pressure cooker, take out the vessel. By now the yogurt pudding must have set. But still can check for the doneness by inserting a toothpick. If it comes out sticky then again put in pressure cooker and cook for another 5 minutes.
  20. Invert it onto a plate. Tilt the plate little to remove water, if any.
  21. Invert it once again so that the garnished side comes on top.
  22. Though you can serve it warm also but it tastes good when cool. So, keep it in the refrigerator for few hours.
  23. Serve with love.

Recipe Notes

  1. If you are using store-bought Greek Yogurt then passive time is not relevant. But you can make Greek Yoghurt or hung curd at home also. For this, keep the curd in a strainer, resting on a bowl for few hours or overnight (depending upon the consistency of yoghurt). By doing so, all the water in the yoghurt will get separated and you will be left with thick curd. For the detailed method of making Hung Curd, click here.
  2. Cardamom, once ground, loses its flavour soon. Therefore it is best to ground it at the time of use only. To make Ground Cardamom: First, crush the cardamom pods to break them up so that the seeds get separated. Remove the skin and grind the seeds with the pestle or rolling pin or in the grinder.Whatever method you choose,  grind cardamom along with 1 teaspoon of granulated sugar. Sugar helps in grinding the cardamom better and quickly by creating the friction which cardamom seeds do not have on their own. The skins can be used for flavouring tea or curries or soups.
  3. You need green pistachios for this recipe. These pistachios are covered with skin. To blanch, boil these in boiling water for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the water. Put pistachios on a napkin and rub the napkin for few seconds. By doing so, the skin will get separated and you will have bright green pistachios. Now chop these finely.
  4. To make saffron milk: Soak saffron strands in very little milk ( 1 tablespoon). After 5 minutes or so, muddle it with a spoon or pestle to extract fully the colour and flavour of saffron.
  5. You don't have to put any stand or ring in the pressure cooker. Simply put the covered vessel in it.
  6. Switch on the gas stove only after closing the pressure cooker lid. No preheating is required.
  7. Keep the flame on medium-low only. (Full pressure will build up in 6 minutes and the first whistle will come in 11 minutes).
  8. If making it on an induction cooktop, use 600-watt settings.
  9. Once the pudding is set, there are chances that some water gets into the pudding also. So to remove it just tilt the vessel a little.
  10. You may adjust the quantity of nuts and spices as per your taste and preference