Shrikhand (A tasty popular Indian dessert)

Having grown up in the Karnataka/Maharashtra region I always believed that every Indian knows what Shrikhand is! :D Shrikhand to me is one of the most popular sweets churned out by families for festivals or weddings. Puri shrikhand, I thought was almost as famous and well known as Taj Mahal! :P Hey you can't blame the kid who was almost sick and tired of eating this sweet for every special occasion and the elders could never get enough of it ;) So it made me believe that everyone has to know what it is. You can't even blame the older me who ended up making a many friends from different parts of India who happened to know what shrikhand is and hence I happily concluded that everyone knows Shrikhand! :P

But as I came out of my shell and met more people, I realized there are a ton of people who don't know about this humble yummy and reasonably healthy dessert. There is no ghee, no heavy cream/milk and unlike most Indian sweets/desserts, sugar is probably the only bad thing about this one. Yes, its made from curd/yogurt which is hung overnight and flavored with simple yet divine ingredients like saffron, tons of nuts and cardamom. Use 2% or 1% yogurt to make even less guilty! :) :)

I used store brought yogurt. I usually make 2 versions of this. One of them is "Amrakhand" which is mango flavored and the other is cardamom and saffron flavored. The only effort is hanging the curd and there is no cooking involved. Easily scalable to cater large parties and I haven't met anyone so far who does not like this dessert! :)

The quantities of ingredients can be easily altered. The flavoring is totally up to you. Taste your shrikhand (repeatedly if needed ;) ) to get that perfect level of sugar and flavoring. One guideline is that the final quantity of shrikhand is almost less than half the amount of curd you start with.

What you need:

Plain yogurt (whole or 2% fat)
Sugar - should be fine (use powdered if they are big granules)
Muslin cloth to hang the curd

Saffron - 8 to 10 strands or more.
Milk - to soak the saffron (about 1/4th cup)
Powdered cardamom
sliced or crushed nuts - Pistachios and almonds.


Method:

1. Tie the curd in a large muslin cloth (a light cotton towel should do too.).
-- The way i do it : Spread the cloth on a large bowl/container. Pour the curd into the cloth taking care to restrict it to the container. Tie up the ends of the cloth in the center and make a tight knot as shown in picture. Lift this tied cloth up while keeping the container under it all the time as the water from the curd is going to start dripping. Suspend this arrangement at a convenient spot where it hangs freely with the container below it. I hang it to one of the kitchen cabinet handles and leave the container on the counter to collect the water.

2. Leave this arrangement overnight. The curd is going to release all water and you will end up with a thick curd.

3. Beat this curd with a spoon to remove any lumps. Traditionally there is a special kitchen tool called "Shrikhand paatra" which was used to remove lumps. But I don't use it and the shrikhand turns out just fine.

4. Soak the saffron in warm milk for about 15-30 mins until saffron releases its flavor.
5. Add sugar, saffron milk mixture and cardamom powder to the curd and mix well.
6. Taste and adjust the flavoring ingredients.
7. Add the nuts.
8. Serve chilled with or without puri. YUM! :)

Update(Tip) : My friend Shruti tried this dessert out and she said using Greek yogurt yielded a creamy yummy Shrikhand.

Carrot dessert

There are times when you really like a dish, get the recipe and make some changes to add your own touch. The result? Some times, a wonderful tasty dish, albeit different from the original thing you planned to make. It could be just the addition of a new ingredient or changing the quantity of an existing ingredient.

I had this really tasty carrot kheer my friend made and was happy when she said that it is a really simple and easy to make dish. The original kheer she made was of liquidy consistency. I wanted a dessert which was more pudding -ish or custard-ish. So here is my recipe for carrot pudding?/custard?/ thick kheer? Let's just call it carrot dessert! :)

What you need:
Carrots - 3
Milk - about 3 cups
Cashews - 8 to 10
Custard powder(vanilla flavor) - 1 tbsp
Vanilla essence - 2 to 3 drops
Saffron strands - 4 to 5 (optional)
Ghee 1 tsp
Chopped Almonds, raisins and/or any other nuts you like in your dessert
Sugar - as per your taste, depending on how sweet or fresh your carrots are :)

Method:

1. Dice the carrots into big chunks.
2. Pressure cook the carrots with 1 cup milk and the cashews. Once cool, puree the carrot+cashew+milk mixture
3. Dissolve the custard powder in some cold milk.
4. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the almonds and raisins if you are using them
5. Add the milk and bring to a boil.
6. Add saffron.
7. Then add the carrot paste and cook for 5-10 mins on medium heat.
8. Add the custard powder+milk mixture and let it cook till the mixture thickens.
9. Add sugar and vanilla essence
10. Check taste and add more sugar if needed
11. Chill in the refrigerator before serving.

Serve chilled, garnished with a few almond slivers.