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.
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.
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