Shrikhand

Tomorrow is Akshay Tritiya, a holy day for Hindus. I had already explained about Akshay Tritiya in my last year's post of Dudhi Halwa. As it is said, that Akshay Tritiya is a good time to purchase gold, experts had a different view published in Economic times. Low inflation and rising interest rates are bad news for the metal, they say. The dollar prices might rise, and hence the gold prices would drop down by 10 % by the end of year. So, all my friends who are wanting to purchase gold tomorrow, just buy a token. For people like me though, purchasing kitchen items is as good as buying gold :) (All my blogger friends here would agree, won't you?) So i have treated myself to a new Mixer-grinder on this Akshay Tritiya. My old mixer started showing tantrums two days ago (Guess it knew some festival is coming!!!)

No auspicious or holy day is complete without a sweet. So, here i am posting the recipe of Shrikhand. A simple meal of homemade Shrikhand, puri and batata bhaaji (Aloo sabzi) completes a Maharashtrian festival for me. Shrikhand-puri is a match made in heaven. I have stressed on the homemade, because the store bought Shrikhands are way too sweet these days. Shrikhand has a lot of Maharashtrian charachter to it, i feel, and has mixed flavours of sweet, sour, smooth, rich and yet simple to make. My hubby almost finishes 2-3 vaatis of shrikhand at one go, so i have gone easy on the sugar addition here. 

Shrikhand is basically saffron infused yogurt. I normally make yogurt at home, but you can use thick readymade yogurt too. If you get Chakka (Yogurt cheese) readymade, then this dessert is ready within minutes. I couldn't find Chakka near my place, so i made it at home the traditional way. When we were kids, there used to be a machine(Puran Yantra) which would have to be operated manually to uniformly mix the chakka and sugar. So me and my brother would take rounds to turn the knob round and round to see the thin noodle like shrikhand coming out of the yantra. In the end our hands would pain, and mom would always end up cleaning the mess :) Nostalgia!!!

For a fruity version of Shrikhand, check my recipe of Aamrakhand - Mango Shrikhand .

Ingredients:

Milk - 1 and half litres of whole milk (You can't eat shrikhand if you are calorie conscious. This dessert will not taste good with skim milk or any kind of toned milk)

Yogurt - 1 tbsp

Sugar - 1/2 cup (Adjust according to taste)

Saffron strands - 4-5 

Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Nutmeg and Cardamom powder is optional. You can use both or one or omit them altogether. Traditionally, Charolya or chironji is used too, but i didn't have them handy.

Recipe:

To make yogurt: Boil the milk and let it cool to room temperature. Pour the milk in a wide bowl.

Add the yogurt to this milk and stir it along with the cream on top. Cover with a lid.

Let the yogurt set in a warm place undisturbed till firm. If the place is warm, it should set in about 6 hours or so.

You can set this yogurt the previous day and refrigerate and prepare the shrikhand the next day.

To make Yogurt Cheese/Chakka: Place a muslin cloth (pancha as we call in marathi) in a strainer (or colander) over a bowl. Make sure you take a big cloth, so you have enough space on the side to tie it later.

Pour yogurt in the cloth. Now bring the sides of the cloth together and tie a knot tightly just above the yogurt. It looks like a firm ball. The whey starts draining out of the cloth.

Now you can either put some weight on this and let it drain or tie it to a place from where it keeps dripping or draining. The whey can be used to knead doughs or make gravies.

After about 4-6 hours, the ball of yogurt would look dry. 

To make Shrikhand: Remove the chakka in a bowl. You can refrigerate the chakka in an air tight container for upto 2 days.

Now, beat the chakka well till it becomes smooth.

Grind the sugar to powder.

Warm about 2 tbsp of milk, add saffron to it.

Make a coarse powder of cardamom seeds in a mortar and pestle.

While beating the chakka, add the powdered sugar little by little and keep mixing it well.

Now add the cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and saffron milk to it. Add more milk if you require a thinner consistency. The shrikhand should not be runny. It should be as thick to remain on a plate. 

Mix everything well till smooth.

Tastes best when served cold, but even at room temperature. 

Happy Akshay Tritiya to all of you readers and May you be blessed with peace, happiness, success and satisfaction :)

Happy Cooking :))