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 :))

Mango Shrikhand

Its the season of mangoes and we can't let it go without making 'Aam-rakhand". Aamrakhand is basically shrikhand with aam ( Mangoes ). Shrikhand is one classic Maharashtrian sweet dish made from strained curd. On some auspicious occasions or during a special function, nothing beats the menu of Shrikhand, Batata bhaaji ( potato sabzi ) and puris. It is also offered as "prasad" ( offering ) to the Lord during pooja or festivals. It is semi-soft and you can literally lick it with your finger, rather than having it with spoon ( i still feel it tastes better this way, hehehe )

Making shrikhand takes some time as the curd has to be hung in a cotton cloth and drained of all the water inside. We also get ready made Chakka ( hung curd ) in market, but finding it here in Delhi is a task. So i preferred setting up the curd overnight with full cream milk and then making the chakka myself at home. Yes it does take some time, but the effort is all worth it... especially since it's my hubby's favourite :)

Shrikhand can be eaten as it is with dry fruits, or addition of mango pulp makes it aamrakhand which is very popular in Maharashtra. You can add any fruit pulp or even chunks of fruit and make shrikhand, the taste just gets better :) In thane, there is a shop which sells fresh fruit shrikhand, and they put pieces of grapes and apples..the taste is so unbelievably flavourful, that you would want a second helping for sure.When i make a visit to Mumbai, next week, i will go to that shop and click a picture for you guys :)

Ingredients :

Curd - 1 n half cup ( I made homemade curd in my regular curd bowl, so it should be about 1 n half cup. 

Mango - 1

Sugar - 1/2 cup ( adjust to taste )

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Pistachios - 5-6

Almonds - 5-6 ( You can also put raisins or cashews or even anjeer if you like )

Cotton cloth/muslin cloth 

Recipe : 

Take out all the curd in the muslin cloth and tie it tightly. Hang the cloth for around 3 hours so that all water drips down. Tie it over the sink or keep some vessel below it, so the water doesn't drip making a mess. If you don't have a place to hang, just put it in a big vessel on the side, tilt it, and cover the vessel with a lid tightly. Squeeze out all the extra water from it after 3 hours.

Remove it in a clean bowl.

Remove all the pulp from the mango and put it in a blender to make a smooth pulp. Add sugar and blend again.

Now add this pulp to the curd. Mix in cardamom powder.

Add in chopped almonds and pistachios. Mix it all well and garnish with some pistachios or almonds when serving in a bowl.

I like the shrikhand/aamrakhand cold. So normally i let it be in the refrigerator for around an hour before eating.  

Note : My Mom's tip : If you find it too thick, add some full cream milk or some cream. It adds to the taste of Shrikhand :)

Now make some hot puris and you are ready to have a scrumptious meal :))

Happy Cooking :)