Shrikhand - The Duo

My affair with yogurt continues. Listen! I have nothing against cream. Cream is light and dreamy. But it is tasteless and unhealthy (Please ignore the last adjective, it was a compulsion to use in accordance to the previous sentence). Yogurt is refreshing, creamy, light and good for you. I love yogurt in savory but you know what I love more? Sweetened yogurt with flavorful variations. I hear all this buzz about frozen yogurt I'm sure its great as it has the word yogurt but I doubt if it beats the Indian yogurt dessert - Shrikhand.


Shrikhand is very versatile. Strawberries are in season here so that’s what I used apart from the traditional nutty Shrikhand. If mango is in season please please use it. You can also use canned mango pulp, which I didn't have. With two completely different flavors you can win people with different taste buds.

Its embarrassingly easy recipe and a snap to make. And people always get awed when I tell them I make shrikhand at home. Recipes that require pre-planning work great with my kind of schedule, where I get to cook in between gaps. And once you have some pre-prepared things, the actual cooking feels like a joke.

The Duo - Nutty Shrikhand And Strawberry Shrikhand

Ingredients
1 kg Fresh Yogurt
¼ + ¼ cup granulated Sugar

For Nutty Shrikhand
½ tbsp Cardamom powder
¼ cup mix of Pistachio and Walnuts
Pinch of Saffron

For Strawberry Shrikhand
½ tbsp Cardamom Powder
1 tbsp granulated sugar
5 Strawberries


Hung Yogurt
Shrikhand uses hung yogurt and it is literally that. Use a muslin cloth to strain your yogurt.


Tie up the edges of the cloth and make a knot. Hang it somewhere where your kitchen won't be messed up like a place the liquid drains into the kitchen sink. That didn't work for me so I tied it on the handle of the upper cupboard and let a bowl collect the liquid under.



I understand that different types of yogurt are available in market some thicker like greek yogurt and some much thinner. We apparently get only one type of yogurt which is somewhat in between when it comes to consistency. Depending on the thickness the time required to drain all the whey out varies. The best way I suggest is to leave it overnight. That way you don't worry about it being all drained or not. After 5-6 hours any type of yogurt would be strained enough.


It should be thick and creamy like crumbled feta or may be like labneh? Or like mascarpone? I give up.

Divide it equally in two large bowls. And mix the ¼ cup of sugar into each. Whisk till the sugar dissolves into the yogurt. Takes around 15 minutes.

The Nutty Shrikhand bowl gets cardomom powder and pinch of saffron. Don’t dilute the saffron in milk or yogurt. What that does is gives a uniform color to shrikhand. But just mixing it in gives beautiful strands of dark dark saffron against the pale yellow. Whisk it all for another 5 minutes.

Chop walnuts and pistachios and give it one last whisk. Keep to set. (Now walnut isn’t traditional but we love it, you can use almonds instead if you don't trust me)

For the strawberry shrikhand, blend the strawberries with 1 tbsp of sugar.

Whisk it with the hung yogurt for 5 minutes. Don’t forget to add the cardamom powder.

Have some hung yogurt left? Lucky you ! Season it with salt and pepper, spread it on toast for a great breakfast.

Shrikhand needs to be chilled for 4-5 hours. Garnish Nutty Shrikhand with slivered pistachios and Strawberry Shrikhand with mint and strawberries.


Can you see what I meant by not dilluting the saffron? The picks of saffron against the yellow? And when you spoon it the strands makes such a beautiful sight.

It only made two servings. We were supposed to share half of each but Murtaza started with Nutty and I started with Strawberry. And forgot all about sharing !!