Shrikhand

The yoghurt is hung in cloth for hours and nothing is cooked at any point.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (milk), dairy (yoghurt).

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg thick yoghurt
• 250 g caster sugar
• a generous pinch of saffron
• 6 cardamom pods, seeds ground
• 2 tablespoons warm milk, for the saffron
• 40 g pistachios and almonds, slivered

Method

1. THE YOGHURT IS HUNG IN CLOTH FOR HOURS AND NOTHING IS COOKED AT ANY POINT. Its article gives the method and then gives its own history, and they are the same method: yoghurt is poured onto a cheesecloth, the cloth is TIED AND HUNG for several hours to drain the whey, and the strained yoghurt is whisked with sugar, saffron and cardamom and chilled. It also quotes a food historian describing the identical procedure -- curd dewatered in a muslin bag for a few hours, then sugar and spices added -- and notes the procedure is still followed. There is no heat anywhere in it. That makes it the only Indian sweet on these pages whose whole craft is draining and whisking.
2. IT IS HUNG, NOT PRESSED. Tied and suspended so the whey runs out under its own weight. Squeezed, the texture goes pasty.
3. FOUR TO SIX HOURS, AND A COLD PLACE. Long enough that 1.2 kg comes down to about 700 g. Left overnight at room temperature it sours further, which is a different and sharper shrikhand.
4. THE SUGAR IS CASTER AND IT IS ADDED IN THREE GOES. Granulated will not dissolve in something this thick and cold, and you will feel it. Whisk, wait, whisk.
5. THE SAFFRON IS BLOOMED IN WARM MILK FIRST. Two spoonfuls, ten minutes. Dropped in dry it stays as orange threads and colours nothing.
6. IT IS WHISKED UNTIL IT IS SMOOTH AND NO LONGER. Its article says whisked thoroughly for a smooth, creamy texture. Past that point it loosens and will not hold a shape.
7. IT IS CHILLED AFTER WHISKING, NOT BEFORE SERVING. A few hours, covered. The cardamom needs the time to come through.
8. THE NUTS GO ON AT THE TABLE. Its article has it garnished with almonds or pistachios before serving. Stirred in early they soften.
9. ITS ARTICLE SAYS WHAT IT IS EATEN WITH. As part of a thali, or with puri, which is a page here.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes