Saffron Cardamom Shrikhand

May 24, 2020Niketa

Gudi padwa celebrations (Maharashtrian New Year) aren’t complete if you don’t have rich, creamy and delightful Shrikhand. Basically Shrikhand is an Indian version of flavoured yogurt which is ridiculously easy to whip up. There are quite a few variations but the most favoured one is Amrakhanda, which is made using mango purée. Since it isn’t a mango season yet, I have whipped this Saffron Cardamom Shrikand to start new Maharashtrian year on a sweet note.

I have used Greek yogurt to whip this Shrikhand. Greek yogurt being thick in consistency yields smooth and extremely creamy texture. I have flavored this shrikand with generous pinch of saffron strands, green cardamom powder and nutmeg powder. Usually powdered sugar is added to make it sweet, but I have used combination of honey 🍯 and maple syrup. Let me be very frank, the shrikhand with sugar tastes much better but since we are watching our calorie intake I decided to add honey. We enjoyed a bowl full of shrikhnad guilt free along with phulka (Indian flat bread). If you are not on a diet I insist you should  fry some puris to go along with it!!

Print Recipe

Saffron Cardamom Shrikhand

      Ingredients

      • 1 kg Full fat Greek yogurt, You can also use plain yogurt
      • 3 tbsp Warm milk
      • Generous pinch Saffron strands, add more for garnishing
      • 2 tsp Freshly pounded cardamom powder
      • Pinch Nutmeg powder
      • 1/2 cup Honey, (Or Powdered sugar. You can add more as per your taste)
      • 1/4 cup Maple syrup
      • 2 tbsp Charoli nuts to garnish, (optional) Instead of charoli you can also use chopped almonds or pistachios for garnishing

      Directions:

      For perfect consistency, you need to drain water from Greek yogurt by following the process below:

      • 1)

        Take a deep bowl and place a strainer on it. Make sure the bowl is deep enough to avoid the strainer from touching the collected liquid in the bowl

      • 2)

        Line the strainer with a muslin cloth (or any clean cotton cloth)

      • 3)

        Now add the yogurt to the strainer.

      • 4)

        Gather the edges of the muslin cloth and squeeze it gently, you will see the liquid dripping.

      • 5)

        Tie the edges of the cloth forming a knot and leave it overnight or minimum for 5 hours.

      • 6)

        Next morning you will notice that the liquid is collected in a bowl yielding thick hung yogurt or Chakka.

      Whipping Shrikhand

      • 1)

        In a small bowl add milk, warm it up in a microwave for a few seconds.

      • 2)

        Now add a generous pinch of saffron strands to the warm milk and give it a good mix so that the saffron color and flavor is well infused in the milk.

      • 3)

        Now in a bowl, add the hung yogurt and honey maple syrup ( you can also use powdered sugar instead of honey maple syrup).

      • 4)

        Next pour in the saffron milk.

      • 5)

        Whip  everything well using a whisker /spoon. Make sure you are not whipping too vigorously or else you will get shrikand with thin consistency.

      • 6)

        Now add cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and give everything a good mix. If you want you can also add chopped nuts.

      • 7)

        Transfer shrikand to a bowl, garnish it with charoli, saffron strands and nuts, chill it in a refrigerator for minimum of 4 hours. I left it in the refrigerator overnight. 

      • 8)

        Enjoy a bowl full of shrikand as a dessert or you can also have it along with some fried puris.

         

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