Kesar Shrikhand is a delicious Indian dessert, made using hung yogurt or Greek yogurt. It is mildly sweet and very soothing to the palate in summer months.
Check more rich Indian desserts here like – rice kheer, rabri, malai kulfi.
In early December I was contacted by Rajesh of Saffron Direct, who wanted to share their fine quality of Saffron with me. Saffron Direct is based out of London.
Couple of weeks later, I got 4 g of Ruby, Finest Spanish Saffron quality from them. Upon opening the package only I could smell the very faint smell of saffron. This was potent stuff!
The package had 2 small boxes of 2g each. Since in Pune, winters are not severe, I did not foresee myself using so much saffron. Also the best shelf life of saffron with good care is 6 months. So I shared 2g of the saffron with Priyanka.
Initially, I wanted to make Risotto but Masterchef has spoiled it for me, making it sound like a big deal, so I shelved the idea and then decided to make Shrikhand. I have never made or rarely eaten a couple of spoons of it as I am not a fan of sweetened curd. There, my secret is out!
It is quite simple to make. The only big step is to drain the curd overnight. I used home-made curd. To skip the overnight wait, people tend to use Greek yogurt which is a very thick version but it is still not as good as hung curd.
Not to mention, the Shrikhand was a hit. I saved some to take for #PuneFoodiez for The Brooklyn Shuffle meet and Tes took the remaining with her happily.
Saffron Direct is a London-based firm engaged in distribution of finest quality saffron.
Kesar Shrikhand
Ingredients
- 6 cups yogurt homemade curd
- 1 tsp saffron kesar
- 1 tbsp warm milk
- ½ cup sugar superfine
- ½ tsp green cardamom choti elaichi crushed
- 10-12 pistachio pista, chopped
Instructions
- Cut 3 layers of cheesecloth into a 12"x24" square.
- Put yogurt in middle of cheesecloth, bring up ends, and tie with kitchen twine. Tie cheesecloth-bound yogurt to the handle of a wooden spoon; set wooden spoon over a bowl. Chill yogurt and let drain overnight to a thicker consistency.
- I used my rolling pin and placed it in my refrigerator overnight with a bowl underneath.
- Combine saffron and milk and let steep for 30 minutes.
- Put drained yogurt into a bowl; stir in saffron mixture and sugar.
- Divide shrikhand between 6 small bowls and garnish with cardamom and pistachios.
Notes
- minimally adapted from Saveur
- You can leave the yogurt to drain outside as well but it leaves a slight tang to the curd. If you like it then go ahead and allow the curd to drain outside.
- You can drain for 2-3 hours also if you are short on time but ideal is to hang it overnight.
- You can use Greek curd to for instant version but it is not as thick as hung curd.
Its looks awesome and the pictures says- pick me up…right from the web :)
awww.. Thank you so much! Your comment just made my day!!