Saffron Shrikhand

The first time I tasted Shrikhand I was 7 years old. My cousins friends came home one day and made us Gujarati food. I was so used to my comfort food of paruppu sadham(lentil with rice) and Rasam ( soup) that I was surprised to taste sugar in everything they prepared. Shrikhand was sour and sweet to me, which was very strange to my young palate. But all that changed by the time I finished my high school. Vandhu's  ( my friend) mom always made it and I thought it was delicious. Though it is usually served with puri's I just like to scoop some in my table spoon and slowly lick them to enjoy the smooth texture of the Shrikhand melting in my mouth. 

The very mention of the dessert shrikhand makes me think of my sister (affectionately called Jiji ma by my daughter) who loves to have it anytime. She always created her version of Shrikhand taste by adding yogurt to any payasam. To her if anything was too sweet, by adding some yogurt it mellows it down. The day she tasted Shrikhand she knew it was something she would always enjoy. I made them for her yesterday to thank her for all the support and help with my food event for the Yoga and Meditation Center Retreat last week at La Jolla, Ca.

Gadgets:

Paper Towel (Viva Brand) or Cheese cloth

Bowls

Spoon

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Colander

Ingredients:

Greek Yogurt - 12 oz

Sugar - 3 to 4 tbsp 

Cardamom - 2 pods

Saffron - a few strands

Milk -1 tbsp

Camphor - a tiny pinch

Preparation:

1. Place the yogurt in a cloth or towel and hang it as shown below or drain through the colander.

( I had a lot of fun preparing this. It is kind of hard if you want to hang the yogurt in the paper towel or cloth. Where do you hang it? Not sure that I have a great spot to hang the yogurt bundle I had to get creative. As they say "Necessity is the mother of invention". I used the microwaves door as shown on the right. It worked. I then remembered that I had a colander and tried using that and it turned out to be very effective.)

2. About 1/3 cup water would drain out of the yogurt. Remove the yogurt from the cloth/paper towel and add sugar, powdered cardamom, camphor and mix well.

3. Warm 1 tbsp of milk and add saffron to it. Soak for 10 minutes and then add it to the yogurt. Mix well and transfer into a container and place it in the fridge for it to set.

4. Serve it cold with puri's or as dessert.