This Gujarati dessert is very easy to make; even my dad can make it. You will need a muslin cheesecloth. Hang the yoghurt 12 hours before you plan to make the shrikhand. It’s a handy dish to make for guests as you can make it in advance. I often prep and decorate a number of little bowls the night before and whip them out when it’s time to serve dessert.
Serves 4
1 litre full fat yoghurt
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tablespoon rosewater
a pinch of saffron
125g icing sugar
a handful of pistachio nuts to garnish
dried rose petals, if you have them
- Line a bowl with a muslin cheesecloth, letting the excess cloth hang over the edge of the bowl. Scrape the yoghurt into the cloth that lines the bowl and knot the edges together – it should look a bit like a bindle. Hang it up – I knot the cloth around the handle of a kitchen cupboard and put the bowl on the work surface underneath to catch the liquid. Leave to hang for 12 hours.
- By now, the yoghurt will have thickened – scrape it into a bowl and add the icing sugar, rosewater and cardamom. Add the pinch of saffron to a teaspoon of boiling water. Leave to sit while you toast the pistachios over a medium heat in a dry teflon frying pan.
- Add the saffron and water to the yoghurt and stir – the shrikhand will turn a pleasing shade of yellow. Divide between four glasses or bowls and garnish with pistachios; I usually bash them up a bit in my pestle and mortar. I sometimes garnish shrikhand with dried rose petals – Morrisons have cheap tubs of them. In an ideal world, serve as part of a trio of desserts with gulab jamuns and halava.
Cake By Deva 