Shrikhand is a dessert or sweet side dish mostly find in marathi and gujarathi cuisine, made of strained yogurt. Its sweet, creamy with nuts – delicious and soothing (Will be a good prasadam for Lord). There are innumerable varieties and flavors: elachi, pista, badam, kesar, mango pulp, fresh fruits etc. The one with mango pulp is called amrakhand. The procedure remains more or less the same regardless of the flavor.
Ingredients:
- Yogurt – 4-5 cups
- Sugar – 2 cups (adjust to once taste)
- Milk – 1 tablespoon
- Saffron – few strands (generous amount)
- Cardamom powder – a pinch
- Nuts – 2 tablespoons (anyof your choice like almonds, cashew, pistachios etc )
Method:
- Take a clean muslin cloth and take the yogurt in it. Tie a knot and hang it so that all the water falls away from the yogurt. Leave it like this for overnight or for about 12hrs (in refrigerator) . The remaining strained yogurt is called hung yogurt (chakka).
- Dissolve saffron in warm milk and set aside.
- In a bowl mix hung yogurt and sugar, till sugar dissolves. It will become smooth and creamy consistency. Do not over beat it otherwise it will become runny (The key for a good shrikhand is that it should not be flowy).
- Then cardamom powder, chopped nuts and saffron milk and mix well and refrigerate.
It is commonly served as part of a vegetarian thali in Gujarati restaurants. shrikhand is servered as a side-dish with poori.
General guidelines for healthier food – Both body and mind:
- One should be thinking about Perumal (Nama Smaranam) while cooking, and the purpose should be to offer the preparation to Him.
- Once the food is prepared, it should be offered to Perumal first. While offering, one should make sure that the food is neither too hot nor cold. It should be offered with love and affection.
- Please do not offer either pre-cooked food bought from outside or any pre-consumed food.
- Please follow thiruvaradanam kramam as instructed by your respective acharya. (http://anudinam.org/2012/03/08/bhagavad-tiruvaradhanam/)
- Follow ahara niyamam as much as possible. Atleast make sure that onion and garlic are not used at all.(http://anudinam.org/2012/06/11/srivaishnava-ahara-niyamam/)
- Please ensure that food which are not prasadams are not consumed.
