Make Shrikhand: Easy Maharashtrian Sweet Dish

Make Shrikhand… the easy and crowd-pleasing Maharashtrian sweet dish. Scoop up some of this creamy, lip-smacking treat with hot, fluffy Puris (Poo-ree-s)…. close your eyes and focus on the instant sense of “Yumm”!

Particularly loved in the western Indian states of Maharashtra and Gujarat, folks typically make Shrikhand (Shree-Khund, rhyme with ‘bund‘ in bundle) on special occasions… weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, festivals… Or, maybe just “Cuz!”… Why does there have to be a particular reason to make something delicious?!

I learned this “Cuz!” idea from a 5-year old kid many years ago… It was his simple response to “Why did you do this?” … “Just Cuz!”, he said, with an eloquently expressive shrug! Brilliant!

My father-in-law was especially fond of this dessert, and insisted that we make it whenever we invited anyone over. If we wanted to have some other dessert for a change, then we simply made TWO desserts – Shrikhand and… whatever else! I thought of posting this recipe to mark his special day… He would have been 103 this year, and even just thinking about Shrikhand brings up so many happy memories.

Shrikhand: strained yogurt and sugar – with complex and exotic flavor!

Shrikhand is a very simple dish, actually: in essence, it’s really just strained yogurt and sugar, beaten and whipped till it is glossy smooth and fluffy.

But wait… Yogurt is white…. So, how come Shrikhand is golden? Oh… That’s from the delicate threads of Saffron….. You know, that most expensive and exotic of spices…. And what is that incredible flavor and aroma from? Saffron again, mixed with freshly ground green cardamom and nutmeg, swirled into this deliciously sweet and tangy yogurt-sugar concoction.

To help the saffron release its color and flavor more easily, soak the fine Saffron threads in bit of warm milk. The milk quickly takes on a deep golden hue. When it’s time to add the saffron, you simply add the whole thing, milk and all, to the Shrikhand. I always love to watch, mesmerized, as the color swirls through and the Shrikhand takes on a whole new persona!

Do you see now why folks make Shrikhand on special occasions? While green cardamom and nutmeg are quite commonly used in a host of Indian desserts, I’m sure you can understand why folks really save their prized stash of Saffron for their special occasion treats.

Strained Yogurt: Drain the whey for several hours

To make Shrikhand, one needs strained yogurt: Ohh… “Greek Yogurt”, some of you might be thinking… Not quite! Although thicker than traditional yogurt, Greek Yogurt is still pretty wet… To make Shrikhand, you need the texture to be more dry…. with a texture similar to cream cheese.

How to do this? Line a colander with a fine muslin kitchen towel. Now place the colander over a pot: make sure there is some space between the bottom of the colander and the base of the pot. Why? The whey that drains from the yogurt will collect in the pot. Spoon the yogurt over the muslin. Collect the corners of the towel and tie with a sturdy rubber band. Leave this bundle in the colander: the whey drains into the pot, leaving the yogurt solids in the muslin bundle.

How long does this take? Several hours… In the beginning, the whey drains pretty fast… a steady stream, actually. Later, though, as the liquid makes its way through the increasingly thick layer of yogurt solids, the drip slows down and ultimately stops. My Mom used to tie the bundle at night, and by morning, it was typically done.

At this point, the smell of the slightly sour yogurt percolates through the whole house… and everyone begins to wait impatiently for the Shrikhand to be ready to attack!

Collect the strained yogurt

I would watch my Mom untie the bundle carefully and gently pat the towel from outside to collect the creamy solid to the center. In Marathi, we call it “Chakka” (Chuck-kaa). When she flattened out the towel, you could see tiny bits of Chakka everywhere, caught in the folds of the tied bundle. Then I waited for her to wield some magic…

She would lift the part of the towel with the little piece of Chakka stuck to it, fold it over the rest of the Chakka and pat it gently from outside. When she peeled the towel back, you could see that the little bitty piece was gone! It got “picked up”, cleanly, by the big guy in the center of the towel. She then did the same all over the towel, until all the little bits had been tracked down and collected.

The she would carefully invert the towel over a large bowl, and press down gently to let the Chakka drop cleanly into the bowl. If she found some small bits still stuck on the towel, she repeated her magic trick to collect these bits.

Ready-Made Chakka

You can also opt to skip this whole process and just buy pre-made Chakka, which is widely available in Maharashtra and Gujarat. I do want to mention that store-bought Chakka can sometimes be particularly sour – especially during the summer months. This may need a lot more sugar to balance it out.

Of course, if it’s not even available where you live, though, you don’t really have a choice, do you? Personally, I prefer to make my own Chakka, with home-made yogurt. Sure, it’s a lot of work, but I don’t mind… I don’t make this dish every day, after all! And yes, I do enjoy the opportunity to wield my own magic with the Chakka, just like Mom did, tracking down every last teensy bit!

Super-Fast Chakka from Greek Yogurt

In recent years, Greek Yogurt has become immensely popular, and most grocery stores in the US carry it as a standard item in their dairy section. Since it is, after all, strained yogurt, I decided to try making Shrikhand with it.

As I mentioned earlier, its texture is still pretty wet. To have the Chakka consistency, it needs to be strained some more. To do this, I applied some of the tricks I had learned from Paneer-making. My simple method is super-fast… the Chakka is ready in about an hour or so!

How do I do this? Very easy actually… I “sandwich” the Greek Yogurt between two thick absorbent bath towels, and place a heavy pot on top. I also fill the pot with water to make it even heavier, which helps push the whey out very fast. The towels start getting wet pretty quickly as the whey seeps into them…. and the Greek Yogurt turns into Chakka!

So nowadays, I can make a small batch of Shrikhand pretty quickly, without any advance planning… Yeah, I know, it’s pretty much like buying ready-made Chakka.. !

Chakka-making – Modified!

I still do make Chakka from home-made yogurt whenever I have the time. Of course, I have to plan ahead: I need a lot of yogurt to get just a small amount of Chakka. That means I have to boil a big pot of milk the day before, culture it and let the yogurt set.

You could, of course, buy ready-made yogurt. My personal recommendation: skip the non-fat and low-fat versions, and use the whole milk variety. Your Shrikhand will definitely taste better.

But afterwards, here’s what I do differently nowadays… Instead of letting the muslin-bundle sit in the colander overnight, I use a combination method, which gives me Chakka in just a couple of hours!

How? I keep the muslin bundle (with the yogurt) in the colander for just about an hour or so. Most of the whey actually drains away during this time and it becomes pretty much like Greek Yogurt. At this point, I use my “double towel sandwich” method… and… Voila…! The Chakka is ready in just another hour!

Room Temperature Yogurt: Whey drains faster

A simple tip that will help you make Chakka fast: bring the yogurt to room temperature before you strain it. Why? As a scientist, I can tell you with full confidence that the whey will drain much faster from warm yogurt than from cold, just-out-of-the-refrigerator yogurt.

If you’re in a hurry, I suggest putting your yogurt container in a big bowl of warm water. If your yogurt is in a glass/plastic container, first transfer the yogurt to a stainless steel container, then place it in warm water. Why? The stainless steel container, being a better heat conductor than glass/plastic, will quickly transfer the heat from the water to the cold yogurt. If you have a lot of yogurt, split it into 2 containers to warm it up faster.

When I make yogurt at home, the freshly made yogurt is already a little warm – perfect temperature for straining! I assemble the muslin-in-colander strainer, and spoon the freshly made, warm yogurt into the muslin… Easy-peasy!

What to do with the whey?

What to do with the whey that collects in the pot under the colander? It’s quite rich in various nutrients, and flavorful too, so of course I don’t like to toss it out!

I use it in a variety of ways…. It’s great for adding to soups that have a tangy-spicy base…tomato soup, Minestrone soup, Indian-style Kadhi (soup made with yogurt), etc. It’s great in bread dough too: the whey adds a lovely flavor and produces a beautifully golden crust when baked… I also use it for various types of fermented batters – for Idli, Dosa, Dhokla, etc. Sometimes, I even use it for cooking rice… its mildly tangy flavor is great for a Pulao/Biryani.

So… just use your imagination and creativity… and go with your instincts!

Shrikhand : Must grind the sugar before mixing with Chakka

You MUST powder the sugar before mixing with the Chakka. Why? The Chakka has very little moisture and if the sugar is not powdered, it will not dissolve easily, and your Shrikhand will be crunchy! Not quite the texture you want, now, is it?

That said, I must point out that the “powdered sugar” I’m talking about is NOT confectioner’s sugar (also called icing sugar). This is OK when you make frostings/icings for cakes, cookies, etc. However, confectioner’s sugar typically contains small amounts of anti-caking agents, like cornstarch: these will simply ruin your Shrikhand…. I kid you not!

So…. Measure the sugar as described in the recipe, granulated or crystalline, then powder/grind it in your blender or dry spice/coffee grinder. Its volume increases quite a bit when you grind it, and It will look like a slightly coarse white powder after grinding. Its texture will definitely not be as fine as confectioner’s sugar… but no worries, it works just fine.

Add the ground-up sugar with the Chakka and mix with a sturdy spoon. I like using wooden spoons to do this – I still have a few “bent-out-of-shape” spoons in my cutlery drawer to remind me why!

Blend Chakka-sugar mixture: Food Processor, Hand/Stand Mixer…

To blend this Chakka-Sugar mixture to a silky smooth texture, my gizmo of choice is a food processor. A few short pulses, followed by continuous processing until the mixture becomes super smooth, glossy and fluffy.

Then add the saffron-infused-milk, freshly ground cardamom seed and freshly grated nutmeg. Give it another quick whirl to mix it all in and it’s done. Transfer it to your pretty serving bowl and refrigerate until it’s time to serve.

What if you don’t have a food processor? A hand-held electric beater/mixer or stand mixer works really well too. After all, the process is somewhat similar to making a smooth and fluffy cream cheese frosting for cakes and cookies. The mixture is quite stiff at first, but as the sugar starts to dissolve, it becomes a bit looser and easier to beat and whip into a fluffy texture.

However, I really do not recommend attempting to do this in a blender. In general, blenders work well when you’re trying to make soups/sauces – i.e., when there is sufficient liquid in the mixture being blended. This Chakka-Sugar mixture is way too stiff and “dry” for most blenders to handle, and might even damage your blender. And if you add a bit of liquid to make it work, you will likely end up with soupy Shrikhand! Not good at all!

Manual Food Mill …. Old-school Shrikhand

So… What did folks do in the old days before we had all these fancy gizmos like electric food processors and mixers? They used manual food mills – hand cranked devices that crushed the food and pushed it through the holes of perforated plates on the bottom. Yeah…. a serious arm workout, for sure!

I have many childhood memories of pitching in, along with my brothers, to crank the handle of our food mill…. Mom asked us to help when she made a large batch of Shrikhand for a family gathering. The Shrikhandaachey Yantra (Yun-truh – Marathi word for device/tool) worked like a charm… I loved watching the chunky, grainy Chakka-Sugar mixture we added at the top come out on the bottom as the glossy and silky smooth Shrikhand! What a transformation!

Other Indian desserts : Kheer.. Barfi.. Laadoo.. Shira (Halva)

Do you have a sweet tooth and enjoy Indian desserts? Check out some of these other sweet treats I’ve posted. All are pretty easy to make and will surely trigger the “Yumm” response in your brain!

• Shevayachi Kheer; calling it “Vermicelli pudding” really doesn’t quite do it justice, in my opinion!
• Dudhi Kheer: with Dudhi (Lauki), Rice and Milk, cooked together to creamy perfection
• Almond Barfi: A fudge-textured treat…. portion control might be a serious problem!
• Alivaachey Ladoo: Sweet and soft “balls” made from Cress seeds, Fresh Coconut and Jaggery
• Dinkaachey Ladoo: Sweet, nutty and slightly crunchy… made with edible Gum Arabic
• Mung Dal Shira: Mung Dal turned into a delectable dessert

Special Diets

This Shrikhand recipe is vegetarian, gluten-free and soy-free. It can easily be made nut-free by omitting the optional nuts suggested in the recipe. Perhaps you might use lightly toasted pumpkin seeds or the more delicately flavored melon seeds instead.

Since its primary ingredient is yogurt, though, it is not vegan/dairy free. I have not yet attempted to make Shrikhand with a non-dairy yogurt, but am thinking about it. If I’m successful in my efforts, of course I will post it.

So… Are you ready to make some delicious Shrikhand for that special occasion coming up soon? Sure, go ahead and make it the day before…. The saffron and the cardamom and the nutmeg will then have plenty of time to steep … and your special dish will be perfect when you share it with your family and friends.

Do leave a review and star rating… many thanks!

Enjoy!