When I was in school, I had a friend from the southern part of India. Her father was in a transferable job and he happened to be in Jodhpur for a few years. We were good friends and we used to have playdates. The family had a maid, who was an old woman and she traveled with them wherever they went. She was from their hometown and she was a super amazing cook. The people in the family, including my friend, lovingly called her “Amma”. My first experience of trying Shrikhand was at my friend’s house and I remember not liking the first look. Then I was told that its yogurt with sugar and I was convinced since I loved my Dahi-chini.
First, bite into that yummy dish and I loved it so much. I was ten years old then and I still came home and told my mom everything I gathered, but unfortunately, the information wasn’t enough for her to recreate that sweet magic.
And, then came in a company selling their flavored shrikhand in the market, and of course, we were the first few buyers in our closest store in the neighborhood. A store-bought product is something that was made weeks or even months ago, contains preservatives, has been refrigerated, thawed, and refrigerated, may taste great, but you know your portion has to be very controlled and you can’t eat it as carefree as it would be with something homemade. The difference between the first Shrikhand I tried at my friend’s house and the store-bought one was the texture of the Yogurt. While the Shrikhand at my friend’s house was a little runny, the store-bought one was thick and creamy.
I, then started experimenting and tried making my own Shrikhand at home, following all the advice of hanging the yogurt for at least 30 minutes, using castor sugar, and grinding cardamoms to a perfect powder. But, nothing would match the taste. There was something that was lacking and I just couldn’t figure that out. With time, my zest to perfect my Shrikhand took a back seat too.
A few years later, after I am settled as a homemaker, I try my hands on it again. This time my experiment had two new ingredients, Vanilla essence, and Rosewater. Now for those of you who love making Shrikhand at home, the rule is to always hang your Yogurt in a muslin cloth so it takes away all the excess water. If you do not have a lot of time in hand, since hanging the yogurt requires anywhere between 45-60 minutes, you can also use Greek Yogurt. Greek Yogurt is thick and 15 minutes in muslin cloth is enough to drain out the excess moisture. Now, you might already be adding rose water, but the addition of Vanilla essence just makes it a whole lot better. Vanilla essence not only enhances the sweetness but also the flavor adds a lot of freshness to this sweet dish.
So, don’t wait to try this awesomely delicious and super easy, no-cook, no-bake sweet dish and impress everyone around you.
| Prep Time | 10 minutes |
| Cook Time | 0 minutes |
| Passive Time | 45 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 2 cups Yogurt You can also use Greek Yogurt if you have less time
- 1/2 cup Castor sugar More if you prefer sweeter
- 1 tsp Vanilla essence
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp rose water
- 1 tbsp Mixed nuts Used for garnishing, optional
- 2 tsp Rose petals Optional
- 1/4 tsp saffron strands Used for garnishing, optional
Ingredients
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- Hang the Yogurt in a muslin cloth for 1 hour, if using a regular Yogurt. If you are using Greek Yogurt, hang it for 15 mins.
- Make sure you scrap all the thick yogurt without any moisture from the muslin cloth.
- Mix in sugar, cardamom powder, vanilla essence and Rose water and whisk it well. refrigerate for 15 minutes. Garnish with nuts, saffron strands and rose petals.