Indian Desserts- Shrikhand

Indian desserts have always found ready support from a large audience because of the delectable sweetness and extraordinary presence of variety. Shrikhand is a popular yoghurt-based, easy to make dessert. Offered along with meals, its unique taste is often accompanied by a variety of flavors added to make it delicious.

Shrikhand is derived from two words- Shri which refers to Lord Krishna and khand for sugar. It is believed, in his childhood, Lord Krishna used to love home-made butter a lot. The sweetened product of yoghurt was another most admired one by Lord Krishna and his friends.

How is it prepared?

It is a simple procedure which could be followed and incorporated in kitchen meals. Take fresh yoghurt in a muslin cloth. Hang the cloth from a height. The extra water contained in yoghurt should be removed using the cloth. After hanging for at least a couple of hours, you would find it in a solid form. Place the yoghurt in a bowl and add some spices, essence and sugar. For a small bowl of yoghurt, you could add 2 teaspoons of sugar. Add crushed cardamom and saffron to give a unique aroma. You can flavor the yoghurt with essence like vanilla, strawberry, raspberry or chocolate. After mixing the ingredients, the next and basic step involves churning. You could use a hand-held churner or an electronic churner as per preference. Make sure not to leave out any lumps whatsoever. It must appear smooth and soft. You could always garnish Shrikhand with crushed dry fruits like cashew nut, almonds, apricot, raisins and walnuts for extra calorie.

Since it’s always possible that yoghurt kept for a long time out of refrigerator would allow bacteria to sour the content. Thus, it should be kept in cold storage and removed only while serving. Shrikhand could be eaten with cooked rice, roti or as dessert. It has high calories and calcium. It is good for people from all age groups but best for growing children. It is considered best in building bones and muscles.