Shrikhand recipe is a thick creamy dessert prepared using strained yoghurt or hung curd. Some of you may already know how to make traditional Srikhand recipe at home. However, the Shrikhand recipe described in this blog has many special ingredients used to make this Shrikhand recipe a very healthy and digestive one.
Shrikhand is an Indian traditional sweet dish prepared during festivals like Gudi Padwa in regions of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka. Gudi Padwa is a very auspicious day which is celebrated throughout India as a start of the New Year. It's the first day of the Chaitra month according to Hindu Calendar.
Shrikhand is prepared to celebrate the New Year in most of the places of Maharashtra. The Hindu New Year falls around end of March or in beginning of April months which is start of summers. So as you would have guessed, this Shrikhand recipe is perfect to be enjoyed at that time.
Shrikhand can be prepared in many flavours. Flavours of Srikhand varies as per ingredients used in the recipe. Shrikhand comes in flavours like Kesar Shrikhand, Kesar Pista Shrikhand, Badam Shrikhand, Elaichi Shrikhand, Mango Shrikhand and many more.
Mango flavoured shrikhand recipe is know as Amrakhand in Marathi and the basics of making any Shrikhand recipe always remain same. Shrikhand is one of those very easy to prepare recipe which you can easily cook at home.
Base of Shrikhand recipe is always hung curd and sugar to sweeten it (or any sugary pulps). Adding pulps like mango pulp or strawberry pulp makes Shrikhand flavourful.
You can make Shrikhand in any flavour as you prefer. I have a very special Shrikhand recipe here in this blog and the ingredients used in this recipe make this recipe an Ayurvedic Shrikhand.
I call this Shrikhand as Ayurvedic Shrikhand because it has many flavours in it and hence the name Ayurvedic Shrikhand. You can name it as multi-flavoured chilled ayurvedic shrikhand recipe (आयुर्वेदिक थंडगार श्रीखंड) or it also can be called as kesar pista badam elaichi yukta shrikhand recipe too. You must have got an idea by now about which ingredients are used in this recipe. These names suggest most of those.
This Ayurvedic Shrikhand is easy to prepare, digestive and chilled sweet flavoured thick yoghurt. It has many spices like ginger powder, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder and many more dried nuts or dry fruits.
Cardamom has cooling properties, ginger makes this shrikhand easy to digest and nutmeg too makes it digestive. All these spices have their own health benefits which makes this a healthy and flavourful Ayurvedic Shrikhand.
Importantly, one of the very special ingredients used to make shrikhand is rock sugar. I have used raw sugar because Ayurveda has given a lot of importance to Rock Sugar crystals over regular processed sugar.
Ingredients chosen in this recipe to make Ayurvedic Shrikhand makes it a healthy shrikhand to enjoy a chilled dessert in hot summer days.
Rock Sugar comes in big crystals. It is also known with different names like rock candy, sugar candy, Mishri, etc. and we call it as Khadi Sakhar in Marathi.
Rock sugar or candy sugar is very helpful in treating weakened immune system, chronic fatigue and stress and many more health benefits. We can use this rock sugar to make any desserts or to make sharbats at home whenever possible. It is healthier to stay away from normal regular processed sugar.
As I mentioned, this rock sugar comes in crystals which may take time to dissolve in any recipes we use. So, we can get these ground in a mill or we can try grinding in grinder jars (at my home, we generally get these raw sugar ground in mill and use often in recipes).
Desserts prepared using yoghurt or curd (like Shrikhand) taste amazing and they are my all time favourites. Best time to enjoy yoghurt desserts or desserts made using hung curd are summers. However, if we use ginger in any form like raw or dry powdered form, we can enjoy yoghurt desserts in other season too. Because ginger is mostly used as an aid to treat cold and cough caught in rainy season or winters. Note that these views are based on the home remedies suggested by our elderlies which work for some (like me) and which may not work for some others.
If you love chilled dessert recipes prepared using curd or home made ice creams in summers, I am leaving some super easy dessert recipe suggestions for you which are easy to prepare at home.
Easy to make Shrikhand recipe prepared in Ayurvedic way known as Ayurvedic Shrikhand. A multi flavoured chilled thick and creamy yoghurt dessert (Srikhand) and very easy dessert recipe to cook at home.
For this super thick hung curd, add curd to muslin cloth and hang it overnight or at least 5 to 6 hours until all the water has drained from curd.
Don't use sour curd for any srikhand recipe. It ruins taste of shrikhand.
Add hung curd we prepared to large mixing bowl and smoothen it with spoon until well mixed. (You don't need a strainer to strain the hung curd).
This is how rock sugar or candy sugar looks like which you can grind and use in powdered form. Because adding rock sugar takes longer time to dissolve.
This is a powdered sugar prepared from rock sugar crystals. Add it to smoothened hung curd.
Mix powdered sugar well and break if there are any sugar lumps (powdered sugar kept for few days may form lumps in it).
Now add below spices and nuts to make flavoured Shrikhand
Add few saffron strands to warm milk and keep aside for some time. Then crush saffron strands using fingers which gives an amazing aroma to milk. Add this saffron flavoured milk to other ingredients.
Mix all ingredients and you are ready to serve Shrikhand recipe.
Take out Shrikhand in a serving bowl and garnish it with some slices of pistachio, almonds, chironji and some saffron strands too.
Serve this creamy and delicious chilled ayurvedic shrikhand. Also see the notes section below for suggestions to enjoy Shrikhand recipe.
I am leaving some suggestions here to enjoy Shrikhand in an amazing way.