Welcome aboard!

Indian cuisine is a riot of colours, flavours, and spices. Every state has its own unique culture- ingrained taste bud. And, to many of us staying within familiar tastes is a sacrosanct act. Of course an occasional trip to a speciality restaurant that serves another fare is ok. But, as a matter of routine ...at home...NO!

One of the benefits of being born to parents who dared an interstate marriage (am talking about India of the 70's) was being able to widen a regional taste bud to accept, experiment and, relish eclectic cuisines :-)

I love food! Be it traditional or fusion, cooking is all about turning out fare that is tasty and healthy.I welcome all lovers of good food to come on aboard and share your kitchen adventures.

If you like what you see, do leave a comment. If you don't, please leave a suggestion to help me make this better.

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Happy cooking!

Dershana

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Shrikand (flavoured hung curd dessert)

My first taste of 'shrikand' was at my aunt's sister's place. The son-in-law of the house was a north indian and an ardent fan of shrikand. Sadly, his wife abhorred it ! As a result, whenever a guest turned up (this time us), he would happily feed them, along with himself, to a generous helping of readymade shrikand picked off supermarket shelves. To be honest, I did not quite like the over sweet, sour taste of the thing. Then recently had it again at a restaurant, the fresh variety this time, and fell head over heels in love! Made it at home yesterday, of course with minor variations to the traditional recipe ;-)
This is my entry to Paajaka's 'Sweet series event - cool desserts'.
Thick curd (plain yoghurt) - 500 g
Demerara sugar (brown sugar) - 2 teaspoons (10 gms)
Cardamom (elaichi) - 4 pods
Saffron - 4-5 strands
Pistachios - 10 Nos
Almonds - 10 Nos
Red pomegranate - 1 large

Place a large pored sieve over a deep vessal. Drape a thin muslin cloth over it. Now pour the yoghurt through this, cover with lid, and leave for 4-5 hours for the water to completely drain out. This is hung curd. Transfer to another container.

Dissolve the saffron in a teaspoon of warm milk.
Powder the cardamom. Crumble half the pistachios and almonds in a mixer. Add these, along with the sugar to the hung curd. Refridgerate for 1/2 an hour. Serve over a bed of pomegranate rubies. Garnish with silvered almonds and pistachios.

Yummy! especially when you know it's dessert that good for you! All those probiotics sans the calories!
The Paajaka 'Sweet series event - cool desserts' is on at http://www.paajaka.com/2008/07/announcing-sweet-series-cool-desserts.html

3 comments:

EC said...

I just love shrikhand, but somehow have never made it in the house...looks good

Usha said...

This looks delicious,good idea serving it with fruit,healthy!

Mythreyee said...

Mouthwatering shrikand. My inbox is not full. send to sweetseries@paajaka.com and copy to mythreyee@paajaka.com. Paajaka has double a.

 
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