Shrikhand

A little something about today’s sweet dish…..

Shrikhand is an Indian dessert made of strained yogurt. It is one of the main desserts in Maharashtrian cuisine. The yogurt is tied and hung until all the water has drained off, the result being a thick and creamy strained yogurt. Cardamom & sugar is added to it.

To make another popular dessert known as amrakhand just add mango pulp or freshly chopped mangoes to the shrikhand & adjust the sweetness & a yummy dessert is ready .Both these desserts can be eaten on their own or can be served with puris. Amrakhand is usually made in the summers in mango season when there are plenty of alphanso mangoes arround.

Ingredients

1/2 kg. curds
250 gms. sugar(as per taste)
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
few strands saffron
1/2 tbsp. pistachio,cashews, almond crushed

Procedure

1. Tie curd in a clean muslin cloth overnight (i used 1 can of biopot natural set yogurt)

2.Once the water is drained take the thick curd (chakka) into a bowl, add sugar and mix.

3. Keep aside for 25-30 minutes to allow sugar to dissolve.

4. Beat well till sugar has fully dissolved into curd.

5. Mix in cardamom powder and dissolved saffron and half nuts.

6. Chill for 1-2 hours before serving.This sweet dish goes well with puris.

Gajaracha halwa

Today's recipe is gajracha halwa!! As soon as you say the word you almost can visualize hindi movie mom's or heroines,telling the hero that they have made their favourite dessert!! But for me the memory which floods to my mind with gajar ka halwa is a very touchy one...
it was when i was in my last term of MBBS my marriage had been fixed !!! I had my results after my engagement but before the marriage my mother in law had come to congratulate me for passing with flying colours with home made Gajaracha halwa & gulabjamun's!!!
Both me & my parents were so touched by the gesture.....Even today whenever i make gajar ka halwa i feel very senti....& unknowingly it brings a tear or two it's sure we have a long distance chat that day!!!!
Now enough of my touchy story here's the recipe for gajar halwa from my mother in law, Hope you enjoy it the way we both have enjoyed.

Ingredients

1 kg carrots grated

1 cup cream or 1 bowl of khoya

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp cardamom powder

3 tsp raisins

15- 20 cashews

4 tsp ghee

Procedure

1. Heat ghee in a nonstick frying pan.
2. Add Grated carrots to the pan. Cover it with a lid & keep stirring in between till the carrots are cooked.
3. Now add cream, and heat for about an hour, stirring, and lowering the heat after the mixture starts boiling.
4. Cook until dry.
5. Add sugar & keep stirring & continue to cook until dry.
6. Add cashews and raisins and cardamoms; let it cool & halwa’s ready to eat

(If adding khava/ khoya once the carrots are cooked add the khoya/khava stir & mix properly cook for 1- 2 minutes add sugar & continue as above)

Ravya chi kheer

I don’t really have a sweet tooth nor is my hubby keen on having sweets & desserts, but once in a while we get an urge for a traditional dessert.

Cakes, pastries, truffles, custards, tarts, paulav & other western sweets and desserts are very delicious(I like them too ; ), but the rich creamy sweetness of kheer, gulabjamuns , rasgullas ,shrikhand is altogether different, all of them bring good sweet memories of home!

Dessert as such is not an Indian concept rather we have sweet dishes! In the sense that sweets aren’t served after the end of a meal – instead they are always part of the Indian meal. (shrikhand puri, halwa puri! Kheer chapatti, puran poli ! !)
Out of the large variety of indian sweets kheer is the simplest of all
And best part of all, is that it uses ingredients that can be found in most of the Indian kitchens at any given time!
Now something about kheer- Kheer is essentially a sweet dish made from a main ingredient like rava /shevaya /rice /carrots/almonds cooked in milk and sugar; it is usually flavored with some cardamom, nutmeg & saffron. Dry fruits like- cashews, almonds, raisins are added to put that extra elegance & richness to the dish. . Best part of it for me is the aroma - warm, sweet& inviting.

I am posting a simple but very tasty , easy to cook, quick to make recipe of kheer - Since rava / suji is so easily cooked, there was no need for soaking, grinding, reducing anything.
This tastes yummy when it is warm as well as cold.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rava/ suji/ cream of wheat

1- 2tsp ghee

1 litre milk

7-8 cashews broken into pieces

7-8pistachios thinly sliced

7 -8 almonds thinly sliced

2 tsp raisins

10- 11 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp Cardamom powder, nutmeg powder

Some saffron strands

Procedure:

• Melt ghee in pan, add rava & fry until it gives aroma (golden brown colour).
• Add milk to the rava & simmer until liquid has been reduced by 3/4 to half.
• Add sugar and cook until dissolved. Add the nuts and simmer for a few minutes. Adjust sweetness as per taste.
• Add Cardamom powder, nutmeg powder
• Remove from heat and garnish with saffron. Serve warm or cold.

Try out this and do let me know.