Strawberry Shrikhand.

"Strawberry Shrikhand" ... shrikhand is a delicious sweet dish made with strained curds and sugar with some added flavor ... addition of fresh pureed fruits like strawberries, sitaphal, mango takes it completely to another level ... for maximum taste satisfaction serve them chilled with hot puffed poories/ prathas/ roti/ dosa etc. ... Yummilicious ...

** Here is a delicious dish that can be served both as dessert or as a side dish with poori/ parathas and personally I prefer them with poories. The first time I relished it I was somewhere I did not like it much as I was served it as it is like a dessert in a bowl and I found it too sweet for my liking to relish the whole bowl. Then in a matter a few weeks I got to relish it at wedding which was served with poori and found it quite tasty. After that I relished it properly only after my marriage, though in between I did have it a few times that I really cannot recall much of to mention the taste.

** 3 decades back when I settled in Mumbai there were only two shrikhand that I can recall of one kesari and other amrakhand ie mango flavored and I always preferred the mango flavored ones. Initially I always bought from stores and prepared poori at home and we relished it. But later on I got to know that the method was very simple and I learnt it from my Maharashtrian neighbor and after that prepared it quite often. The commercial ones turn very thick in texture while the ones prepared at home usually turn out slightly thinner in texture, nevertheless taste wise it is simply superb.

** But then I always preferred preparing at home as it was much more economical and hygienic as one never really knows what gets added on to the purchased ones and I never prefer much dishes with preservatives too. Then came the fruit flavored ones which I saw in one of the most famous eateries and that was of sitaphal flavor and I came home and tried it and to date I love it the most. After that I have tried with strawberries, jackfruits, mangoes etc. and it all turned out great. I do have a few more in my mind which I will try as and when I get the time or need to prepare this dessert.

** I urge all to prepare this simple shrikhand at home as it is simple, just set curds with full fat milk, strain it on a muslin cloth. The strained water is called whey and can be used in preparing dishes like parathas, poori etc. so do not discard it. The cheese obtained is prepared into shrikand by mixing it with sugar and flavoring the same. If fruit based you should get a very thick cheese and add the fruit pulp too along with sugar. This is my simple method of preparing, however some cook the pulp with sugar to thicken it and then cool it and mix it to the cheese that way a very thick texture is obtained.

** Here is my simple method of preparing "Strawberry Shrikhand" … My Style, that tastes best when served with poori …

** Heat 1 litre full fat milk/ malaiwala doodh, when it comes to a boil lower the heat and cook for 5 minutes while you keep stirring the milk. Remove and keep it aside to get cooled, while in between you keep mixing it, so that the cream does not get formed.

** When the milk is just warm enough add in about 2 tblsp of curds and mix well with a spoon in clockwise direction for about a minute. This trick of setting thick good curds I learned from a very aged old neighbor of mine and trust me you really get good curds.

** The curds will take about 4-5 hours depending upon the weather. Now place a large bowl with a fitting stainless steel sieve on top, place a muslin/ cotton cloth on it and then pour over the curds into it, lift the edges of the cloth and fold it over on the curds.

** Place a plate on top of it and then place a heavy weight over it and keep it aside for about an hour or so. This helps in draining off the water content in the curds properly and you will get a lovely thick cheese which you can use in any dish you desire to prepare.

** Wash and wipe about 10-12 strawberries and remove the stop stem, cut into the small pieces and then put it into a mixer grinder and grind to a very smooth puree without adding in any water. Remove and keep this ready aside.

** Once the cheese is obtained put it into a bowl, add sugar or sugar powder and the strawberry puree and mix well till smoothly blended. Add in a few strawberries pieces finely chopped if desired too, they taste great when eating.

** Note : For 2 heaped cups of cheese I have added in about 1 levelled cup of sugar powder as in my home we prefer it sweeter, you can check out the sweetness and then add in more or less as per your family preferences.

** Once done, pour it into a air tight container and put it in the fridge for about 3-4 hours to get chilled and it is ready. The shelf life in fridge is not much, say about a day only, so if you need more time, put it in the freezer section and remove 30 minutes before serving.

** "Strawberry Shrikhand" is done and ready to be served. Shrikand tastes best served with pooti/ parathas/ roti/ dosa though some people relish it as it is, however, personally I prefer with poori and I think children will definitely love it that way.

Note: The texture becomes a bit thinner than the normal Shrikhand when adding any pulped fruits when you follow the above method however, it does taste equally great while relishing and in my home I do not bother trying to make it thicker textured.

** But then, many prefer to relish thicker texture shrikhand for which you will need thick cheese in the first place. And the fruit puree you are going to add in should be thickened by adding sugar and cooking it for proper consistency and then cooled and added on.

** However, if you follow the method of thickening the puree and then adding to on to the cheese, be careful with addition of sugar, you can totally leave it out too, if you add in the required amount of sugar for the whole shrikand to the puree itself.