Shrikhand recipe with step by step pics. shrikhand is a traditional Indian sweet made with hung curd and flavored with saffron and cardamom.
It is very popular in western Indian states of maharashtra and Gujarat. In both Maharashtrian and Gujarati weddings, shrikhand is served in the thali meal. You will also see it being served in the thali meals in restaurants.
Shrikhand is made from hung curd which is also known as ‘Chakka‘ in marathi language. Hung curd is curd where all its whey has been drained.
It is very easy to make shrikhand provided you follow the steps of preparing hung curd properly. In the step by step pics below, I have shown the method of preparing hung curd with some pics.
In many Maharashtrian homes, shrikhand is made by blending and sieving the hung curd through puran yantra. A juice strainer can also be used instead of a puran yantra. To make things easy and quick, I have used an electric beater. You can also beat with a wired whisk, but it takes a lot of time and too much of hand work.
Whenever I make shrikhand, it always has to be kesar elaichi or Mango shrikhand. I love both these flavors and have never tried making any other variation. The fragrance of cardamom and saffron in the shrikhand is something you have to taste and experience. The trio of hung curd, saffron and cardamom complement so well in this creamy sweet dessert. If you do not have kesar or saffron, then just add elaichi or green cardamoms. The shrikhand will taste great.
Hung yogurt is like a blank canvas and you can paint it with the flavors you want. For a fruit based shrikhand, just add the puree or the pulp of the fruit after blending the hung curd and then again blend. If you have the hung curd ready, then it just takes about 15 minutes or even less to prepare shrikhand.
This shrikhand recipe is enough for 4 to 5 servings. but if you want to reduce the servings, then just prepare less amount of hung curd. Later add sugar and the flavorings accordingly.
It can be served plain or accompanied with pooris. If pooris are a concern for your health, then accompany them with chapatis.
How to make shrikhand
Preparing hung curd:
1. first line a strainer on a deep bowl. then line a muslin/cheesecloth/kitchen cotton towel on the strainer.
2. pour the fresh curd. I added 4.5 cups of curd (made from 1 litre of full fat milk, about 1.125 kgs). Do use fresh curd and not sour one.
3. bring the four edges of the muslin together and tie one edge tightly around the rest.
4. gently press and you will see the whey dripping.
5. Now place a heavy bowl or lid or tray on the tied muslin. If you have a hook, you can also hung the muslin in your refrigerator. Now keep the whole thing in the fridge for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. I kept for 24 hours. Do use a deep bowl below, so that there is some distance between the curd in the strainer and the collected whey. Otherwise, the whey will touch the strainer as well as the curd. Thus there will be some whey in the curd.
6. next day, the whey has been drained off and here’s the hung curd. Use the collected nutrient rich greenish whey in your everyday Indian food like preparing chapatis, gravies, rice dishes, dals etc.
7. This hung curd or chakka is very creamy and smooth. The texture is similar to like that of cream cheese. From 1.125 kgs, the yield was 425 grams of hung curd. With a silicon spatula, collect the hung curd in a container or lidded bowl if not using it immediately. Cover with its lid and then refrigerate. With the hung curd you can now proceed to make the shrikhand.
Making shrikhand
1. Take ½ tbsp warm milk in a small bowl. Add 2 pinch of saffron strands. Stir and keep aside.
2. In a mortar powder 4 to 5 green cardamoms. Keep aside.
3. Take the chakka or hung curd in a bowl.
4. Add fine sugar. Lightly stir with a spatula or spoon. You can also use powdered sugar.
5. Then add the saffron dissolved milk and powdered saffron.
6. Using an electric beater, begin to whip the hung curd. You can also beat the hung yogurt in a blender.
7. Whip till smooth. The sugar should also dissolve. Check the taste and add more sugar if required.
8. With a silicon spatula scrape the beaters’ sides as well edges to remove the shrikhand and then add it to the bowl.
9. You can chill the shrikhand in fridge and serve later. While serving shrikhand top with some sliced dry fruits or charoli/chironji. You can also top with crushed dry fruits. I added some crushed pistachios for garnish.
Few more sweets recipes
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Shrikhand
By Dassana Amit
Ingredients
for hung curd
- 4.5 cups fresh full fat curd (yogurt) or about 1.125 kg or 1.125 litres curd - made from 1 litre milk
for shrikhand
- 8 to 9 tablespoon sugar or powdered sugar - add as per taste
- ½ teaspoon cardamom powder or 4 to 5 green cardamoms - crushed finely in a mortar-pestle
- 2 pinch saffron strands
- ½ tablespoon warm milk
- 7 to 8 crushed or chopped pistachios for garnish. you can use any dry fruit of your choice
Instructions
making hung curd
- First line the strainer on a deep bowl. Then line a muslin cheesecloth or kitchen cotton towel on the strainer.
- Pour the fresh curd. I added 4.5 cups of curd (made from 1 litre of full fat milk, about 1.125 kgs). Do use fresh curd and not sour one.
- Bring the four edges of the muslin together and tie one edge tightly around the rest.
- Gently press and you will see the whey dripping.
- Now place a heavy bowl or lid or tray on the tied muslin. If you have a hook, you can also hung the muslin in your refrigerator. Now keep the whole thing in the fridge for 4 to 5 hours or overnight. I kept for 24 hours. Do use a deep bowl below, so that there is some distance between the curd in the strainer and the collected whey. Otherwise the whey will touch the strainer as well as the curd. Thus there will be some whey in the curd.
- Next day the whey will be drained and the hung curd will be ready. Use the collected nutrient rich greenish whey in your everyday food like preparing chapatis, gravies, rice dishes, dals etc.
- With a silicon spatula, collect the hung curd in a container or lidded bowl if not using it. Cover with its lid and then refrigerate. With the hung curd you can now proceed to make the shrikhand.
making shrikhand
- Take 1/2 tbsp warm milk in a small bowl. Add 2 pinch of saffron strands. Stir and keep aside.
- In a mortar powder 4 to 5 green cardamoms. Keep aside.
- Take the chakka or hung curd in a bowl.
- Add fine sugar. Lightly stir with a spatula or spoon. You can also use powdered sugar.
- Then add the saffron dissolved milk and powdered saffron.
- Using an electric beater, begin to whip the hung curd. You can also beat the hung yogurt in a blender.
- Whip till smooth. The sugar should also dissolve. Check the taste and add more sugar if required.
- With a silicon spatula scrape the beaters' sides and edges of the hung curd and add to the bowl.
- You can chill the shrikhand in fridge and later serve. While serving shrikhand, top with some sliced dry fruits. You can also top shrikhand with crushed dry fruits. I added some crushed pistachios for garnish.
Nutrition Info Approximate values
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5 stars to the recipe..!! My husband and kids fell in love with shrikhand..????
Keeping the yogurt hung in muslin cloth in fridge for 24 hours works best.
Thank you so much!!
thanks pallavi for this lovely feedback and the rating as well. glad to know. welcome and happy cooking.
For how days can Shrikhand be preserved ?
stays good for a week in the fridge.
I made this recipe substituting honey for sugar- result delicious.
yes of course, honey can be substituted for sugar and it works very well in a shrikhand recipe. thanks for sharing.
How many grams Shrikhand can be made from 4 liter milk?
you will get about 1.6 to 1.7 kg shrikhand
Thank you for all your wonderful reciepes dassana amit. Every dish in your website is a pleasure to try because you have shown the method with pictures and very clear reciepe steps.
I love Shrikhand. Reminds me of my years in Gujarat. The reciepe came out fab.
Welcome Sandy. Glad to know that you like the recipes and their step by step presentation. Thanks for your positive feedback.
i like the way you try each recipes in your kitchen and then post it . also telling us what went wrong while making it. it is very helpful. tried most of your recipes and they have turned out good. thank you. you are doing a good job.
thanks a lot lavanya. glad to know that you liking the posts.
Thanks a lot!!
I made this recipe, and it turned out to be a super yummy.
with what can we replace hung curd if we have too short delay to prepare it?
ruth, no idea. hung curd is essential.
Hi Ruth,
I tried the shrikhand, i used sour cream instead of yogurt it came out really well and it’s very quick. It takes less than 5 mins to make.
Thank you so much for the recipe. It turned out great.
welcome always beena 🙂 and thankyou.
I strained the yogurt for 24 hours and it became very thick. I added sugar to it. But the moment I started beating it, it turned into liquid. Now the whole mixture is thinner than buttermilk. What should I do?
Thanks in advance.
the mixture has got whipped too much. since you mention that the mixture has become thinner like buttermilk, looks like the hung curd has curdled and whey has been released. this also can imply that the curd must be on the verge of getting spoiled. otherwise it should not turn into a consistency thinner than buttermilk. if you can see the whey in the mixture, then beat more, so that you get butter. this butter will be sweet as sugar is added. remove the butter and store in the fridge.
Can I use a mixer instead of blender
pooja, you can use a mixer but makes a coarse mixture. don’t make it very smooth.
Can Jaggery be used instead of sugar?
vivek, you have to try. i can’t say.
Thanks Dassana Amit. I am going to try this today since my son in laws(Jawai) are coming on Sunday for Adhik Mahina Van and Bhojan( Traditional Maharashtriyan ritual for Adhik Mahina). I will post my comments after I try out the recipes.
welcome shripad ji. will wait for your feedback.
Looks yummilicious:))) Wil try it tomorrow. Thank u for all ur recipes they are too gud
welcome navya
Love the way u describe and picture the recipe.. It looks like as if I am virtually making it myself.. Looks delicious thanks for sharing
welcome farha. thanks for sharing your motivating feedback.
this recipe was damn good.
thanks bharti.
Hi Dassana, it turned great. Thank u so much. God bless you. One question can v replace hung curd with any kind of cheese or paneer. And by the way why don’t you participate in the Master Chef, would be awesome to see you working at least on TV.. And ofcourse win it
thanks swetha for your feedback and kind wishes. most of these contests are rigged. meaning the winner is already decided. i know since i have a few friends working for tv channels. hung curd can be used a substitute for cheese as well as paneer in some recipes as a stuffing in sandwiches, rolls or as one of the ingredients in cutlets, tikkis. but cannot be substituted for cheese in a pizza or in baked pasta dish.
Well the cheese we get at my place ( I stay in Finland) is called Rae Juusto ( when translated its showing cottage cheese) but it tastes completely lik hung yogurt rather than paneer. My toddler loves it hence I asked if I could replace it with that as hung curd is a big process.
okay 🙂 you can try replacing if the taste is similar to hung curd.
Which is a good brand for a hand beater.. Can u recommend one for me.. I am a big fan of yours and keep watching ur blog everyday almost!!! Keep the great work going..
Cheers
Saranya
thanks saranya. i am using philips and its good. mostly i use it to whip cream for cakes and desserts.
Appreciate your efforts and i really like your recipe ..
Thank you for the delicious recipes.
YES! A genuine thank you!
welcome shamit
My parents use two more steps to get amazing shrikhand on Gudi Padwa. We add sugar to Chakka and keep it overnight again. The next morning, my father sits down with a muslin cloth tied tight on a Patela and with his hand mushes and filters the sugared chakka to make it super smooth and creamy.
Try it when you have a chance. 🙂
thanks princess for sharing this tips which your family follows. i will give it a try.
Is the saffron necessary?? Too expensive:)
not necessary. you can skip. just add cardamom powder.
Can you share the recipes which are taught in Masterchef India Season 4 extra class ?
shefali, i have not seen extra class episodes.