STONE FRUIT SHRIKHAND
Stone Fruit season is really my absolute favorite fruit season. I love the abundance of peaches, nectarines, apricots and cherries. They are called stone fruit, because they all have the seed aka stone in the middle. There are varieties of each of these fruits. Living in Northern California, we are lucky to have a huge abundance of them around us. We have several farms that are located around us, within a 50 mile radius where we can go and pick them. It is a great activity for young kids and adults alike, and something that I love doing with my family as well!
Growing up Shrikhand and puri was a favorite meal at home. It was a special meal that mom would make for us on a Sunday. She would make different kinds of Shrikhands in different fruit seasons. She would make mango shrikhand in mango season, strawberry shrikhand in strawberry season and so on and so forth.
WHAT IS SHRIKHAND?
Shrikhand is basically hung yogurt, that is sweetened with sugar, and spiced up with cardamom and saffron. The yogurt or curd made in India has a ton of water content, and it needs to be strained out of the excess water. The best way to do this is to put the yogurt/curd in a muslin cloth, twist it, and hang it over the sink(how my mom used to do it), and let the excess water drain out to get a beautiful thick hung yogurt.
Basic Ingredients in Shrikhand are:
– Greek yogurt: We are pretty lucky in that we get Greek yogurt here in the United States, and it is pretty thick to begin with. I do love the Trader Joe’s brand the best, and that is what I usually get for my daily consumption. I still strain the excess water out of the Greek yogurt to get a nice thick consistency.
– Sifted Confectioner’s sugar: In India you get kadhi saakar(or unfiltered sugar chunks), which my mom used to grind in a high speed blender, to get a fine powder, which she would put in the shrikhand. The taste of that shrikhand is pretty unique and absolutely sublime, and beautiful. Here I use confectioner’s sugar, which has to be sifted, else you will get lumps in the shrikhand.
– Freshly ground cardamom and nutmeg: I use freshly ground cardamom in a mortar and pestle, because I love the taste and a tiny bite to the cardamom when I have my shrikhand. This is personal preference but the way I like it the best. Freshly ground nutmeg is not common in shrikhand but something that my mom would do to enhance the taste of the already delicious shrikhand.
– Saffron: Saffron needs to be put in warm milk for its color to bloom, and that color gives, the pretty slight orange hue to the shrikhand, along with its floral, royal taste.
I added stone fruit puree to this shrikhand, because of my love for yogurt and stone fruits! I add tiny pieces to it, just like my mom did with any fruit shrikhand.
My final garnish is with thinly sliced pistachios and almonds. I do not roast these nuts. They are best unsalted and unroasted. I thinly slice them with a pairing knife. It gives that beautiful texture to the shrikhand. I also sprinkle a bit of saffron on the top.
HOW TO STORE THE SHRIKHAND?
You can store the shrikhand in the plate, after it is garnished, wrap in a plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.
You can also make it 2 days in advance(before garnish), store it in an air tight container. Plate it and garnish, just before serving.
If you do make this recipe, please do not forget to tag #thejamlab on Instagram, and/or leave a comment on this blog post! Hope you enjoyed this recipe!
XO
Amisha
Stone Fruit Shrikhand
Ingredients
- 1-pound greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
- 1/4 tsp cardamom seeds
- 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp saffron
- 2 tsp whole milk
- 1 nectarine
- 1 peach
- 1 apricot
- 5 cherries, pitted and halved
- Garnish:
- 20 unroasted, and unsalted pistachios, thinly sliced
- 10 unroasted and unsalted almonds, thinly sliced
- Sprinkle of a pinch of crushed saffron
Instructions
- Prepare a muslin cloth, lining a large strainer, over a deep bowl. Add greek yogurt. Cover the greek yogurt with the cloth and set it aside for about 2 hours. You will see all the excess water from the yogurt being drained into the bowl. Hold the tips of the muslin cloth, and squeeze out any excess water by twisting the cloth. Your strained yogurt is ready.
- If you do not have a muslin cloth, you can use paper towels, to line the strainer and it will work similar to the muslin cloth. I have tried both methods and both work. However you cannot squeeze excess water after the 2 hours. I use a silicone spatula to press on the greek yogurt to squeeze out excess water, that drains into the bowl.
- Stone fruit puree’: Add quarter of a nectarine, quarter of an apricot, quarter of a peach into a high-speed blender, and blend until it forms a puree'. Set it aside.
- Stone fruit pieces: Cut the quarter of the nectarine, apricot, peach, into tiny cubes. Set it aside.
- In a small mortar and pestle add the cardamom seeds, and freshly grind them. You do not want it to be a powder. You want it to be almost finely ground, but yet have a tiny bite to it. The shrikhand tastes good this way. Set it aside.
- In a small microwaveable bowl, add the milk. Microwave for 10 seconds. Add the saffron, and set it aside for the saffron to release its beautiful orange color. Set it aside.
- In a large bowl, add the strained greek yogurt, sifted confectioner's sugar(make sure it is sifted, else you will see lumps of sugar in the yogurt). Add the ground cardamom, freshly ground nutmeg, the saffron milk, stone fruit puree. Mix with a whisk to combine well, until smooth. Put the stone fruit pieces in, and fold them in. Put half of the thinly sliced almonds, and half of the thinly sliced pistachios into the shrikhand, and fold it in.
- Plate the shrikhand into a shallow bowl. Decorate it with the remaining half of the nectarine, peach, apricot, and cherry halves, however you like. I have sliced them into thin slices and fanned them on the shrikhand here for a pretty presentation. Decorate with the thinly sliced almonds and pistachios. Finish off with a sprinkle of saffron. Cover with a sling wrap to make it air tight.
- Chill it in the fridge for atleast couple of hours before serving. It sets and thickens in the fridge.
- Store in the fridge in an air tight container, upto 2 days. You can even make it a couple of days in advance, before serving, and store in an air tight container, and garnish just before serving.
Reader Interactions