Shrikhandश्रीखंड
⏱ Prep 20m🍽 Serves 4🌿 Vegetarian
Video: Hebbars Kitchen (YouTube)
Shrikhand is a beloved Gujarati-Maharashtrian sweet built on chakka — yogurt drained overnight until thick as cream cheese. Saffron steeps in warm milk to give it a golden blush, and green cardamom adds the perfume that makes every spoonful feel festive. In Gujarat, it appears at every puja thali and festive meal; paired with puri, it is the centrepiece of Ganesh Chaturthi and Gudhipadwa spreads across Maharashtra.
📍 Make it in Plano
This recipe is the same everywhere — but where you buy the ingredients and eat the dish is local to you.
Finding Desi spots near Plano…
Ingredients
- ▪Full-fat plain yogurt1 kg (yields ~450g chakka after straining)
- ▪Kesar (saffron strands)1/4 tsp
- ▪Warm milk2 tbsp (for blooming saffron)
- ▪Powdered sugar (icing sugar)3/4 cup, or to taste
- ▪Elaichi (green cardamom pods)8 pods, seeds only, ground fine
- ▪Pista (pistachios)2 tbsp, slivered
- ▪Badam (almonds)1 tbsp, slivered
- ▪Jaifal (nutmeg)a tiny pinch, optional garnish
🌍 Cooking abroad? Substitutions
- Greek yogurt saves straining time: use 500g full-fat Greek yogurt and drain for just 1–2 hours in a cheesecloth-lined strainer — it is already thick enough to reduce the straining step.
- Saffron is worth seeking at an Indian grocery or online — Californian or Spanish threads work well. If you genuinely cannot source it, leave the dish plain white (the cardamom flavour holds the recipe on its own); a turmeric substitute delivers colour but not flavour.
- Powdered sugar is also sold as icing sugar in the UK, Canada, and Australia — it dissolves cleanly into cold chakka. Granulated sugar should be blended to a fine powder first before adding, otherwise the shrikhand will feel grainy.
Method
- 1Strain the yogurt: line a colander with muslin cloth, add the yogurt, tie the ends, and hang over a bowl in the refrigerator for 8–12 hours (overnight works perfectly). You should end up with about 450g of thick, smooth chakka.
- 2Bloom the saffron: add the saffron strands to 2 tbsp warm milk and let steep for 10 minutes until the milk turns deep golden.
- 3Crack open the cardamom pods, discard the husks, and grind the seeds to a fine powder in a mortar and pestle.
- 4Whisk the chilled chakka in a large bowl until completely smooth and lump-free.
- 5Add the saffron milk, powdered sugar, and ground cardamom to the chakka; whisk until evenly combined and the colour is uniform throughout.
- 6Taste and adjust sugar if needed. Fold in half the slivered pistachios and almonds.
- 7Cover and chill the shrikhand in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to firm up and let the saffron colour deepen.
- 8Spoon into small bowls or glasses and garnish with the remaining pistachios, almonds, and a bare pinch of nutmeg before serving.
A Desi.Net original recipe · part of our Indian Cuisine library. Confirm details and adjust to taste.