Straw- and blue- Berries shrikand ( Berries shrikand)

Shrikhand is traditionally made of hung curd/yogurt . It is often the sweet dish found in Maharashtrian and Gujarati thali’s and not only is it a sweet component, but a very healthy one too. My mom use to hung the yogurt in a muslin cloth on a wall so that it becomes nice and thick .she used make plain shrikand by just adding sugar and cardamon pd to it. Shrinkand has been a traditional sweet dish at home and my mom used to make it often. Shrikhand is often served flavored with saffron, and at times fruit flavored variations of shrikhand are also enjoyed. The most popular flavor being mango when its season. It’s called amarkhand. I have flavored my shrikhand with 2 berries- strawberry and blueberry , which gave it a mild purple color.

Ingredients:

1 cup yogurt
4 nos strawberries
10 nos Blueberries
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp confectioners sugar(as needed)
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
1 tbsp sliced pistachios for garnish

Method:

Place the yogurt on a tea sieve or on a cheese cloth and drain it over a bowl, overnight. If using the tea sieve place a layer of plastic wrap over the yogurt to prevent it from drying out. Also if the weather is too hot keep them in refrigerator as yogurt may turn sour. The drained yogurt is also called ” chakka”
When ready to make the shrikhand, wash and slice the strawberries. Sprinkle the strawberries and blue berries with 1 tbsp of granulated sugar. Set aside to macerate for about 15 minutes.
At the end of 15 minutes, the strawberries and blueberries would have lent all their juice. Drain the juice and puree the berries.
Fold the pureed berries with the strained yogurt along with the cardamom powder. Sweeten with confectioners sugar as needed, it depends on how sweet your berries are.
Pour into serving glasses/cups and let sit in the fridge to set. Again line the tops with plastic wrap. When ready to serve, sprinkle with pistachios and garnish with strawberries. Enjoy!