Shrikhand + Poori = Yum Oh!!!

Shrikhand-Poori is a classic Indian delicacy prepared during fasts and festivals. But I have seen that many people buy readymade Shrikhands from supermarkets or restaurants, whereas, it is by far the easiest dish to make in the kitchen- even amateurs can whip up a bowl of shrikhand. Trust me, once you try this homemade Shrikhand, you will forget the readymade stuff. You will just find for an excuse of a fast to make this shrikhand- but you can make it any day and have it anytime.

And ofcourse, what is Shrikhand without hot, crisp, plump pooris on the side!

This is definitely a winner combination on the table and you will lick the shrikhand bowl clean, for sure :)

Serves: 2-3 persons
 

Ingredients:

For the Shrikhand:

Yoghurt/Curd                                      500 gms or 1/2 litre

Powdered Sugar                                  1/2 cup or as required

Salt                                                      half a pinch

Green cardomom or elaichi powder    1 tsp

Saffron strands                                    few for garnish

For the Poori:

Wheat Flour (Atta)                                       1-2 cups

Salt                                                               to taste

Plain water                                                   to knead

Oil                                                                for deep frying

Method:

• To make the shrikhand, you need to make hung curd.

For the hung curd, take a muslin cloth (preferably) or a clean, plain, white handkerchief (keep a separate one only to make hung curd). Put the curd onto this cloth, make like a potli, tie with a string or rubber-band and place it on a strainer with a bowl underneath. In this process, all the whey and water from the curd drains out, leaving a lump of thick curd which is best for Shrikhand and can also be used in marinades.

 

 

• The curd has to be hung atleast for 8-10 hours to get best results. You can also hang and leave it in the fridge overnight.
 
• In the meantime, take a clean, dry grinder and put a cup of sugar along with cardamom seeds and half a pinch of salt into it. Powder the sugar finely till it looks like dust.
 
• After 8 hours, all the whey is drained out from the curd and you are left with hung curd.

 

 

• To this hung curd, add half a cup of powdered sugar and whisk it well until you get a creamy, smooth texture. Add more powdered sugar if required. Whisk well. Garnish with 1 or 2 strands of saffron and keep in the fridge.

Note- I do not like to add saffron while mixing my shrikhand because it changes the colour and make the curd yellow from white. I like my shrikhand to be white, with just a tinge of flavour from 1 strand of saffron I use for garnish. However, if you want "kesari shrikhand" which is also quite popular, add few strands of saffron while mixing the curd and sugar.

 
• To make the poori, knead the dough.

In a bowl, put the wheat flour and salt and mix with your fingertips. Now add water little by little to knead the dough. The dough should not be too soft nor too hard. Keep to rest for atleast half an hour.

 
• Next, make small balls and roll it out like roti, but smaller- just about 3 inches radius. Roll batches of it- 4 or 5 pooris at a time, so you can fry in batches.

• To fry the pooris, heat enough oil in a kadai on high heat and make the oil very hot. Now reduce the flame to medium. Gently drop your pooris one at a time and fry on both sides. The temperature of oil should not go down, else your pooris will not puff up.

• Drain on a kitchen tissue and serve hot with cold shrikhand.

 

Tweaking tips:

• There are lot of different kinds of flavoured shrikhands available in the market. You can make this at home by adding the desired flavour while mixing your hung curd and powdered sugar.

• Some flavour tweaks that you can give are:

Kesari Shrikhand-    add saffron while mixing.

Rose Shrikhand-       add few drops of rose essence and garnish with dry rose petals for a royal look.

Pista Shrikhand-     either add pista essence or pista powder.

Mango Shrikhand-  add chunky mango pulp.

• However, my suggestion will be to stick to the original recipe which I have given above and enjoy this dish with its original flavours and taste.

 

 

 

 

Happy Cookin' & Keep it stylish!!