Shrikhand

Shrikhand is a sweet, tangy milk confection made by draining fermented milk and kneading it with sugar and aromatics. It is popular in Gujarat and Maharashtra in western India, and is served both as a chilled dessert and as one dish in a festive meal. Versions made with cardamom, saffron and nuts are well known, but its rich texture comes from draining fermented milk, not from whipping cream.

Fermenting the milk, then draining off the liquid

Its base ingredient, dahi, is milk that has undergone lactic acid fermentation. The milk is heated, cooled to a suitable temperature, and then set with a starter culture. During this process, acid produced from the sugar in the milk causes the milk proteins to form a soft curd structure. It resembles chhena in that the milk is coagulated, but the process differs from that of chhena, in which acid is added directly to hot milk.

The set dahi is transferred to a fine-meshed cloth and hung up, or otherwise drained, so that the whey runs off. The thick mass of milk left in the cloth is chakka. Draining gives it a firmness that holds on a spoon, and kneading sugar into the chakka produces smooth shrikhand. It is made in three stages: fermentation creates the tang and the structure, draining adjusts the thickness, and finally sweetness and aroma are added.

Once sugar has been added to the chakka, the mixture is kneaded until uniform. Working it so that no lumps remain brings the tang of the fermented milk and the sweetness of the sugar together in each mouthful. Because its basis is a dense structure of milk proteins, its texture differs from that of mousse, which holds its shape with gelatin, and from basundi, which is made by simmering milk for a long time to drive off its moisture.

An old name, and today’s fermented-milk sweet

A milk dish called sikharini appears in the 11th-century Kannada text Lokopakara. Compiled by Chavundaraya around 1025, the work is a practical handbook covering cooking, agriculture, perfumery and other subjects. Its preparation is also included in the English translation by Valmiki Sreenivasa Ayangarya, published in 2006.

In this preparation, curdled milk is combined with cinnamon, dried ginger, black pepper, rock salt, sugarcane jaggery, nutmeg and other ingredients. Myrobalan fruit, lac resin of insect origin, honey and sugarcane juice are also used, and the milk is fumigated so that smoke transfers aroma to it. Finally, edible camphor is added. Rather than ending with simply mixing in powdered ingredients, it layers on aromatization with smoke, which is a major difference from today’s typical shrikhand. It was a dish that combined sweetness and the tang of milk with salt, pungency and multiple aromas.

The sikharini preparation in this English translation does not explicitly mention draining the chakka, which is central to today’s method. The two share the use of sweet milk, but they differ in the combination of aromatics and in how they are finished. In today’s shrikhand, the central steps are adjusting the thickness and smoothness of the drained fermented milk and combining it with flavorings such as saffron, cardamom and fruit pulp.

Different characters with spices, fruit and rose

Saffron gives the white milk a pale yellow tint, and cardamom adds aroma. Almonds and pistachios are sometimes scattered in small pieces, bringing a nutty crunch into the evenly kneaded milk. Versions mixed with fruit pulp have also developed, and one made with mango is known as amrakhand.

Among rose-flavored versions, some are mixed with gulkand, a preserve made by layering petals and sugar. In an example using rose syrup published by a cook, the result is smooth and pale pink. Even within the same chilled milk sweet, distinct characters emerge: the pale yellow of saffron, the pulp of mango, and the fragrance of rose.

Because the moisture of the fruit pulp is added to the thick drained milk, in fruit versions both the condition of the chakka and the amount of pulp affect the result. Some put the color and sweetness of mango to the fore, while others keep the tang and let the flavor of the milk dominate. The breadth of this sweet lies in using the same fermented-milk base while varying the spices and fruit.

A sweet milk confection becomes a dish in the meal

In Gujarat and Maharashtra, shrikhand is served with puri. Puri are small breads puffed up in oil. This way of eating pairs the texture of warm bread with the cold, smooth milk sweet, so that the sweet is enjoyed with the meal rather than only as a separate dish after it. It also appears as one item in a thali, which holds a variety of dishes.

It is also associated with festive tables, such as Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian New Year. Production has expanded from a dish made in each household to products manufactured by dairies and sold refrigerated. In today’s dairy industry, instead of hanging the curd in cloth for long periods, methods such as removing the water with a separator or kneading it evenly by machine are also used.

Glossary