Shrikhand

Shrikhand is a traditional Indian sweet made using hung yogurt or yogurt cheese. It is originally from Gujarathi and Marathi (Western Indian) cuisine but its equally popular in other states as well. There are several variations or flavours available these days and the one I made is traditional. Shrikhand is also eaten as a side dish with rotis and puris similar to shrikarani, but is actually thicker than the latter.In fact the mango version in Maharashtra is called Amrakhand. Shrikhand is also called matho in some places as well.

Ingredients:
Hung yogurt : 1.5 cup almost

Powdered Sugar: 2 tbsp + as per taste

Warm Milk: 1 tbsp
Saffron: Few strands almost 1/4 tsp

Cardamom: powdered: 1/4 tsp + as per your taste
Nutmeg: a pinch

Garnish:
Saffron strands: few (optional)
Pistachios or Other nuts: chopped : 1-2 tbsp

Preparation:

I had hung homemade yogurt to obtain the hung yogurt or yogurt cheese or 'chakka'  as it is also known. I had not measured/weighed the yogurt but the chakka came to around 1.5 cups which I had entirely used for the dessert.

Mix together warm milk and saffron and you can see a yellowy milk forming. Keep aside.Rather you can heat the saffron strands in a spoon by holding it above the gas flame and then mixing with milk.

Mix together powdered sugar and hung yogurt.Do this with a spoon or a whisk. Add sugar little by little and whisk in completely before adding more. You can actually do this process by rubbing the yogurt and sugar through the cheese cloth so that the sweetened yogurt falls through the cheese cloth smoothly without lumps. A bit time consuming, but worth the dessert that we will be having.Else you can go whisk whisk whisk ... till you get a smooth sweet yogurt.

To this whisk in the saffron milk mixture and the powdered cardamom and pinch nutmeg to obtain a smooth creamy yellow dessert/side.

Serve chilled garnished with chopped pistachios and saffron strands.

Simple and sweet and cooling.A perfect dessert in summer. 

Faraali Handvo

Handvo is a Gujarathi dish usually made of different lentils and rice/riceflour along with bottlegourd/lauki and other optional veggies like carrots,cabbage etc.I was more used to dhokla and was pleasantly surprised to know about Handvo which is a savoury baked cake. Unlike the dhokla which is steamed,handvo is baked in a hot oven. Though the  original/traditional preparation takes around 2 days including the soaking and fermenting time,instant mixes and also handvo flour are available. But I found an Farali handvo recipe in an old issue of UpperCrust Gourmet magazine where it is made using buckwheat flour -kuttu ka atta as it is known here and is done under 3 hours!.

Farali recipes are fasting recipes or dishes/snacks consumed during fasting time which usually falls in the month of Shravan or Shraavana.I have heard that in Mumbai and few Northern cities the eateries stock up on the fasting snacks.While fasting few ingredients are to be avoided and traditionally you have to follow certain rituals.You can get an idea of fasting recipes from here.

I hve just jotted down the recipe in UpperCrust and it is supposed to be a part of Farali Thali by a Gujarathi Restaurant (Swathi Snacks?! not sure of the name).I am not sure of the name of the restaurant and have just followed the recipe I have written down.

Ingredients:
Buckwheat Flour :3/4 cup
Sour Curd: 1/2 cup
Water :as needed (optional)
Bottle Gourd (Lauki): grated 1/2 cup
Salt: as per Taste
Ginger Chili Paste: 1 tsp +/-

Eno Salt: 1/2 tsp


Seasoning:
Veg oil: 2 tsp +/-
Cumin seeds:
Sesame seeds :preferably white though I used mixed.

Preparation:

Combine flour,salt,ginger -green chilli paste,grated lauki together with sour curd together.The batter should be thick but pourable.If too thick you can add little water in tbsps to make it pourable.Lauki/gourd gives off water when mixed with salt.So do not add too much water.I did not add any water at all.

Let it sit for 2 hours for the flavours to blend and the batter to ferment.

After 2 hours,add Eno Fruit Salt and pour into an 8" square baking dish.Before doing this,do the taste test and adjust the salt and the spiciness.Prepare the seasoning by heating oil and adding cumin and sesame.When the seeds splutter and flavours the oil,pour it over the batter in the dish.Make sure you pour the seasoning evenly unlike me!

Bake at 180C for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.Mine was done in 25 minutes though the recipe suggested 45.Keep an eye on it after 20 minutes.You can see the dish pulling out from the sides/edges of the baking dish and the crust getting brownish.

Cut into squares and serve warm with coriander chutney or any other choice of accompaniments.

The dish tasted spicy and is perfect as an evening snack.It is very  filling as well and you can also add different coloured veggies to it.I had just followed the recipe as written and had added just gourd.Handvo is not that spongy when compared to the dhokla.Or it could be because this one is made with buckwheat.Do check up the few from-scratch recipes of handvo of Tarla Dalal here and also Meera's handvo made with flour.If you have any more information or ideas about handvo please do share here.

Sugar Cookies?Nah.. Baked ShakkarPara

Shakkarpara/Shakarpara/Shakkerpare/ ShankarPali as it is also known are deep fried sugary flour crisps.The basic ingredients are wheat flour,semolina,milk and ghee.In some versions,I have seen all purpose flour or a mix of both flours as well.There are several versions,some which add 1/2 to 1 cup of ghee or some which use milk and ghee to make the dough.Normally the dough is rolled out into diskettes and cut into diamond shapes and then deep fried in hot oil.The sweet is popular during Diwali and Navrathri and Holi too.

I found a recipe here which had less ghee and also referenced /adapted Sanjeev Kapoors Recipe (which was as excellent except for 1/2 cup ghee for 1 cup of flour!) here to make my baked shakarpara.

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour: 10 tbsp
Baking Powder: 1/4 tsp
Salt: a pinch

WetMix:
Milk: 2 tbsp
Ghee: 1 tbsp
Sugar: 2 tbsp+ (I used 2.5)

Preparation:

In a big bowl,mix together the dry items of flour,salt and baking powder.Optionally to add in cardamom powder,crushed fennel or whatever you like.I did not add anything not even cardamom.

In a small saucepan,heat together,ghee,milk and sugar.Stir well and bring to a boil till the sugar dissolves and then take off heat and let it cool completely.

Add the cooled wet mix to the dry mix and knead well to form a firm dough.I got a soft,pliable,smooth dough.If you feel the dough is sticky add more flour and then knead again.It looks like..

Rest the dough for atleast 15 minutes and then roll it out into a thin disk/circle.The thinness of the circle decides the crispness of the shakarpara.If you like you can divide the dough into two and roll out each portion into a thin disk.

Transfer the disk to a greased/lined baking sheet.Cut the disk into diamond shaped pieces as is traditional or use any choice of cookie cutter.I did not cut through the dough just made markings.It looks like...

Bake in a preheated oven at 200C/400F for 15-20 minutes or till the edges start brown.You can bake it an additional 1-2 minutes for making it extra crisp but make sure it does not burn. Else let it rest for a few minutes on the baking sheet itself where it can get more crispy.

Fresh out of the oven it looks like......

Carefully separate the diamonds er mine without breaking them.Serve hot or let it cool and then store in an airtight container.

The shakarpara tasted much much much better than expected,almost an equivalent to the original one.The baking powder made it rise and it was very crispy and crunchy and healthier than the deep fried version.

The shakarpara is my entry to Holi Event at Asankhana

If you like the savoury version of this or the Namakpara grab it at Aparna's.