Shrikhand/Amrakhand (Sweet Mango-Yogurt Custard)

Yogurt is a staple in most Indian households, including ours. The cooling effect of yogurt not only balances the spices in an Indian meal but also offers relief from the tropical heat in India. So naturally, yogurt was turned into a popular dessert, shrikhand or amrakhand.

Shrikhand is a dessert made of strained yogurt and flavored with saffron and cardamom powder. The sweetness added by the sugar is perfectly balanced by slightly tart yogurt.

As plain yogurt is very accommodating to a variety of flavors, you are free to add any ingredients of your choice. In our case, we have added mango pulp to turn it into an amrakhand. Other popular options are dry-fruits or rose petal jam shrikhand.

Amrakhand is also not just about taste. The silky, smooth texture enhances the flavor of the aromatic mango pulp. The easiest way to achieve the smoothness is to mix the yogurt with a wire whisk. The wire whisk helps to break up any lumps in the yogurt. Good amrakhand is judged by its smooth texture.

It is a common practice in most Indian households to set yogurt daily but you can make shrikhand either with homemade or store-bought yogurt. To make shrikhand at home, straining the yogurt in a cheesecloth is essential to remove the moisture from the yogurt. It takes about 8 to 12 hours to strain the yogurt. However, in our recipe, we use pre-strained, store-bought yogurt (aka Greek yogurt) to make an instant amrakhand.

If you make these Shrikhand/Amrakhand (Sweet Mango-Yogurt Custard), drop a comment and/or give it a rating! We’d love to hear how it turns out. Also, if you make this recipe, make sure to tag us on Instagram!

Shrikhand/Amrakhand (Sweet Mango-Yogurt Custard)

A quick, no-cook yogurt custard flavored with mango, cardamom, and saffron.

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Course Dessert

Servings 6 people

Total Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Ingredients

  

• 2 tbsp milk
• ⅛ tsp saffron
• 1 32-oz tub plain, full fat Greek yogurt (we recommend Chobani)
• 1 cup mango pulp
• ½ cup sugar or per taste
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• ¼ cup sliced almonds for garnishing (optional)

Instructions

 

• Warmup the milk in a microwave for 10 seconds and add the saffron to it. Let the saffron steep in the milk for at least thirty minutes.
• Empty the yogurt container in a large mixing bowl and add the mango pulp, sugar, the soaked saffron with the milk, and the cardamom powder to it. With a wire whisk, mix all the ingredients until the yogurt is smooth. Adjust the amount of sugar for desired sweetness.
• Refrigerate the amrakhand for at least thirty minutes before serving. Top the custard with the almonds. The chilled amrakhand can be served with hot puris (deep fried Indian bread) or all by itself as a custard.