Bubboo’s Threshold Crossing, Janmasthami, And 3-Ingredient No-Cook Shrikhand Aka Hung Curd Dessert

Madame Bubboo is growing naughtier by the day. She doesn’t hold still for a single minute while she’s awake. She wants to crawl here, there and everywhere. She wants to pull at hanging wires. She wants to reach out to grab threads that are hanging out of bedsheets and sarees and dresses, invisible to everyone else. She wants to catch hold of objects that have rolled under cots and chairs. She wants to get under the chair and touch the feet of whoever is working on the computer. So on and so forth. You get the drift, right? There is not a single moment when we cannot not keep an eye on her. We have resorted to calling her Kutti Krishna, thanks to all the mischief that she gets herself into these days. Quite apt. That reminds me, it is Janmashtami tomorrow. Last year, on Janmashtami day, I was pregnant with Bubboo, and thought of this year then – I thought I would love to make a maavu kolam with the little one’s feet for the festival. Well, it is time to get going and see to getting the maavu ready. 🙂

Before I do that, though, I have to tell you about Madame’s latest milestone, if at all you can call it that. Recently, she crossed over the threshold of the living room and entered the balcony. Time to be even more careful, yes! Till then, she had only been playing in the room we left her in – she wouldn’t know how to cross over the threshold and get out of a room. Well, now she does. I am waiting for the day when she will learn to cross the main threshold of the house and want to crawl out of the main door. 🙂 Well, Amma told me that irrespective of which threshold Bubboo crosses, the occasion calls for a sweet dish to be made at home. I obliged happily.

I decided to make shrikhand, one of my favourite sweet dishes from Ahmedabad. I am not sure of the origin of shrikhand, but it is a popular dish in a Gujarati and Maharashtrian thali. There is another Gujarati version of the shrikhand that is slightly thicker than shrikhand, called matho (Oh, how I miss it!) There is a Maharashtrian version too, called amrakhand. The Bengali mishti doi is something similar too, but not exactly shrikhand. Anyways, so shrikhand was what I decided on, because I had a lot of curd lounging around at home, because it is easy to make with a naughty baby in tow, because I had all the ingredients ready with me, and because I wanted to make something that Bubboo could also have a lick of. So, that is the story of how the shrikhand was diligently made and devoured.

This shrikhand – the basic version – requires only three ingredients. It has hung curd, powdered sugar, and powdered elaichi or cardamom. Of course, you can add a lot of other stuff to the shrikhand to customise it as per your preferences – from rose petals and vanilla essence to blueberries and mango puree, even some food colouring. I decided to keep it simple.

BTW, this is a no-cook recipe. All it requires is some grinding and some chilling in the refrigerator. It is a popular dish made in home kitchens in Gujarat and consumed during Janmasthami, because, apparently, Kutti Krishna loved butter and other dairy products, making this one of his favourites too. So, if you are looking for a fool-proof, no-fail, simple sweet dish recipe for Janmashtami, this could be it!

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients (yields 2 small cups):

2 large cups of thick curd, hung in a muslin cloth for a few hours. The less sour the curd is, the better. The process of hanging the curd up will leave you with a silky smooth, thick residue that has lost most of its sourness.

4 tablespoons of powdered sugar, or as per taste

2 teaspoons of powdered cardamom (elaichi), or as per taste

Method:

1. Take the hung curd in a mixing bowl. Add the powdered sugar and cardamom. Mix well.
2. Chill it in the refrigerator for an hour or so before devouring. That is how it tastes best. If you can’t wait though, dig in immediately. It tastes great that way too! You could garnish it with chopped dried fruits of all kinds, but that is totally optional!

Do you like shrikhand or any of its variations? Tell me all about it!