Shrikhand

(Link to Marathi Recipe)

Shrikhand is made very often in my household as me and my brother both love it. My mom usually made her own yogurt and made thick strained yogurt and them made shrikhand. We get lots of varieties of yogurt in US and sometimes make it little challenging to decide which one to use for shrikhand. Here is my proportion that I use every time I make shrikhand -

Shrikhand

To make thick strained yogurt - 
2 32Oz Organic Fat Free or 1% Milk Fat Yogurt
Big Piece of Cheese Cloth
5-6 Full Size Paper Towels
Old News papers from 4-5 days

Stack the news paper in half sheets on kitchen counter. Cover with two layers of paper towels. Then layer cheese cloth in two layers. Carefully spread all the yogurt and cover with two layers of paper towels. Let it stand for 2-3 hours. Thick strained yogurt is ready.

How to make Shrikhand -
Thick Strained Yogurt
1/2 cup - 3/4 cup sugar
10-12 Strands of Saffron soaked in 1 tbsp warm milk
5-6 Almonds
10-12 Pistachios
1 tsp Ground Cardamom Powder
Pinch of Ground Nutmeg

Preparation - 
Roughly chop or coarsely grind almonds and pistachios. Remove all the lumps from strained yogurt. You can use either immersion blender or food processor to do this job. You can also go very low tech by using a strainer and spatula or spoon. Press the yogurt through sieve by spatula or spoon. It will remove all the lumps and yogurt will be creamy. Mix yogurt, sugar, almond-pistachios, cardamom, nutmeg and saffron. Stir constantly for 4-5 minutes. Cover and let it sit for at least 30-45 minutes. Mix once again and serve with purees.

Tips - 

1. Traditionally, yogurt is hung overnight over a big utensil to drain all the water out. You can use that method to make strained yogurt. 
2. I have also tried using strainer lined with cheese cloth and weighed down with stone mortar pestle. You have keep this overnight as well to get thick yogurt.