Shrikhand - Puri

I made this for a cooking contest at Anandmela, a local cultural event. The theme was to cook 2 traditional dishes from your region of India. So I made this Shrikhand Puri combo which is very popular especially during Diwali, Gudi Padwa, weddings etc. celebrations in Maharashtra.

I have already posted Amrakhand recipe earlier. This shrikhand is similar, but without the mango, with just cardamon and saffron to flavor it. I used one 32oz container of Greek yogurt, hung the yogurt up in the fridge in a cheesecloth overnight to let the whey drip. The next morning, I wrapped the thickened yogurt along with the cheesecloth in layers of kitchen towels and newspapers, and placed a heavy can over it, to further drain off all liquid. After abt 2-3 hrs, I added 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp cardamon pwd and 1 tsp saffron dissolved in 1/4 cup warm milk, to the thickened yogurt (called "chakka" in Marathi). I mixed it all well and while serving topped it off with charoli (I think its a kind of nut).

One trick to keep puris puffy (even the judges asked me abt it) is to add a pinch of sugar to the dough while kneading it. This keeps the puris puffed for a long time. I made my puris 3 hrs before the cooking contest since my daughter had a dance performance there, but they remained puffed up until eaten.

We had to make 2 traditional dishes for the contest, so the other item I made was Kothimbir wadi. This time I added peanuts instead of cashew nuts, and omitted the ginger and garlic pastes, but other ingredients and procedure is same as posted earlier.I shallow fried them this time.

To round off the traditional theme, I wore my nauvari sari (it is pre-stitched) which I bought from Sadi Ghar near Dadar Stn on my last visit.

I guess the judges liked something about my dishes, since I won a prize!