Amrakhand

I was browsing through for the Shrikhand recipe and landed on this one. Amrakhand is nothing but Aam plus Shrikhand where Aam means Mangoes and Shrikhand supposedly means Ambrosia of the Gods. Shrikhand is also the name for a traditional Maharashtrian dessert made from yogurt, nuts and saffron. So this version of Shrikhand which uses Mango as its central taste factor is termed as Amrakhand. In simplest western terminology you can call this Mango Smoothie. It came out very well and we loved it. One added advantage is that you can make this for ekadesi also.

Ingredients:
Curd - 400gms.
Sugar - 5- 6 tbsp
Cardamom - 3.
Few strands of Saffron
Milk – 1 tbsp
1 fresh mango, to make about 1 small cup mango pulp (you can use canned mango pulp too)
1-2 tbsp charoli nuts for garnish
few fresh slices of mangoes for garnish

Method:

Tie curd in a clean muslin cloth overnight. (6-7 hours). Put into a bowl. Powder the sugar and cardamom and mix it with the curd. Rub saffron into 1 tbsp. milk till well broken and dissolved. Keep aside. Beat well till sugar powder has fully dissolved into curd. In case the saffron strands have not dissolved completely, add them along with the milk to the mangoes. Make the pulp and add it to the curd mixture and Mix well. Empty into a glass serving bowl, top with the nuts and mango slices. Chill for 1-2 hours before serving.