Shrikhand

Serves: to serve 4

Prep Time: 30 Minutes + waiting

Ready In: 30 mins
+ waiting

1¼ pint - milk

¼ teaspoon - lemon juice

4 fl oz - water

a few strands - saffron

10½ oz - caster sugar (superfine sugar)

½ teaspoon - cardamom powder

5 - 6 - pistachio nuts (for garnish)

5 - 6 - almonds (for garnish)

Keep 1 tablespoon of the milk to one side. Heat the remaining milk in a pan and bring it to a gentle boil over a medium heat. Remove from the heat, stir the lemon juice into 4 fl oz (120ml) of water and add to the milk then stir slowly and gently until white curd forms on the surface and separates from whey.
Use a white muslin cloth to strain the milk. The solid remaining in the cloth (the curds) is called "chenna" (cottage cheese). Wash this cheese well under cold running water, then twist the cloth that was used for straining to extract as much water as possible.
Hang the cloth with the curds in a cool place for a minimum of 3 hours (preferably overnight) until all the liquid (whey) has drained off.
Put the tablespoon of milk that you reserved into a pan and warm it gently. Add in the saffron and stir until it dissolves, then remove from the heat. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the hung curds, sugar, saffron mixture and cardamom. Blend gently with a hand mixer. Leave this in the fridge to allow the sugar to dissolve. Break or partly crush the pistachios and almonds and use to garnish the Shrikhand.