Shrikhand Baklava
Shrikhand Baklava is my take on the ever famous Shrikhand Puri. It is a crispy, flaky, buttery base filled with sweet, tangy, creamy, absolutely delicious, and decadent filling. A bite-sized dessert to serve for your party nights.
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Whisk
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Small bowl
- Dowel/wooden stick/straw
- baking tray
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
Sugar syrup
- ¼ cup Water
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- 10 strands Saffron
Baklava discs
- 5 Sheets Phyllo Dough
- ¼ cup Ghee melted
Shrikhand
- 1 Cup Hung curd
- ¼ cup Granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- 2 teaspoon Warm milk
- 5-6 strands Saffron
Instructions
Making sugar syrup
- In a small saucepan combine together the ¼ cup water, ½ cup sugar, and 5-6 strands of saffron and set it on medium-high heat.
- Cook it until it comes to a boil and all the sugar dissolves. Turn off the heat and set it aside for later.
Making Baklava discs
- Preheat the oven to 320F/160C.
- Unwrap and unfold the phyllo dough on a cutting board and smooth it out with your hands to flatten it.
- Take a sharp knife, and cut the phyllo stack in half. then cut each half into quarters. You should have 4 equal pieces.
- Cover phyllo dough with plastic wrap, then top with a damp kitchen towel to prevent it from drying out. Do not place the damp towel directly on the phyllo dough as it will become too damp and sticky and you won't be able to use it.
- Take one rectangle piece and let the rest be left under the damp cover.
- Place a dowel, straw, or a thick skewer on one of the longer sides of the rectangle.
- Loosely roll the square of phyllo around the rod, leaving the last ½ inch at the end unrolled.
- Placing hands on both ends of the rolled phyllo, carefully push both ends towards the center to shirr/gather together.
- Slide the phyllo out of the dowel and curve to form a circle, press on the ruffled end to form a flat base, making sure it has no gaps or a hole in the middle. Press ends together so the end sticks together.
- Repeat these steps with the remaining phyllo rectangles.
- Place phyllo discs on a baking sheet, arranging them so that they are touching one another. This will reduce the chance of the discs opening up during baking.
- Brush the discs with the melted ghee or clarified butter and bake them until crisp and golden brown in color for about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Once the baklava is out of the oven drizzle them immediately with the sugar syrup. and let them cool off completely before moving to the next step.
- You can place them on the serving plate if you are going to serve them in the next hour or so. If not then you can store them in an airtight container.
Making Shrikhand
- In a small bowl pour 2 teaspoon warm/hot milk and add a few strands of saffron to soak.
- In a bowl add 1 cup of hung curd/Chakka/strained yogurt/Greek yogurt, ¼ cup of sugar, ¼ teaspoon of cardamom powder, and saffron-infused milk.
- Mix it all together till everything comes together and the sugar is dissolved.
- Fill the Shrikhand in a piping bag fitted with a nozzle tip.
Assembling the Shrikhand Baklava
- Place the baklava discs in a tray and pipe the Shrikhand in the center flat area of the baklava.
- Garnish it with chopped pistachios and serve it.
Notes
- Always cover the phyllo dough with plastic and then a damp cloth on top to prevent drying of the dough/sheets.
- Do not boil the syrup too much otherwise, it will become too thick and extra sweet.
- Only drizzle the syrup on the hot baklava and do not over soak it. We want the baklava to be mildly sweet and not too sweet to handle.
- Shrikhand is supposed to be sweet and tangy and not overly sweet.
- If you do not have a piping bag you can scoop the Shrikhand with a teaspoon into the baklava discs.
- If you do not have ghee/clarified butter then you can use melted butter instead.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!