Shreekandh brûlée

A Healthy Contemporary take on a Classic

Almost every other restaurant in town serves a Creme brûlée on its menu, which essentially consists of egg yoks, cream, and sugar. At Indique Heights  in Chevy Chase, MD, we have been serving a much healthier version called shreekandh brûlée, which is made of low fat yogurt, sugar, cardamom, saffron and nuts. I have been getting constant requests for this recipe. So as promised here is the recipe... Make this during the holiday season. Happy Holidays!   

 

     Photo above: Greg Powers Photography

              

                                                                  Shreekandh  brûlée

                         Low fat yogurt - 2 lbs (32 ounces)

                         Sugar – 3 tablespoons

                        Cardamom powder – a pinch

                        Saffron – a pinch

                        Pistachio (chopped) 1 tablespoon

                        Almonds (chopped) 1 tablespoon

                        Raw brown sugar – 4 oz. (for torching)

 

1.      Strain yogurt in a colander over a muslin cloth. When some of the water has been drained out, tie it and hang inside the refrigerator overnight. Remember to have several layers of muslin cloth or else all the yogurt is going to pass through the muslin :-)

 

2.      Transfer the strained yogurt into a mixing bowl and add sugar,

Cardamom powder, a pinch of saffron, chopped pistachio and almonds.

 

3.      Mix well. Divide it into about four portions and spread evenly on to a crème brûlée dish / ramekin.

4.      Sprinkle with raw brown sugar evenly on top of each of these dishes and with a blow torch evenly caramelize the sugar and get a golden brown crust. Keep the flame to a medium high and rotate the dish evenly.

 

 

                 Photo : Andrew Harnik

 

                 P.S: I personally prefer to grind whole cardamom in a spice grinder.                                     

           (a coffee grinder kept exclusively for spices). I throw in whole pods of cardamom with the skin and grind to a fine powder.                                               

            If you do not have a torch - you can serve them in a Martini glass or any ice cream cup piping them on top of diced fruits - any seasonal fruits - mango, pears,honeydew, cantaloupes - can be used. You get the point....      

           Photo : K.N.Vinod

      Variations :

You can add mango puree or diced mango and make it into a mango shreekandh, omit the cardamom, add some orange rinds and a few drops of any orange liqueur and serve it as an orange shreekandh; go a step further and serve it in an orange shell. There are no hard and fast rules, so go ahead and use your imagination and have fun.

       I look forward to hearing from you about your innovations and ideas.

        Cheers! Happy Holidays.