Instructions: I didnt have much luck with sweet yogurt cheeses for years until I tried the recipe for Shrikhand in Madhur Jaffreys Eastern Vegetarian Cooking recipe, so please forgive the measures:
Make yogurt cheese (3 hour hang).

Meanwhile, soak the saffron in the milk for about 1 hour (this is important - saffrons flavour comes out in water and milk, and wont release its flavours unless it has a good soak in these, as opposed to oil).

Combine the yogurt cheese, saffron milk, and sugar in a bowl, through a very fine sieve to make sure there are no lumps left. Sprinkle the pistachios over the top. Cover and chill until ready to eat.

Sounds simple, no? Its one of the best tasting recipes Ive ever had, though... its eaten spread on chapatis, at the same time that you eat your spicy food, and its a wonderful combination when you do! To make icings and whippy toppings, I take this basic recipe, sometimes leave out the cardamom and saffron and add orange juice, a dash of lemon juice, and some orange zest, add the sugar, and voila, you have a very good cream cheese-style topping. Just plain with sugar, and beaten up fairly hard (not too hard, or itll start separating), and youve got a heavy whippy kind of topping that goes well with pie, or anything. The secret is the berry sugar, as it can actually get through the yogurt. The other secret is to remember that every batch of yogurt that you eat is different, depending on how exactly it was made, how long before you bought it, everything, so some batches are going to taste a little different than others.

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