Sikkimese Sikarni

Thick sweetened yogurt dessert — full-fat yogurt hung in muslin cloth for several hours to drain all whey, then mixed with powdered sugar, ground cardamom, crushed saffron soaked in warm milk, and chopped pistachios. The result is a dense, creamy, intensely flavoured cold dessert with the richness of cream cheese and the tang of yogurt. The Sikkimese sikarni follows the Nepali preparation style; it appears at every Dashain celebration as the sweet that marks the festival's most auspicious day. Served in small earthen or brass bowls, chilled; the saffron and cardamom perfume is released as the cold dessert warms slightly in the mouth.