Curd Paskha
- Nutrition Facts
- Calories: 270
- Protein: 9.7
- Fats: 17
- Carbohydrates: 17.5
HozOboz has something special to share with you today. This is a secret of the delicious Easter dish which is called Curd Paskha. There is a great misconception concerning main dish for Easter among the majority of people because they think it is ‘'kulich''. In fact, curd pasha is absolutely another dish since it has nothing in common with yeast bakery. It’s a special dessert whose main component is grated cottage cheese with butter, sour cream or heavy cream, egg (or just the yolk) and sugar. You can easily add different kinds of raisins, candied fruit, syrups jam, orange and lemon zest, nutmeg, cinnamon, vanilla in such a paskha - depending on specific recipes, the taste of chef, as well as taste of those people for whom you cook this delightful holiday dish.
Some historical insights on the origin of paskha
Paskha is a ritual dish symbolizing, along with boiled eggs and kulich, the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Christian tradition, both in Catholic and Orthodox. Traditionally, curd paskhas have the form of tetrahedral pyramid personifying Calvary. For shaping this kind of dish you will require a special form of wood (mostly of linden) which consists of four plates. On the inner side of the plates there is a writing "XB" (Christ is risen!), images of Christian crosses, copies of sprouted grains, ears of corn, shoots and flowering plants, symbolizing the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ. There are several kinds of paskhas:
- uncooked (made simply of the raw curd)
- boiled
- custard
They usually have similar ingredients and taste, the only difference is the way of cooking. The first type of paskhas is very easy to cook, but the others are much more convenient to store for a long time period (for instance, you can keep it in the fridge for about a week). You can also add some fresh zest, raisins, raw cheese from which ‘’uncooked’’ paskha (1st type) quickly turns sour. More importantly, the cheese for such a paskha should be of the best quality, therefore, it has to be fresh, dry and sufficiently uniform. Everyone can cook curd on his own. All you need is to go for one of the options mentioned below:
- by curdling during boiling on the plate (with lemon juice) (Indian technology);
- in the preheated 175-210F oven for separating cheesy part from yogurt or sour;
- thermos using special bacteria or yeast, and use of water bath or steamer.
No matter how you produce the curd, be sure to put under the special load, which will cause pressure remove the excess moisture from the dish. With the detailed [description of curd paskha recipe with photos] you can find out all the extra features of the preparation of this fascinating yet not very difficult dish.
The list ingredients you need to make a curd paskha:
- 2,2 lbs of curd (cottage cheese)
- 1 lb of 15% sour cream
- 5 yolks
- 0,5 lb of sugar
- 0,5 lb of raisins
- 0,4 lb of almond
- a teaspoon of salt
- 5 drops of rose oil
- lemon zest for decoration
The detailed instruction for the preparation of the curd paskha:
- Place all the necessary ingredients onto your cooking surface.
Place all the necessary ingredients onto your cooking surface.
- Add sour cream or regular cream to the twice pressed grated cheese.
Add sour cream or regular cream to the twice pressed grated cheese.
- Add some salt to balance the taste of our dessert.
Add some salt to balance the taste of our dessert.
- Pour beet or cane sugar.
Pour beet or cane sugar.
- Separate the yolks of fresh eggs and add them too. The mix everything.
Separate the yolks of fresh eggs and add them too. The mix everything.
- Add some washed and dried raisins with separated tails.
Add some washed and dried raisins with separated tails.
- Then you should finely cut the almond leaving a small amount of it fro decoration.
Then you should finely cut the almond leaving a small amount of it fro decoration.
- Add the almond crumbs to our dish.
Add the almond crumbs to our dish.
- Then whip the mixture and add 5 drops of rose oil to get a special aroma.
Then whip the mixture and add 5 drops of rose oil to get a special aroma.
- Pour everything in a pan with a thick bottom.
Pour everything in a pan with a thick bottom.
- Constantly stirring it, heat it until the first bubbles come out, then remove the pan from the stove.
Constantly stirring it, heat it until the first bubbles come out, then remove the pan from the stove.
- We use a hemispherical metal sieve for the (baking) dish.
We use a hemispherical metal sieve for the (baking) dish.
- Lay the dish with a double layer of cheesecloth or muslin cloth.
Lay the dish with a double layer of cheesecloth or muslin cloth.
- Pour the hot mixture to the dish standing on a deep plate, so that it can drain off excess whey.
Pour the hot mixture to the dish standing on a deep plate, so that it can drain off excess whey.
- Pay attention to the plate and drain the liquid if needed.
Pay attention to the plate and drain the liquid if needed.
- Press the paskha with flat plate of suitable size.
Press the paskha with flat plate of suitable size.
- Put your dish into the fridge for a night or the whole twenty-four hours.
Put your dish into the fridge for a night or the whole twenty-four hours.
- Cut the ‘'X''and ‘’B’' letters and circles from the lemon zest. You’ll need ir for decoration of the dessert.
Cut the ‘'X''and ‘’B’' letters and circles from the lemon zest. You’ll need ir for decoration of the dessert.
- Decorate your dessert with a lemon zest and almond, forming a beautiful composition of flowers and bright yellow peas.
Decorate your dessert with a lemon zest and almond, forming a beautiful composition of flowers and bright yellow peas.
- Cut it int operations just on the table and hand out dessert plates.
Cut it int operations just on the table and hand out dessert plates. Bon Appetite!
Useful advice
If you want to know everything about the cooking of curd paskha, you should pay attention to the advice of some experienced chefs and housewives. For example, rub the curd through a sieve twice and only after that start cooking of this air saturated curd mass. Do not put the curd through a meat grinder - otherwise it will become too viscous. Use 30 percent fat cream along with soft and elastic butter. Then sort our the raisins, wash them and dry on the paper towel. You can also peel the almond (to facilitate the process, put the almond into the boiling water and leave it for 20-30 minutes, then dry it.)
Healthy features of curd paskha dessert
Due to the absence of cereals and high content of useful curd, which fully compensates your daily rate of calcium. If you would like to reduce the fat content, just exclude the sour cream and butter.
Alternative recipes of curd paskha
Finely chop the candied peel, grate the lemon zest into a mass to change the taste of the dish. Some other spices (cardamom, nutmeg, star anise), ground in a coffee grinder, and sifted through a fine strainer, can give the all-new taste to the basic recipe. You can use natural vanilla, vanilla sugar or vanillin. Sometimes chocolate, jelly or marmalade are added. So, experiment, ensuring the best taste of your curd paskha. HozOboz wishes you success in all your endeavors and is waiting for you to discover new recipes. See you later!
