Piyush is a smooth and creamy drink popular in the Maharashtrian and Gujarati cuisine of western India. To make piyush, Shrikhand (a thick yogurt based dessert) and Buttermilk are whisked with the flavorings of nutmeg and cardamom. The nutmeg especially imparts a great deal of flavor and aroma to piyush.
Piyush is a bit similar to the popular beverage Lassi. But in comparison, it is thick, creamier and sweeter than lassi. Obviously, as shrikhand is added. Shrikhand itself is thick, creamy and sweet.
My recipe does not use buttermilk but homemade yogurt and milk. I used ready store brought shrikhand.
With ready made shrikhand this cooling drink is quick and easy to make. Either buy cardamom shrikhand, saffron shrikhand or cardamom-saffron shrikhand. You can also make the shrikhand at home. Here is my homemade Shrikhand Recipe.
Piyush makes for an excellent drink and is known in the state of Maharashtra and Gujarat. It is liked by both kids and adults. You actually have to drink piyush to know how good it is.
If you are looking for more drinks then do check:
How to make Piyush Drink
1. First take the shrikhand, curd (yogurt), milk, sugar, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder in a mixing bowl.
2. With a hand held blender or a wired whisk or a madani (traditional Indian wooden churner), just blend everything very well until smooth and creamy.
You can also opt to blend this creamy drink in a blender. Keep the piyush in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours for it to get chilled.
For a light yellow colored piyush drink, you can also add some crushed saffron while blending.
3. Pour the chilled piyush in glasses, and top with pistachio or almond slices and saffron. Serve piyush immediately. You can also keep it for a day in the refrigerator.
If you have made the piyush drink with cold milk and yogurt, then you can serve it straightaway.
Tips
- Since yogurt or curd is one of the main ingredient, use fresh curd that is not sour or too tangy.
- You can opt to make the drink with either store-brought shrikand or homemade one. Do use cardamom, saffron or cardamom-saffron flavored shrikhand.
- Whip up the drink either mixing with a wired whisk or with a hand-held blender or in an electric blender.
- The piyush drink taste good as is, but you can choose to garnish or top with your preferred nuts or dry fruits.
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Piyush Drink | Piyush Recipe
Ingredients
- 200 grams Shrikhand – about 1 cup, (cardamom, saffron or cardamom-saffron flavored shrikhand)
- 1.5 cups Curd (yogurt) – fresh and cold or at room temperature
- ¾ to 1 cup milk – cold or at room temperature
- 2 to 3 tablespoons sugar or as required
- 2 to 3 green cardamoms powdered in a mortar-pestle to a fine powder
- ¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg powder
- 6 to 7 pistachios (unsalted) – sliced
- 1 to 2 pinches saffron strands
Instructions
- First take the shrikhand, yogurt, milk, sugar, cardamom powder, nutmeg powder in a mixing bowl.
- With a hand held blender or a wired whisk or a madani (traditional hand held indian churner), just blend everything well till smooth and creamy.
- You can also blend in a jar in an electric blender. Keep the piyush in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours for it to get chilled.
- If you have made the drink with cold shrikhand, curd and milk, then after blending, you can serve it straightaway.
- A suggestion is to add 2 tbsp sugar first. If the sweetness is less, then you can add 1 tbsp sugar later.
- Pour the chilled piyush in glasses, and top with pistachio or almond slices and saffron.
- Serve immediately. You can also keep the piyush for a day in the refrigerator.
Notes
- Ensure to make the piyush drink with fresh curd that is not sour or too tangy.
- Add nuts and dry fruits of your choice.
- The recipe can be scaled to make for larger servings.
This Piyush Drink recipe post from the archives, first published in May 2014 has been updated and republished on November 2022.
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I made it it was awesome.I used homemade Shrikhand .
Thank you so much for the recipe.
with homemade shrikhand the taste is much better 🙂 most welcome beena.
I loving it Yaaar..
Everything is easyly made.
Your recipe are awesome
thanks amol
its a good taste and yummy i like it
thanks washim
Superb Recipes. Totally loved it. It seems like cooking is fun with learn n serve with Love. As I m newly married. I love to try out extreme things.
thanks
I really like your recipes–I started out looking for a Lassi recipe, as I tasted my first one today. Loved it! I live in the U.S., and while we have a small Indian community here where I live, we do not have an Indian grocery store. I will have to come to India and eat/drink my way across your continent!
thanks alexandra
Nagori of Saraf Bazar of Indore sells Milk Shikanji having similar ingredients.In rest of India,Shikanji refers to lemon based drink.But in Indore,it is made of Milk+Curd+Shrikhand
thanks bharat for the info. i didn’t knew about it. sounds interesting.
oops…It is SARAFA BAZAR(market for gold silver aka Zaveri/Bazar in Gujarat) not saraf bazar
fine 🙂
what is dis nutmeg powdr????
nutmeg is jaiphal or javitri powder.
Can we make it without nutmeg powder
rhythm, yes you can make but the nutmeg flavor will be missing.
though im from Maharashtra, but i never got thus recipe from any of my maharashtrian friends. looked too tempting. i tried it yesterday., though i made half quantity, as my hubby dosent like shrikhand, but i regretted. i should have made a larger quantity!! thanks a lot for this share!
welcome farzana. good to know that you liked the piyush.
I had read this recipe in a famous cookbook ‘Ruchira’ that belonged to my Grandmom. Never tasted it. Your pictures look so good, they have brought life to my memories 🙂 I shall try this once i am off my weight loss diet.
i have the english version of ruchira. i just checked it and it does not have the piyush recipe. but most marathi cookbooks will have the piyush recipe. thanks tanvi. when your weight loss diet is over, you can try piyush.
seems interesting
will surely try it
thanks mahek
Ma’am i really lov your recipes a lot..i wanted to know how can we use soya milk?
i did not understand your query. do you want to veganize this recipe?
Hi Dassana, this is one of my favorite childhood drink. So you moved to Genesis from thesis. This makeover looks really nice and classy.
Hi Dassana, Saw your recipe today. And I knew I just had to make it asap ! I made it today and it was simply awesome. Thanks for this awesome recipe 🙂
welcome radhika. thanks for sharing your positive feedback.
perfect cooler … So refreshing too
Did you read my mind? It was just last night that I was telling my husband it’s been so long I haven’t had piyush. I’m from Bombay and the piyush served at Prakash hotel in Dadar is still haunting me 🙂
I will be trying this today itself.
coincidence preeti 🙂 do try. at home we are a fan of piyush drink.