🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Marathi

The Marathi people live in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Dairy products are part of daily life here: dahi, ghee, buttermilk and milk sweets appear both on ordinary days and at festivals. The milk comes mainly from cows and buffalo.

Shrikhand is one of the best-known dishes of Marathi cuisine. Dahi is strained through cloth into a thick mass (chakka) and then whipped with sugar, saffron and cardamom, sometimes with nuts or mango — the mango version is called amrakhand. Shrikhand is often made for festivals, such as the New Year in the local calendar, and served with puri.

A vivid festive custom is also linked to milk. During Gokulashtami, the festival of Krishna’s birth, Maharashtra holds dahi handi: teams form human pyramids to break a pot of curd hung high above the ground. The custom recalls stories of the young Krishna, who loved to steal butter and curd.