Kesar Pista Kulfi - Decadent Cool Fix

Well, I'll admit it. I'll admit that I lay in wait, armed with this recipe, for a suitable group of guests to make it for. Normally, I ALWAYS try any recipe for ourselves before I subject my guests to it. But with this one, I couldn't risk so many calories going straight only to my gluteus maximus, could I?!! So, guests = guinea pigs? Something like that!

What's this, they asked (it was mixed nationality group of guests we had) when we served the dessert.
Kulfi, we said.
Cool fay? Cool fix?
No, Kulfi. Coolfee. Indian ice cream, we said, by way of explanation.

Though, technically, kulfi is not ice cream. It is a distinct category of its own alongside sorbets, granitas, gelatos, frozen yoghurts etc.

Kulfi is believed to owe its origins to the Mughals. Blocks of ice would be brought in to Delhi from the Hindukush mountains in order to keep the royalty cool in the searing hot Delhi summers. Mughal chefs, having ice at their disposal and taking a cue from their Persian and Arabic counterparts (incidentally, ice cream traces its origins back to Persia where the royalty was served a special chilled pudding like dish with vermicelli and rosewater), later invented 'kulfi'.

From being once reserved exclusively for royalty, kulfi is now a street food in India sold by hawkers called kulfiwallahs. They sell the kulfi either in small earthern pots called matkas or in aluminium popsicle like molds. The molds are buried in a huge metal container holding a mixture of ice and salt - this effectively freezes the kulfi. Bearing a huge cane basket, in which they secure the metal container in a distinct red cloth, on top of their heads, you'll find them going from street to street enticing the taste buds with their loud cries of "kulfeeeee" on balmy summer nights!


Normally, kulfi is made by sweating over a the gas to painstakingly reduce the milk to almost half. However, I do not have the energy or the patience to do that. The memory of trying to make malai pedhas is fresh in my mind - reduce the milk, said the recipe till it becomes a solid mass. Yeah, right....I got all of 7 pedhas after over an hour of toiling and sweating!! Which is why I knew I had struck gold with this recipe. No boiling. No cooking. Just mix and freeze.

Ingredients:

for the base

1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk
300 ml cream
breadcrumbs from 1 slice of bread

Traditionally, kulfi has been flavoured with cardamom, saffron and nuts, though today, a myriad of flavours abound, most popular being mango, custard apple, chikoo...and yes, even chocolate! I decided to stick to the traditional flavour of cardamom, pistachio and saffron.

for the flavouring:

10-12 pods of cardamom, peeled
1/2 cup pistachio, shelled
saffron, about 10-12 strands
rosewater - 1 tsp

Method:

Soak the saffron in the rosewater for about 10 mins. Grind the pistachio and the cardamom to a fine powder. Mix with the remaining ingredients for the kulfi base and process in a mixie. Now, stir in the soaked saffron. Pour into molds of your choice and freeze.

I set my kulfi in a 10" cake pan. To facilitate unmolding, just dab some butter in the centre of the pan and line with butter paper. Pour the kulfi mixture and freeze it. Before serving, run a knife dipped in hot water along the edge of the pan. Tip over your serving plate, rub the base vigorously with a kitchen towel, remove pan and peel off the butter paper. Cut and serve.

Makes enough to serve between 8-12 people, depending on the size of the slices.

Yes, it is high in calories. But, one bite and your guests will ask you for more, calories be damned. One bite, and you'll want to keep the whole thing for yourself, calories and guests be damned!!