Kulfi - The Ultimate Desi Dessert

Weather is peculiar in Bangalore now a days, early morning it's cloudy and windy but as the clock touches 9 am. it becomes bright sunny day!! So I am making a conscious effort to switch gears from winter based cuisine to the Spring/Summer collection ( makes me sound more like a fashion designer, but  I like it). Speaking of Spring here in India, tree leaves are back to their vibrant green and finally you wish to enjoy the time outdoors when the full wrath of summer sun has still not begun. 

Aren't these utter cute? I borrowed these from Lubna :-) Thank you honey...

So the very first main festival that is celebrated throughout the country is called HOLI or Festival of Colours. Here, friends and family gather together and apply coloured water and gulals ( coloured powder ) to each other. When one chases other to apply colour and the person being chased runs like there is no tomorrow, is a sight to watch. All in a spirit of fun and frolic. What follows next is an awesome course of yummy Holi based cuisines like Gujiya, Dahi wade, Namkeen/Nimki, Thandai and Kulfis. My personal favourite is Kulfi as unlike Ice Cream you do not need a machine to prepare it or it is required to make it thick before putting it in the fridge. The ingredients that are required are easy to obtain. The best part is that it tastes much better than conventional ice cream. So let me start the spring cuisines with this kulfi recipe.

I think last I had made kulfi was way back in 2003 !! And it was only when I was flipping through a magazine yes it was cooking mag :-p I realized that I must make this as soon as possible !! So in another 15 minutes I was inside a shop to buy full cream milk ! I was on a mission so declared someone (obviously pointing out my younger sister only) that help me to fix lunch and in exchange I will treat you well for dessert. 

Since it was ages since I made kulfis and Hubby won't be able to relish them as he is out of town so decided we will celebrate Valentine's Day with him and I will make these again to recreate our old fun days in Gurgaon by roaming aimlessly late night and gorging on matka kulfis from roadside vendors!! I made this kulfi just to make sure that my age old recipe still works. I added powdered almonds as it provides extra dense/ thickness in this kulfi preparation.

Ingredients:
1 ltr. Full Cream Milk (separate 1/4 cup milk to soak saffron strands)
1 cup Heavy cream
1 can Condensed milk
20-25 unsalted Almonds, skin removed or 1/4 cup coarsely grounded nuts of your choice
3 tbsp Pistachios, sliced
Pinch of Saffron strands
A few rose petals
Pinch of Cardamom powder

Method:
Soak the saffron strands in 1/4 cup warm milk and keep aside. Grind almond to a fine powder in a blender and keep aside.
Take a heavy bottomed pan and add milk. Cook on a low flame,keep stirring continuously else it might stick to the bottom. Stir till the milk thickens and almost become half in quantity. Add the cream, condensed milk and saffron soaked milk now. Stir again thoroughly. 

Now add the almond powder to the milk and stir nicely. Add cardamom powder, sliced pistachios and taste the sweetness (if you want your kulfis more sweet then add 1-2 tbsp)sugar. If ok, then continue stirring it on low flame for another 30 minutes. Remove from flame and let it cool down. Once you leave the thick milk mixture, a fine film will appear on top, remove it and add rose petals. 

Pour carefully into kulfi molds (I saved some amount for my personal 'matka kulfi') Freeze overnight or for minimum 8-9 hours. To unmold kulfis just run some water on the outer side of molds. Serve it immediately with some sliced pistachios.


The above recipe is going to participate in various events:
Priya's Valentine Day Recipe Contest

Sudeshna's Holi-The Event of Colors fantastic giveaway contest which is sponsored by CupoNation

A Cook @ Heart (Manasi) having an exciting giveaway event "I Must Make That"
 

I had poured extra milk mixture in an Earthen pot and my Matka Kulfi was ready !!

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