Kulfi

Ingredients

Base

• 2 litresfull-fat milk
• 150 gsugar
• 6green cardamom pods, crushed
• a pinch of saffron

To finish

• 50 gpistachios, chopped
• 50 galmonds, chopped
• 1 tsprose water or kewra

Equipment

• kulfi moulds, or small cups and lolly sticks

Directions

1. Bring the milk to the boil in a wide heavy pan, then reduce it to a steady simmer.
2. Use the widest pan you have. The whole method is evaporation, and a narrow pan takes twice as long for the same reduction.
3. Simmer uncovered for about an hour, stirring every few minutes and scraping the base.
4. Scrape the skin that forms on the sides back into the milk rather than discarding it. Those reduced solids are exactly the flavour you are trying to build.
5. Reduce the milk to roughly a third of its original volume, until it is thick, pale caramel in colour and coats the spoon heavily.
6. This long reduction is the entire dish. There is no cream, no custard and no egg in traditional kulfi; the density comes only from boiled-down milk.
7. Add the sugar, crushed cardamom and saffron in the last 15 minutes.
8. Sugar added early slows the reduction and increases the risk of catching.
9. Take it off the heat, stir in the nuts and rose water, and cool it completely.
10. Pour into kulfi moulds, or into small cups with a stick pushed in once half frozen.
11. Freeze for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
12. Do not churn it and do not stir it during freezing. Kulfi is deliberately unchurned, which is why it is dense and slow-melting rather than light like ice cream.
13. That density is the defining difference from ice cream, and any attempt to make it fluffy is working against the dish.
14. To unmould, dip the mould in warm water for a few seconds and pull.
15. Serve on its own, or over falooda vermicelli with rose syrup.
16. It reaches back to Mughal court kitchens, where reduced milk was frozen in metal cones packed in ice and saltpetre.

Technique

• It melts far more slowly than ice cream, which is a direct consequence of having no whipped-in air.
• Condensed and evaporated milk are the common shortcut and give a noticeably different, sweeter result.
• The metal cone mould conducts cold fast and is worth using if you can find one.

Substitutions

• 400 g condensed milk plus 400 ml evaporated milk, simmered 20 minutes, in place of the long reduction.
• Khoya stirred into hot milk, which shortens it considerably.

Variations

• Malai kulfi, the plain cream version.
• Mango, pistachio or paan kulfi.
• Kulfi falooda, served over vermicelli with rose syrup.

History

Documented in the Mughal-era Ain-i-Akbari, where ice from the Hindu Kush was used to freeze sweetened milk in sealed metal cones.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kulfi?

Kulfi is a dessert from India: dense frozen milk reduced with cardamom, set in metal cones, never churned. Documented in the Mughal-era Ain-i-Akbari, where ice from the Hindu Kush was used to freeze sweetened milk in sealed metal cones.

How long does Kulfi take to make?

Kulfi takes 15 min plus 8 hr freezing of preparation and 1 hr 15 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 kulfi. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kulfi?

Yes, within limits. 400 g condensed milk plus 400 ml evaporated milk, simmered 20 minutes, in place of the long reduction. Khoya stirred into hot milk, which shortens it considerably.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kulfi?

Use the widest pan you have. The whole method is evaporation, and a narrow pan takes twice as long for the same reduction.