Kesar Pista Kulfi
Continuing the icecream series, I made the indian version of frozen dessert. The popular kulfi...if you really want the best quality you need to work on it meticulously. It cannot be reducing milk in a ziffy or adding short cuts like pedhas, rabdis. The kulfi making process will be successful only when you get a creamy texture yet very light icecreamy feel to it.
Most matka kulfis are lump of frozen rabdis. Personally given a choice- I never go for a Kulfi, it takes a lot of effort for people to feed me one...you will rarely see me eating this dessert at weddings or parties. I have no particular reason as such ...because, if I do happen to taste it , then it takes an effort to stop eating as well...I think it is the look of it that I am not very fond of. The way it is served - either as a disc or cone or in matka..something about it does not click with me easily.
But like every food item on this blog, I have fond memories of this food...my maternal Grandfather was a very strict man...not the typical grandfathers carrying kids on arms and shoulders. We never ventured in the room that he sat. Even the infants preferred to sleep when he was around is what I remember or presume...not exaggerating but that was the aura he created. He was a very popular and renowned business man of his time shuttling between the larger family at his home town and Mumbai. Because my mother was the only kid staying in Mumbai, she often visited him along with us, mainly to check on his food and other things. Like his words, even his food habits were pretty rare...
Coming back to the kulfi part, this is one thing that surprised me crazy...if you have ever been the mumbai chowpatty - not the Juhu stretch but the bombay central chowpatty - you would find kulfiwaalas carrying a large pot on their heads. These pots use to have kulfi stored in aluminium moulds. They were served chopped, on leaves....my grandfather actually used to treat us to this like once in a year...the kulfi wala used to sit on steps of his living room for hours feeding us his varieties, talking to him. I still remember how suddenly the 6 feet tall man with cat like eyes felt like a grandfather to me ...
Ingredients
500 ml + 250 ml whole full fat milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 pinch of saffron threads
2 tbsp crushed pistachios
Method
1) Bring the 500 ml milk to full boil in a non stick large pan.
2) Then reduce the flame and let it simmer for 20-25 min or until it has reduced to half. Keep stirring in between to scrape down the skin formed on the edges, stir it in as it will otherwise make your kulfi grainy later
3) In the mean time, in a small bowl, take a tspn of the warm milk and dissolve the saffron in it. Using the back of the spoon try to mash up a couple of threads to get the deep orange color.
3) Add the remaining 250 ml milk and sugar to the reduced milk. This technique helps u get a creamier kulfi as it gives the consistency of condensed milk. Also you need lesser sugar as you have used natural sweetness of milk bu reducing it
4) Now also add chopped pistachios and dissolved saffron , let it cook for 5-10 min more to get the flavors in
5) Now prepare your moulds by running them under tap water
6) Carefully pour in your kulfi moulds and set the caps. If you dont have moulds, you can use a stainless steel box lined with butter paper. Pour the mixture and cover the lid
7) Set it in freezer overnight.
8) Let it stand for 2-3 min at room temperature. De-mould by running under tap water
Serve with more sprinkled pistachios...
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68
Most matka kulfis are lump of frozen rabdis. Personally given a choice- I never go for a Kulfi, it takes a lot of effort for people to feed me one...you will rarely see me eating this dessert at weddings or parties. I have no particular reason as such ...because, if I do happen to taste it , then it takes an effort to stop eating as well...I think it is the look of it that I am not very fond of. The way it is served - either as a disc or cone or in matka..something about it does not click with me easily.
But like every food item on this blog, I have fond memories of this food...my maternal Grandfather was a very strict man...not the typical grandfathers carrying kids on arms and shoulders. We never ventured in the room that he sat. Even the infants preferred to sleep when he was around is what I remember or presume...not exaggerating but that was the aura he created. He was a very popular and renowned business man of his time shuttling between the larger family at his home town and Mumbai. Because my mother was the only kid staying in Mumbai, she often visited him along with us, mainly to check on his food and other things. Like his words, even his food habits were pretty rare...
Coming back to the kulfi part, this is one thing that surprised me crazy...if you have ever been the mumbai chowpatty - not the Juhu stretch but the bombay central chowpatty - you would find kulfiwaalas carrying a large pot on their heads. These pots use to have kulfi stored in aluminium moulds. They were served chopped, on leaves....my grandfather actually used to treat us to this like once in a year...the kulfi wala used to sit on steps of his living room for hours feeding us his varieties, talking to him. I still remember how suddenly the 6 feet tall man with cat like eyes felt like a grandfather to me ...
Ingredients
500 ml + 250 ml whole full fat milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 pinch of saffron threads
2 tbsp crushed pistachios
Method
1) Bring the 500 ml milk to full boil in a non stick large pan.
2) Then reduce the flame and let it simmer for 20-25 min or until it has reduced to half. Keep stirring in between to scrape down the skin formed on the edges, stir it in as it will otherwise make your kulfi grainy later
3) In the mean time, in a small bowl, take a tspn of the warm milk and dissolve the saffron in it. Using the back of the spoon try to mash up a couple of threads to get the deep orange color.
3) Add the remaining 250 ml milk and sugar to the reduced milk. This technique helps u get a creamier kulfi as it gives the consistency of condensed milk. Also you need lesser sugar as you have used natural sweetness of milk bu reducing it
4) Now also add chopped pistachios and dissolved saffron , let it cook for 5-10 min more to get the flavors in
5) Now prepare your moulds by running them under tap water
6) Carefully pour in your kulfi moulds and set the caps. If you dont have moulds, you can use a stainless steel box lined with butter paper. Pour the mixture and cover the lid
7) Set it in freezer overnight.
8) Let it stand for 2-3 min at room temperature. De-mould by running under tap water
Serve with more sprinkled pistachios...
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM# 68
Comments
Kulfi looks delicious, i always love them the traditional way, no shortcuts for me!!!