Kesar Pista Katori Kulfi

Kulfi is a traditional frozen dessert in South Asia, sometimes referred to as “Indian ice cream.” It is popular in India, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, as well as the Middle East. It can be found in Indian restaurants around the world.

Kulfi is similar to ice cream in appearance but is denser and creamier. It is most similar to frozen custard desserts in North America and comes in a variety of flavors—but the most popular and traditional ones are pistachio, vanilla, mango, rose, cardamom, and saffron. It is often served on a stick but can also be eaten off a plate, leaf, or out of a cup. 

The dessert likely originated in northern India (then under the Mughal Empire) in the 16th century. Traditional desserts already contained a condensed milk mixture to which the Mughals added pistachios and saffron, packed it into metal cones, and froze it using a slurry mixture of ice and salt. 

To prepare this delicious dessert, sweetened or flavored milk is cooked very slowly with constant stirring so the milk does not stick. It is cooked until it is thickened and its volume is reduced by half. This caramelizes the lactose and sugar, giving kulfi a distinct flavor.

Ingredients:

1- Milk-2 cups

2- Sugar- 4-5 tbsp.

3- Saffron strands- 5-6

4- Pistachios- sliced

5- Green cardamom powder- 1 tsp.

6- Milk powder-3 tbsp. (Optional)

Method:

* In a thick bottomed kadai, thicken milk till half in volume, basically we have to make rabri.

* Add saffron and milk powder also if using and also add in later stage, sugar and cardamom powder.

* Add sliced pistachios and cool before freezing.

* This time I made it in katori instead of kulfi mould and it turned out creamy and soft too.