Recipe: Kesar Kulfi (Summer Special Dessert)

Read at your own risk. This post may stir up childhood memories and serious dessert cravings!!😜

Do you remember the bells ringing close to midnight? Most of the 80s and 90s kids used to wait to hear those bells without sleeping. I remember the days were my brother used to try all odds to defy sleep, just not to miss them. The moment the shrieking sound is heard at the corner of our street, he used to rush outside and scream out aloud "kulfi uncleeeee!!!", to make sure the kulfiwala doesn't turn away without entering our street. Especially when our cousins visit us during holidays, the entire gang will be awake to treat ourselves to that mouth-watering dessert. 

In our city, kulfiwala used to come on a tricycle, with a big earthen pot filled with kulfis. He removes the kulfis from the cone, cut them into pieces and serves them on a leaf. Those days, kulfis will be of only one flavor - elachi (cardamom). The leaf on which it is served added a peculiar aroma and flavor to those kulfis, making them taste wonderful. The aroma still lingers fresh in my memory. With the passage of days, the quality of the kulfis started to slump. Moreover, they couldn't withstand the competition posed by the advent of ice parlors. Gradually, the kulfis and kulfiwalas started to lose their reign. 

When we dig into history, milk-made desserts aren't new in Indian cuisine. Almost all the regions in India had a spread of delicacies made using condensed milk. But it was during the Mughal period, that kulfis, which were made of condensed milk and flavored with saffron and nuts, were invented. Since then kulfis with a variety of flavors (cardamom, pistachios, almonds, saffron, rose milk, etc.) have come into existence. Today, I am sharing the recipe for Kesar (saffron) kulfi enhanced with almonds and cashew nuts.     

I am sure, by now, you will be drooling for a kulfi. Don't you? Check out this recipe which needs only 3 ingredients to make and relish Kulfis!!

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Ingredients:

• Milk (full fat) - 1 litre
• Kesar (saffron) - 10 strands 
• Sugar - 3 tbsp
• Nuts powder - 1 tbsp (optional)

Procedure:

• First, take 1 litre of full-fat milk into a thick bottomed vessel and boil it on a high flame
• Once the milk starts to boil, reduce the flame to medium, add the saffron strands, mix well and continue to boil on medium flame
• Continue to stir the milk regularly. Scrap the milk solids from the bottom and sides of the vessel and mix them back in the boiling milk
• Once the milk has reduced to 1/3rd, add sugar and continue to boil on low flame until the sugar dissolves
• Finally, add the coarsely powdered nuts and mix well. You may skip this step if you don't prefer nuts.
• Allow the mixture to cool down completely and pour it into kulfi molds and refrigerate until completely frozen. It will take between 4 - 6 hrs, depending on your refrigerator and freezer temperature
• For 1 litre of milk, I was able to make 6 kulfis
• Once frozen, demold and enjoy the delicious kulfis with your loved ones

Tips:

• You can use powdered almonds/ cashew/ pistachio or a mix of all three. They bring in additional richness and taste to the kulfis. I have used a mix of almonds and cashew nuts in my recipe
• If you want to cut down the cooking time, add equal portions of condensed milk and full-fat milk. Ensure to adjust the quantity of sugar as condensed milk will have added sugar
• If you don't have kulfi molds, you can use popsicle molds instead.

Check out below for the video link.