Mango Kulfi

When the temperatures soar, you can have a sweet treat to beat the escalating summer heat with something called Kulfi. Since mangoes are everywhere now, what better way than to blend them with kulfi.

Kulfi is a frozen milk based desert, and is traditionally made by freezing reduced milk (rabri). This is a tedious process of babysitting the milk till it is reduced (as there is a risk of milk sticking to the bottom of the pan if it is not stirred continuously). Short cut to make kulfi is to add any thickening agent.

In India, kulfi is sold by kulfiwalas (vendors) who keep the kulfi frozen by placing the moulds inside the large matkas (earthen pots) filled with ice and salt. They serve it on a leaf, or frozen onto a stick. Popular flavors are saffron, pistachio, vanilla, rose. 

In hot summers, most people prefer to have ice creams. Ice creams are whipped to make it creamy and light. On the other hand, kulfi is made by freezing the reduced milk, making it dense. For this reason, kulfi takes longer time to melt than ice cream. Hence, I personally prefer having kulfi to ice cream, on any given hot day.

Ingredients

500ml milk
1 cup mango pulp
½ cup condensed milk (adjust according to the sweetness of mangoes)
a pinch of cardamom powder

6-8  almonds (blanched and ground to a course paste)
1 tbsp rice flour

Method

• Boil milk in a heavy bottomed pan on a high heat, and then let it reduce on low flame.
• Dissolve rice flour in 2 tbsp milk.
• Add condensed milk, ground almond paste, rice flour and keep stirring to avoid lumps.
• Simmer for 10 min or till it thickens (stir in between, otherwise, milk can stick to the bottom of the pan)
• Switch of the flame, add cardomom powder and mix well. Let the mixture cool completely.
• Add mango pulp and mix well.
• Pour the mixture into kulfi moulds or serving bowls.
• Freeze for 6-8 hrs or overnight.
• Unmould and serve kulfi with some chopped mangoes and sprinkle of love.