Malai Kulfi

I am sure every one of us would have fond memories of summer holidays. Some of the best memories of my childhood are from the summer holidays time. We would get up quite early and play different board games all through the day with our friends from the colony. Repeated calls from Amma for lunch or anything else would fall upon our deaf ears, for we would be too busy playing.  Come evening, all of us along with our parents would take long walks to the park enjoying the little breeze. We kids always used to wait for that magic call ‘Kulfi’ from the kulfi-wala. He sold a small piece of Kulfi for a meager 2 rupees. On days we were lucky, we spotted another kulfi-wala minutes after the first one and on persuasion, we would get treated again 😀 Now that I think of it, it was not the taste of the kulfi that mattered. In fact, it could not have been more watery but then, the fun of having it with your friends – chanceless.

I had a packet of full cream milk last week and I decided to put it to good use. After the success of mango popsicle, I was willing to try with the mould again. Quickly, preparations for Malai Kulfi began. Dad was assigned the task of chopping cashews and badams which he expertly finished in no time. The most time consuming part was cooking the milk to reduce to half, to get the rich texture. I poured a part of the prepared mixture in popsicle moulds and the extra in some steel tumblers. To my utter surprise, the kulfis from the steel tumblers turned out better than the ones from the mould. Just as we waited impatiently while the kulfi-wala inserted a wooden stick into the kulfi and ran a small knife through the mould to remove the kulfi when we were kids, I couldn’t contain my excitement doing the same in my kitchen, all these years later.

Recipe

What I used –

• Milk, ½ ltr
• Sugar, 8 teaspoon (can be adjusted to taste)
• Finely Chopped Nuts, 2 tablespoon ( I used Cashews and Almonds)
• Cardamom Powder, 1 tsp

How I made –

1. In a thick bottom vessel, bring milk to boil. Reduce the flame to low and keep stirring the milk until it’s reduced in half. Should take atleast 20mins. This step is crucial for the rich creamy malai kulfi.
2. Add sugar, cardamom powder and finely chopped cashews & almonds. Keep stirring until the sugar is dissolved, in low flame. Keep aside and let it cool.
3. Pour into popsicle moulds or steel tumblers and refrigerate for atleast 6hrs.
4. To remove the kulfi from the mould, immerse the mould in water at room temperature for 10 secs. Insert a wooden ice-cream stick/bamboo skewer, run a knife through the edges and gently pull the kulfi out.

Note: The quantity of sugar can be increased or decreased according to one’s taste. The kulfi takes longer time to freeze (or so I felt) and is quick to melt. Work on removing it from the mould quickly and serve immediately. Saffron can be added for flavor/color. As I didn’t have any, I have not used it.