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Summer is coming and obviously the search for delicious and fresh recipes begins, so I decided to take you to India to taste the Saffron Kulfi! A milk-based, delicate and soft ice cream. Today’s is a Kesar Kulfi or a saffron Kulfi, in addition to saffron, I flavoured it with cardamom and added cashews, almonds and chopped pistachios. The taste is really pleasant, and it is perfect to enjoy for a snack or for a delicious end of meal.

The Origins of the Kulfi
Kulfi is an Indian ice cream that originated in the 16th century during the Mughal Empire which occupied the territories of the Himalayas. It is a very popular dessert and not only in India. Its popularity goes as far as the countries of the Middle East. The term Kulfi means “open cup”, which refers to the ancient metal cones in which they were placed to freeze and is traditionally prepared in an earthenware pot called “kullad”.
Kulfi is an ice cream made only with whole milk which is reduced over low heat. The loss of volume condenses the milk giving it a toffee flavour. Once the milk has condensed, pistachios, saffron for the Kesar Kulfi, natural (Malai), paan (a mixture of betel leaves and areca nuts), mango, roses, Cardamom (elaichi) and or fruit are added, dry, although today it is also flavoured with other fruits.
It’s a more compact and dense ice cream than western ice cream which tends to be aerated during preparation. For this reason the Indian Kulfi takes longer to freeze.
Tips on How to Make Saffron Kulfi
The preparation of the Saffron Kulfi or Kulfi ingenerally is not complicated, it just requires a little patience and a good non-stick pan. As a first step, prepare the Manwa, so that no lumps form. The final appearance is the same as that of the Choux pastry before the incorporation of the eggs, therefore a very compact paste. Once ready, put it aside and continue with the preparation. The milk will have to evaporate until it’s 1/4 of its starting volume. With a good non-stick pan, the milk will not tend to stick and consequently to make lumps.
The saffron Kulfi once ready turned out to be really unexpectedly delicious. It is a somewhat unusual ice cream for those accustomed to the classic western ice cream. It is creamy, dense, not too sweet with a very intense saffron flavour. According to the recipe I followed, it takes ¼ tsp of saffron or 4 sachets of 0.150 g. I state that Kulfi should be consumed a few days after its preparation, because the aromas tend to stabilize and balance.
I tasted one the day after preparing it and as I said the saffron flavour while not overpowering the other flavours was really strong. While those eaten a few days, afterwards they were a little lighter in flavour. If you are not sure how your reaction could be or if not you resist and want to eat it the next day maybe half the quantities of saffron or if you want to go for a more decisive flavour or think you can resist a few days use the dose of recipe.

Saffron Kulfi – Kesar Kulfi
Attrezzature
- Ice Cream Molds
Ingredienti
Manwa
- 200 g Fresh Cream
- 120 g Milk Powder
- 115 g Milk
Milk Cream
- 2 l Milk whole
- 0,6 g Saffron
- 110 g Caster Sugar
- ¼ tsp Cardamom
- 20 g Pistachios
- 20 g Almonds
- 20 g Cashews
Preparazione
- Chop the dried fruit more or less fine, to your liking. Mortar the cardamom if you don't have it in powder.
Manwa
- In a non-stick pan put the cream, milk and milk powder, start to mix so that there are no lumps and then light over medium heat and keep stirring.200 g Fresh Cream, 120 g Milk Powder, 115 g Milk
- Continue mixing until the liquids have dried and a compact dough remains in the pan. Take it out of the pan and let it cool.
Milk Cream
- In a large non-stick pan, pour the 2 l of milk and saffron, start to cook the milk stirring over medium heat.2 l Milk, 0,6 g Saffron
- It continues to stir fine that the milk will not be withdrawn until ¼ of its initial volume.
- Add manwa and dissolve in the milk so that there are no lumps.
- Once dissolved add sugar, cardamom, almonds, pistachios and cashews. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.110 g Caster Sugar, ¼ tsp Cardamom, 20 g Pistachios, 20 g Almonds, 20 g Cashews
- Pour the mixture into the molds and let cool. Once cold put them in the freezer. It will take at least 8 hours.
- It’s advisable to consume them after a couple of days.
Nutrienti
Le informazioni nutrizionali sono una stima fornita da un calcolatore nutrizionale online. Non devono essere considerate un sostituto del consiglio di un nutrizionista professionista.