10 June 2008

Kesar Malai Kulfi

He perches himself at the street corner, mostly sheltered under a tree, dressed in white kurta-dhoti and fanning himself with his pinkish-red scarf. As the evening turns into dusk, it's business as usual as he pulls out a tiny aluminium kulfi mould from his ice-box, expertly snaps off the lid, pushes in a stick, scoops out the kulfi in perfect shape and hands it over to the impatient customer in exchange for a few coins. More customers approach his "stall" demanding assorted flavours of kulfi which he deftly hands out as cones or serving them sliced on tiny steel plates with toothpicks as cutlery, his till jingling with coins all the while. It's peak business season for him from summer through the monsoons. Finally the last customers have gone and it is late at night. He picks his icebox and walks through the streets shouting "Kulfiwale....kulfeeeeeee". More children and adults gather and he sells them the last of his wares before he wraps up for the day.

Kulfi is an exquisite Indian icecream with a rich and creamy texture. Unlike a typical icecream which is whipped till airy, kulfi is dense and solid in form. It is prepared by boiling down whole milk till it reduces to one-third of its original volume, adding sugar and some thickening agent and incorporating the desired flavour and freezing it. Mumbai is famous for it's kulfiwalas or kulfi vendors who are sighted at street corners, beach sides or khau-gallies. Kulfi is available in several flavours like malai/cream, rose, pista, kesar/saffron, chocolate, mango, strawberry, chickoo etc. It is sometimes served in a clay pot as matka kulfi. At weddings, kulfi is paired with rabadi or falooda or fresh fruit or malpua etc.
Kesar Malai Kulfi

You'll need:

5 cups whole milk
1 can(400 gms) sweetened condensed milk - I used Milkmaid
2 level tbsp cornflour
a pinch of cardamom powder
a pinch of saffron strands
a handful of skinned and sliced almonds

Bring the milk to a boil in a heavy-bottomed pan. Add the condensed milk to it and stir continuously till it reduces. Add the saffron strands and let it boil for 5 more minutes. Mix cornflour in a little milk or water at room temperature and add it to the boiling milk. When the milk starts to thicken, add the cardamon and almonds and mix well. Take off from flame and pour into kulfi moulds or a container with a tight-fitting lid. When cool, place the moulds or container in the freezer and let it set for 5-7 hours atleast. Serve as such or with dry fruits or chopped fresh fruit.

Related Posts:
Strawberry Icecream
Watermelon Icecream

Palada Payasam

28 comments:

jayasree said...

Your Kulfi is very tempting. Looks yummylicious.

SMN said...

thats a nice recipe for kulfi. this is my fav desert to.. will give it a try

Mishmash ! said...

beautiful piece of writing,jyothsna :)

VIDYA said...

hey iam defnitely trying this! :) looks yummmm

Finla said...

I love kulfi and this looks so delicious.

delhibelle said...

Both the kulfi and the post are so sweet and enjoyable! Thanks for sharing:)

Suganya said...

WOW.... This sounds so cool. Nice recipe. Love the presentation. YUM! Who wouldn't love malai kulfi...

Sagari said...

delecioussss kulfii

Sia said...

jyo, ur story took me down the memory lane:) how much i loved summer for mangoes, ice creams, kulfis and many more... wonderful post with equally delicious recipe:)

@the_whisk_affair said...

just a word : DIVINE!!!! loved it...first time on ur blog and i love it already!!

ranji said...

simply delicious...such a tempting dessert..love kulfi anytime..a perfect summer cooler:)..

Kalai said...

looks wonderful especially in this heat!! :)

Cham said...

Delicious post and recipe too :)

Shubha Ravikoti said...

lovely recipe will surely try it... atleast to be drawn back to those old memories...

Lovely

bha said...

the kulfi looks all tempting...i m already drooling

J said...


Jayasree, Smn, Vidya, Happy Cook, Sukanya, Sagari, Ranji, Kalai, Cham, Bhags - Thankyou and hope all of you try this easy summer dessert :)

Shn - Thanks dear, maybe you'll like this too

Delhibelle - Thankyou. It's amazing how food evokes fond memories!

Sia - I still love the summer and mangoes and icecreams...who said I've grown up :)

JZ - Welcome to Currybazaar and hope I see you here more often :)

Shubha - It's interesting how we associate old memories with food, no?

FH said...

Catching up today!:))

Yeah, we NEED that now here,it's 100F, feels like I ma in India, even with the AC on! Looks slurp!!:))

Purnima said...

Jyothsna, the kulfi looks yummmmmm!

Anonymous said...

Wow! How nostalgic you got me! Mouthwatering almost!

vandana rajesh said...

kulfi looks absolutely mouth watering...my husband loves kulfi ..will definitely try ur recipe.

Deepthi Shankar said...

thatz sooo yummm .. the pic itself is soo tempting :)

Shubha Ravikoti said...

Hey jyothsna... lovely kulfi... it reminds me of the strret side kulfi wala... yummm...:)
nice recipe

Do check my blog have something for u dear

Swati said...

Mmm..I love kulfi with falooda..
Its a whole of hard work making it at home ..urs looks yumm!!

Sig said...

Love Kulfis, and I loved your kulfiwaala description as well!

J said...


Asha - Surprisingly it has been cooler here last week than usual but still very hot!

Purnima, Mythili, Vandana, Vegetable Platter, Sig - This kulfi has been quite successful, I recommend you try :)

Shubha - Thankyou, how sweet of you!:)

Swati - I haven't made falooda at home yet, but want to make it soon!

Indranee Batabyal said...

Jyothsna, I'm glad to visit your blog. This kesar kulfi looks heavenly...feeling very hungry:) Keep it up!

Anonymous said...

I'm always looking for frozen dessert recipes that don't contain eggs. Thanks for this one !

Anonymous said...

Wow. My kids saw the picture of this and asked me to make it for them. Unbeknownst to me they had seen kulfi mentioned in one of their books and had been craving it. Thank you for the timely recipe!