Mango Kulfi

Greetings, dear readers! I'm back today with what will be my last post before we enter Ramadan on Thursday, in sha Allah. It's going to be a very different experience for me this year, as it's the first time that I'll observing Ramadan whilst working full time. In previous years, I have usually been on summer holidays, which has meant that even though the weather has been quite hot, it was mostly a calm and reflective time for me. Nothing at all like running after children and talking all day long! I only hope and pray that it will be something that increases me in patience and willpower. May we all be able to benefit from this Ramadan, ameen!

As Ramadan has been in the warmer months for the last few years, our eating habits when we break our fasts for the iftar meal has changed. People from the Indian sub-continent especially are notorious for having lavish feasts with very rich (and often deep fried!) foods. However, myself and my family have been trying harder to stay away from indulging too much in heavy foods during Ramadan as it's obviously not the best thing health wise, and also because such types of food are often the last thing you want to eat in the summertime. I have increasingly been enjoying consuming less hot food (both in temperature and spice!) that is lighter on the stomach after a long day of fasting. Last year especially, we often had something cold on the table, like this watermelon granita, or ice cream to cool us off.

As such, I've brought for your this version of a traditional desi mango kulfi which is quick and easy to make and involves no churning! I only tried kulfi a few years ago actually, as I think it is more popular in India and Pakistan than Bangladesh. A quick google search will reveal that kulfi is not just the Indian version of ice cream. Though creamy, it has a slight icy texture. And most importantly, it has a very ditinctive taste from the addition of pistachios. Kulfi comes in different flavours such as plain pistachio, or malai, however I went for mango as we are smack bang in the middle of mango season at the moment.

I have made this kulfi twice now, both times using tinned mangoes rather than fresh mango. I chose tinned mango mainly because it is just more convenient and also because tinned mango is pretty much always guaranteed to be sweet. Using kesar tinned mango pulp gave a much more vibrant colour to the kulfi. When I used another tinned mango brand, I had to mash the mango using a fork before I could add it to the mix.

Mango Kulfi

Serves: 6-10

Prep time: 30 minutes

Freezing Time: 12 hours 

Original Recipe from Kurry Leaves

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

1 1/2 tbsp cornflour

3/4 cup condensed milk

pinch cardamom powder or 3 whole green cardamoms

2-3 tbsp chooped pistachios

1 1/2 - 2 tbsp sugar

1 - 1 1/2 cup of pureed mango (tinned or fresh)

Method:

1) Pour 3/4 cup of milk in a pot along with sugar and condensed milk. Bring to a boil and stir frequently.

2) In a small bowl, create a slurry with the remaining 1/4 cup milk and cornflour. Mix well together. Once the condensed milk mixture in the pot comes to a boil, add the cornflour slurry and stir in well. Keep on stirring the mixture on a medium to high heat until the mixture becomes thick. Once it has thickened so that it coats the back of your spoon, add in the cardamom powder and pistachio. Stir in and then remove from heat.

3) Allow the mix to cool then stir in the puréed mango. Pour into a freezable container or moulds and freeze overnight. 

To remove the kulfi from the mould and seve, place the container in a shallow bath of hot water which should help it to come out more easily.