Living in the states, I have yet to find a place that makes authentic kulfi–a creamy, grainy textured icecream with just a hint of cardamom. I picked one from a grocery store I get my meat from AFTER I made this kulfi. I inspected the ingredients, reassured that condensed milk was not listed and took a bite. Oh let me tell you that that sorry piece of kulfi did not even come close. I’m not saying it was not good. It was good but it just wasn’t kulfi.
The key ingredient in kulfi is khoya. Khoya is essentially those milk solids you see clinging to the sides of the pot when you let milk simmer for a long long time. Unless you want to stand over the stove and seduce the milk, I suggest you get a nice big 350g block of Khoya or Mava from a South Asian store. It’s about 7 bucks. For this recipe you will only need about 1/3 of that block so you can triple the recipe if you like.
- 4 cups whole milk
- 6 tbsp Sugar
- ¾ cups crumbled milk solids (Khoya)
- ¼ tsp crushed cardamom seeds
- ¼ cup chopped nuts, optional (almonds and pistachio)
- In a stainless steel saucepan over medium heat, bring milk and sugar to a simmer until sugar has dissolved-- a couple minutes.
- Lower the flame and add in the crumbled milk solids.
- Continue cooking the milk on a low heat for 30-40 minutes so the milk solids can dissolve. The texture will remain a bit grainy. Make sure to stir every once in a while to ensure that the milk doesn't catch at the bottom of the pan.
- Add in the crushed cardamom seeds and nuts.
- Pour the kheer in any freezer-safe molds (kheer molds are available online) and place in freezer for a few hours until the kheer is frozen.
- To unmold, place a toothpick or popsicle stick into the center of the frozen kheerand place the mold in hot water for 10 seconds. Run a knife along the edge of the mold to loosen the kheer using the popsicle stick.
- Enjoy!