Rose Almond Kulfi

Rose Almond Kulfi

Kulfi is nothing but Ice Cream Desi style. The being, the love poured into the Kulfi while it is made. No eggs, of course...

The Kulfi maker is totally slaving over the dish which has the milk boiling away to thicken and make the creamiest and delicious Kulfi. It is imperative that you know...sweat and blood are mixed in this “double double toil and trouble, cauldron bubble “quite literally...

 So it is better for your queasy senses that you try out this Kulfi at home. Minus some one’s sweat and blood...because the cauldron will be bubbling for a long, long time.

No pictures here, except those of the final product...only because we were attempting to recreate my mum’s recipe in a large ...as in huge quantity. This was to cater for almost 6 dozen people and in all the rush and confusions, photographs were the last thing on my mind.

The Kulfi turned out super fantastic and different. Perfect for this weather and as a perfect antidote for a heavy lunch.

What cools you better than roses???The aroma and the actual petals...

 FYI roses are really great for digestion and for cooling your system...that is why they make “gulukand” (which is something like a preserve made from rose petals.)

I added dried rose petals to the Kulfi, just as an experiment...got the idea from Mr Jiggs Kalra himself(he resides on my bedside table...in one of the tomes...Prasad Cooking with the Indian masters.) yes, currently on my bedside table is this book and an old tottering , torn tome by Jeffery Archer.

No wonder my dreams are never restful...Technicolor and full of smells.

I catered for 75 servings, but am toning the recipe to cater to 15 servings.

For the

Rose almond Kulfi...

You need

3 litres whole milk (full cream)

1 tin /400 mils condensed milk (milkmaid is synonymous)

200 Gms- or less   sugar

10-15 green cardamom

20 Gms or a fistful of dried rose petals

50 Gms almonds

1 tsp corn flour (optional)

1 tsp rose essence/ 2tsp rose water

½ tsp Kewra water

Its best to make this Kulfi when you are in a benevolent mood...remember patience and a lot of love are needed to make something like this. Any dithering and you can burn the milk...which will make it totally unpalatable.

Possession of a slow cooker will be a blessing at this stage...even an induction cooker is great. If not, the humble LPG will have to do.

Avoid any wooden/silicone spatulas here...they transfer flavours of the past dishes they have encountered. Stick to stainless steel ladles.

Put the milk in a heavy bottom pan on the heat. Once it comes to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer stirring frequently till it reduces to approximately half.

If the best way is the same way as we make rabri...for more instructions, check it out here.

Once three litres has reduced to anywhere between 1.5 to 1.7 litres, coarsely crush the almonds and put into the boiling milk.

The consistency of the milk should be like cream by now.

Grind half the sugar and the green cardamom to a fine powder and sieve the powder to get rid of the fibrous part of the cardamom. You now have the seeds powdered without the headache of peeling the pods.

Stir the sugar, cardamom mix into the milk and taste. Add some of the remaining sugar. Keep the sugar a little light; you are going to add the sweetened condensed milk too.

If you are going to add the corn flour, mix it in a tsp of cold milk and pour it into the Kulfi, stirring till it boils. You can omit the corn flour, if this is for a fast.

Turn the flame off now and add the rose essence or rose water.

Cover the Kulfi and let it cool.

One it is cool, taste for sugar, and pour in only as much milkmaid as needed. You may add the whole tin...but only if you think it is needed.

Bring out your hand blender and blend the Kulfi, the errant bits of malai/ thickened creamy milk will dissolve and the crushed almonds will make it even creamier.

Just a few churns will do it...

At this stage if you wish to, add more slivered almonds.

Wash the rose petals and put these in. Stir well, adding the Kewra water.

Kewra water counters the sweetness of the rose petals and lends a very royal touch to the Kulfi.

Unmoulded and sliced...

And cut up..

The main difference between an ice-cream and a Kulfi is the air. Ice-cream has air in corporate into it and Kulfi does not.

Serve this Kulfi with a few rose petals or with faluda...

Thin noodles made of corn flour...

That we leave for another post.

You wont believe the aroma that was wafting from the kulfi and the rose petals....

Try it!

Enjoy the taste of the Kulfi...it will take you back to the olden times...

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Doughnuts Plain and Simple and Some with Chocolate Glaze

Doughnuts and coffee...awesome combination.
And if it is raining, even better! 
My memories of doughnuts are of my mum making loads of them...when I was little ...she hardly ever dunked them in chocolate though...
But always sweet and encrusted in sugar!
And then I wonder why I love sweet....

After the onslaught of Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee's books on my delicate emotional balance..I needed some succor.
The emotional pain that the women bear in  her books is so, so, much ,that it sort of rubbed off on my normal cheerful self ...and I found myself in tears watching the new movie Cocktail...egh!(ps Cocktail stars Saif Ali ,Deepika Padukone and a newbie.)

Totally not happening!
 I have been debating with myself...should I read  50 shades or should I not read...after all that self deprecating literary fiction...I Totally NEEDED the trash.
They just fell into my lap...neighbour lent them to me....so that omitted the mental battle,and after the 50 Shades Freed(the last of the three!), the only thing I need an answer to is..."Whats the big deal????"
OK, it is trash...so many grammatical errors...and literal freedom-I mean new words constructed without a reason...
Well Whatever!
All I know is that I am ready to face the world all over again...and I wont be crying after watching a soppy scene on celluloid soon!
So Doughnuts!

The rains are playing hanky panky with our plans..never a dry evening and the days are sunny and sticky and humid.Had the cycle been the other way round, life would have been so much more beautiful!So we are stuck indoors.
If only ,is not an expression I live by...I'd rather attack from the front.
With no intention of toiling over the hot stove making something yummy...I decided on Doughnuts!
Plain are quite boring , so we dunked them in chocolate "almost" ganache.
Result...awesome!
This is my mums recipe...of yore!!!

Leaning tower of goodness here!
So easy , you don't need any special equipment or tools...just a small amount of yeast and you are ready to go.


for the

Doughnuts Plain and Simple and Some with Chocolate Glaze...


you need


3 1/4 cups plain flour
2 1/2 tsp dried yeast
2 tbsp sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 cup or 60 gms butter
3 egg yolks
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder

3-4 cups vegetable oil to deep fry

for the Plain Sugar Doughnuts

Tip 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon powder or lemon zest into a Zip Pouch and keep aside.(I used cinnamon)

for the Chocolate Glazed Doughnuts-"almost" Ganache

100 gms semi sweet chocolate 

2 tbsp cream

2 tbsp sugar

This is the yeast...cute bottle.

Mix the yeast in 2 tbsp warm water, if it froths up after 5 minutes use it. else , discard and start afresh.

Place the flour, the salt, sugar , cinnamon and butter in a big bowl and rub the butter into the flour.

Now the egg yolks.

Knead with the yeast and the milk(keep warm).

Knead for a couple of minutes too let the gluten stretch and rest covered in a warm place to double.

OK , rested and doubled....now for the rolling.Roll a small portion of the dough gently with the help of some flour to 1/2 cm thickness. I don't have a doughnut cutter, so a steel glass and a mini cookie cutter did the trick.

Roll out all the doughnuts and place the oil to heat.If you inhabit cold climes, you may need to let the doughnuts rest and prove/double in size a while, but this place is HOT!

The small centres I left as they were...tiny snack.Munchkins!!! That baby Sanskriti adores..(The small centres are called munchkins...keeps the dough soft as you are not rerolling and handling the dough unnecessarily....and the small lill munchkins are apt for tiny hands.)

Almost Ganache...the stuff in a microwave safe bowl...nuked at half power for 2 minutes.

And that gives you a glossy dip...

Yup...no pic of the dipping, but when Kanchan and I get together...its too much ,to not talk.

Once the oil is hot...three doughnuts at a time. Lift them up like neonates(new borns...)...and gently slide them in...you want that shape.

Fry on a low flame...all puffed up and golden!The one on top is the rerolled doughnut.Roll out, cut and fry....till all the dough is used up. The munchkins ,we fried last-all together.

Wait 2 minutes and throw into the zip pouch and shake...

For the special some...wait 2 minutes and then dip in the ganache and place on a platter and sprinkle some coloured sprinkles...
The doughnuts need to cool a bit or the almost ganache just slips off.Sprinkle.....

Eh Voila!

Warm doughnuts taste the best....with or without the coffee...

And  the lill Munchkins...

Go ahead and try these at home...Indulge!

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Egg Free Mango Ice Cream Home made

“...stop pacing the aisles and counting the miles. Instead, climb more mountains, eat more ice cream, go barefoot oftener, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets, laugh more and cry less. Life must be lived as we go along. ” 
― Robert J. Hastings, Tinyburg Tales

Yay! Three cheers for ice cream!
The perfect end or beginning to any meal. You don't need a reason to lick an ice cream off  a spoon. My idea  of heaven ...chocolate ice cream over a bed of Brownies , topped with a hot fudge sauce and salted caramel to just contrast the flavours...

My mouth is watering as I blog...
But unfortunately for me...no one in Ranchi stocks my faves...the best Indian Brand is undoubtedly is Nirulas21 Ice creams. Though the salted caramel is my addition...you need some salt to break the onslaught of the sugar!

My mind seems to be a little confused...am I blogging about chocolate or mango.(if you have been keeping track- I am not that fond of mangoes.)
And sadly for me, no one here shares my adoration for chocolate.
So I tread the chocolate-path alone!
And blog about mango!The ladies around me- my partners in crime are quite obsessed with mangoes...so I indulge them...I do get my way around once in a while..remember the Chocolate chip Oreo Brownie Bar??Next on the agenda sometime are Oreo Cupcakes with oreo-"ed" frosting!
Back to Mango Ice cream! Egg free and so simple that even those with two left feet in the kitchen will be able to make them.
And you only need four things , and your freezer!

for the

Egg Free Mango Ice Cream Home Made...

you  need

700-800 gms mango puree
350 gms whipped cream(non dairy here of course)
1 tbsp gelatin
2 tbsp lemon juice
sugar to taste

Mangoes are the only fruit in season here, so there is no dearth of mangoes. Various varieties available . Take your pick of the fruit. You can use puree if mangoes are not available.
We started with a kilo of mangoes.

Peeled , now chop and process the mangoes.

Now the lemon juice and the gelatin...let the gelatin blossom. Place the bowl in simmering water and let the gelatin melt.

Once processed, pass the mango through a sieve.
Messy,I know...but some one's got to do it!(PS I didn't!)

Basic reason, you don't want mango fibres in your mouth when you slurp or lick the ice cream off your lips...do you??
OK in a big bowl...add the whipped cream.

Gently blend them together, tasting if you need sugar. We added about 3 tbsp of sugar...as the non dairy cream is also mildly sweetened.If you use dairy cream, that will make your ice cream really SMOOTH....like a baby's bottom.

Add in the melted gelatin and mix thoroughly. Else you end up with streaks of set gelatin. 

The gelatin ensures that you don't have any ice crystals....and the texture is smooth like...

No baby's bottom but....This baby's smooth head...freshly shaved...she liked the ice cream even now.
Yes I had company....along with Ritu and Kanchan...this time the baby and her mummy Rashi came for coffee, gossip and a lesson in ice cream making!
Freeze till almost solid and then process once.

And refreeze.
Now , the volume reduces a bit....as you have beaten some of the air out.
After a couple of hours...we had a power failure that made the ice cream melt out...so I processed it again...and popped it in this container...to look store bought!
Ready to scoop out...

And pop in a glass...style quotient, eh?who likes plain?
Et Voila...

Embellish with Hershey's Strawberry Syrup and Skittles....

And dig in...I did have a couple of spoons! For mango...it is good.

The scoop looks  like a  little yellow Elmo!
OK better pic!

I hope you stored the mango in your freezer...
I did warn you..
Go ahead, and indulge...I am most definitely going to do the chocolate ice cream ASAP!


So what are not you baking today???

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Lemon Curd Filled Cup Cakes...

An Indulgence...Lemon Curd Filled Cup Cakes
I ,for one, have forever loved lemon tarts.There is something about the sunshine yellow colour and the fragrance of the lemon and the tang and tartness of the fruit...and when you add to it ,butter and sugar...after chocolate, lemon is my next death wish.

These pretty little cupcakes were hollowed out and filled with a halo of lemon curd. I could have meringue-"ed" them or added cream frosting...but that would have diluted the flavours of the lemon curd.
This heat and humidity...nothing hits better than lemon!
Actually these cup cakes have been on my mind since I made the Lemon Chiffon Cake with Lemon curd Frosting and had some lemon curd left over...only we finished the lemon curd and i made a fresh batch for these.

The lemon curd just oooozzzzzzing out of the cupcakes...
For those of you who like your eggs just cooked for 6 minutes....this is such a close call! I never knew about this 6 minute business,until I heard Anthony Bourdain describe his love for eggs...just done in 6 minutes. Right and so perfect. Even the rudest chef on TV(...well not quite the rudest Gordan Ramsay is always the &*^*  rudest) can teach you so much about the chemistry of food...other than tickling your funny bones.
If you have'nt heard...he calls himself and egg whore...
If only one gets paid to eat what one loves the best!!!

The doughnut like things you see are also cupcakes...just baked in these really cute jelly molds.
Easier to pour the lemon curd into them.
And love the ooze of the lemon curd...OK you can do simple cream ...or maybe macerated fruits...that's an Idea...dunk fruit in rum or vodka...and fill a cupcake with them and indulge!
wow!

Lets move on...

for the

Lemon Curd Filled Cup Cakes...

you need

1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil/butter
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 cups caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon juice

Pre heat your oven 180C/350F and line your muffin tray with paper cups. I had these cute jelly molds that I greased and floured ..they were small so I got 13muffins ...a read bakers dozen!!
Cute...look like mini doughnuts!

Start with the eggs...and the sugar

Sift the dry stuff...the salt, flour and the baking powder twice and beat the egg and sugar mix.Zest the lemon into this.

Add in the oil and then beat in a third of the flour..

Mix the milk and the lemon juice and set aside,fold in the remaining flour and vanilla essence into the batter.
Now pour the milk..you will need all of it.
And gradually fold it in...gently!

Now pour into the waiting molds...

Into the oven...22 minutes. The voltage was playing hot and cold here that day ...so maybe your cupcakes cook faster.Don't walk away too far...

All done and soft and smelling heavenly!!!!!!!And once they were cool...we filled them with the lemon curd...you can see that the cupcakes were not cool enough the lemon curd was melting...that can only mean one thing I have no. NO patience when it comes to yummy food!
The lemon curd was made here, and this was the second batch.

Then it was just a matter of fill and serve and eat...
Skipped dinner two days in a row...I'd rather eat healthy! Eggs!

Beautiful and lush..

Try them , you will be left salivating for more!!

So what are you baking today???

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