Kesar Pista Badam Kulfi/ Popsicle

What if I tell you the recipe below requires no cooking at all. I don't remember where I read it  (it was a recipe published in some news paper , some eons ago when my daughter wanted to relish home made Kulfis) just noted down the recipe. I made them once again last week when I had some roasted and ground nuts in excess, remember I had used them in the Trifle post  and did not want them to go stale. That's when I remembered I had to make a blog post and share the recipe with you all. All it takes is to mix up the ingredients that is easily available in Indian households and then set to freeze in Kulfi molds. How easy is that. No one should ever miss out on relishing Kulfis assuming the laborious task it takes with the traditional cooking method. With Kesar (Saffron) Pista (Pistachio) and Badam (Almonds) making its presence in this dessert I am sure most of us can gorge on this one any occasion. 

Now for some trivia , I had never tasted Kulfi or the likes of anything with Pista and Badam in it until about a year back. I have a love hate relationship with things made from cream, or evaporated milk / khoya or even condensed milk. Somehow the amount of sugar that went into all these desserts scared me and I was never a sweet person until the second child came by. Blame it on the hormones I now can eat anything sweet every single day. But hey I know I know I am watching my food intake these days. So everything is under control. After all food is 70% of what makes us. Exercise is just 30%. 

Now that the temperatures are rising with the summer advancing, why not try this version of Kulfi. The only change I have done here is to use roasted nuts instead of blanched nuts. I am sure you will be happy to relish some home made Kulfis than to reach out to the nearby store. This recipe may be high on calories compared to the traditional one but hey no harm in trying out a quick way once in a blue moon. We don't have sweets regularly so it was a perfect excuse to indulge on some Kulfis made this way. Once you taste this version of popsicle its too hard to resist. 

Ingredients 

Full fat milk (boiled and cooled)                                             1 cup

Cream                                                                                   1 cup

Roasted and ground Almond/Pista                                           1/2 cup                                  

Saffron strands                                                                      7-8

Condensed milk                                                                     1/2 cup to 3/4 cup

Cardamom Powder                                                                 1/2 to 1 tsp

Popsicle/ Kulfi mould                                                               6

Popsicle sitcks                                                                        6

My way of making

1) Roast the Almonds and Pistas together. If on a stove top, keep stirring until the nuts just begin to brown and emit a nutty smell. They continue to cook when cooling as well. If on a microwave, on full power cook them on bursts of 1 minute and remember to stir them each time you take them out to check. This process should take somewhere between 2 to 3 minutes. Remember they are still cooking when out of the oven as well. Once cooled just pulse the nuts such that they are still bits and not powdered fully.

2) When cooled down grind together with 1/4 cup of milk and the nuts to form a paste like consistency. Pour it into a bowl. At the same time mix few strands of saffron in 2 tbsps of warm milk and keep aside.

3) To the same bowl that has the paste add the remaining milk, cardamom powder, cream, saffron infused milk and condensed milk. Start with 1/2 cup of condensed milk. You can increase or reduce based on your preference. 1/2 cup was just perfect for us. Mix them well. You can use a balloon whip for the same.

4) Once mixed, pour them into the moulds and freeze. 

5) After about 2-3 hours throw in the popsicle sticks right into the center of the mould. 

6) To un-mould the kulfis run the mould under room temperature water or rub the mould in between the palms.

Notes

1) One can avoid saffron all together but addition gives a good colour.

2) Either Pistas or Badams can be used one at a time.

3) If you don't have moulds use any container or steel glass or paper cups to pour the mix into.

4) Be patient while unmoulding else you may end up with broken kulfis.