White Chocolate Matka Kulfi

Kulfi is a very popular milk based dessert from Indian Subcontinent. Kulfi has similarities to ice cream in appearance and taste, but is denser and creamier (Source: Wiki). Unlike ice cream, Kulfi is not whipped, resulting in a solid, dense frozen dessert similar to traditional custard based ice-cream. Thus, it is sometimes considered a distinct category of frozen dairy-based dessert. Due to its density, Kulfi takes a longer time to melt than a regular ice-cream. Most popular flavor for Kulfi is Pistachio & nuts based.

Traditional Pistachio Kulfi served like Ice Cream here.

I like doing my Kulfis in a Matki (Little earthen pots) & this is a regular feature of our summer meals. Freezing the kulfi in an earthen cup (Matki) is the traditional way of doing it, if you don't have these available you can use easily available moulds for Ice pops.

This time I tried a fusion & added white chocolate to my recipe & the result was great. Apart from complimenting the flavor of milk & nuts, White chocolate adds a bite & increases the mouth feel of our wonderful dessert.

Ingredients

4 cups whole milk 

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup Ghirardelli White chocolate chips

6 Cardamom Pods

1/4 cup Chopped almonds

1/4 cup Unsalted/Shelled Pistachios chopped 

Little Matki's do the Magic

Method

Crush cardamom pods in a mortar. 

Heat milk and crushed cardamom pods together in a pan; bring to boil, then simmer vigorously until liquid is reduced to 1/3 of original amount. Strain the liquid into a heat-proof bowl filtering to remove cardamon, then stir in the sugar and chocolate chips until melted.

Add the almonds and pistachios to the mix & let it simmer for 10 mins on low heat, then leave to cool.

Pour the Kulfi mix in freezer for at least until firm, stirring every 30mins (should take ~1.5 to 2 hrs to firm up)

Pack the firmed up mixture into each of 5 cups (Matkis), cover tight with Aluminium Foil and tie it with a thread to make sure foil doesn't come off. Let the Matkis freeze for 8 hours and the mix would turn completely solid.

To serve, Leave the Matki cups out for 15-20 min to thaw, 

Sprinkle with some crushed pistachios and almonds and serve in Matki itself.

An inviting bite of Kulfi is all you need this Summer !!!

White Chocolate complements the flavors of caramelized milk really well.

And the nuts add the crunch to our Kulfi.

This can sure be a star of your Dinner Party, Hope you give it a try & let me know how you like it !!!