Kulfi

Kulfi is a South Asian frozen dessert made by reducing sweetened milk, pouring it into molds and freezing it. Besides cone-shaped kulfi on a stick, there are cylindrical versions and versions served in small vessels. It comes in many flavors, including pistachio, almond, saffron, cardamom and mango. Whatever the flavor or shape, all are made the same way: reduced milk is frozen with almost no whipping.

Reducing the Milk and Freezing It Without Whipping

Reducing milk lowers its water content and raises the proportion of milk solids. The same volume of liquid then holds a higher concentration of milk components. For traditional kulfi, the milk is concentrated in a pan while being stirred, and sugar and flavorings are added. Reduction is not just a way to add sweetness. It sets the concentration and flavor of the milk before freezing. Stirring during heating is also essential to keep the milk from sticking to the pan and scorching.

In one example used in Indian dairy education, the milk is concentrated to about twice its original strength, combined with sugar and nuts, and then packed into molds. How far the milk is concentrated varies from method to method. Some methods add malai, the rich part of milk, and others add extra milk solids. Several approaches are used to create a rich milk flavor.

The technical difference from ordinary ice cream lies in overrun. Overrun is the percentage by which volume increases as air is taken in during freezing. Kulfi is frozen without being stirred, so air adds almost no volume. Kulfi taken out of its mold has a dense, compact texture because concentrated milk is frozen with little air.

Freezing speed also affects texture, along with the proportions of sugar and milk solids. Rapid freezing tends to produce fine ice crystals. Besides the conventional method of chilling with ice and salt, trials have also used liquid nitrogen to freeze kulfi in a short time. Cooling methods differ in these ways, but all share the same approach: concentrated milk is put into molds and frozen with little air. This gives kulfi its dense texture.

Chilling the Molds from the Outside with Ice and Salt

In traditional production, small covered molds are buried in a mixture of ice and salt. Adding salt lowers the temperature at which ice melts, so the surrounding mixture can become colder than ice made from water alone. The salt is not added in large amounts to the sweet milk. It is used to chill the outside of the molds. The molds keep the milk and the coolant from mixing and also shape each serving.

Molds come in cone, cylinder and other shapes. The finished kulfi can be taken out of the mold and sliced on a plate, or eaten by holding the stick. Some kulfi is set in an earthenware vessel called a matka and served in it. This is a different way of eating kulfi from the stick version.

Platts’s 19th-century dictionary lists qulfī as a Persian word and defines it as a mold for ices or a covered cup. This definition shows that the name kulfi also refers to a tool: a mold that holds sweet milk while it is chilled from the outside.

From a Frozen Dessert of Rich Milk to Street Trade

The history of kulfi is often linked to the Mughal court. The Ain-i Akbari, a 16th-century record of Akbar’s court, describes how covered metal flasks were chilled by moving them in an outer liquid of water mixed with saltpeter. There are also records of ice being carried by water and overland from Panhan in the northern mountains. Preparing cold food required more than preparing the milk. Cooling materials and equipment also had to be obtained. These records describe the court’s cooling techniques. They do not identify the recipe (the ingredient proportions and method) or the inventor of today’s kulfi.

People who sell kulfi on city streets are called kulfiwalas. Kulfi, frozen one serving at a time in molds, also became something sold from storefronts and street stalls. Prakash Kulfi in Lucknow has a shop history connected with migration at the time of Partition.

Prakash Chandra Arora’s family left West Punjab in 1947 and moved to Bareilly, and later to Lucknow. Arora started selling kulfi from a small wooden stand near Aminabad Park and opened a shop in 1956. The business grew into a shop selling kulfi falooda along with flavors such as saffron and rose. Falooda is a sweet that contains thin, noodle-like strands, which add a soft, noodle-like texture to the rich kulfi.

According to the shop’s history, it used to operate during the season from Shivaratri to Ganga Snan. This is an example of the frozen-dessert trade following the local religious calendar. In Delhi as well, shops sell kulfi falooda in the Matia Mahal market near the Jama Masjid. Home cooking techniques and the court’s cooling techniques are part of kulfi’s history. So is the work of migrant families who opened shops and kept selling in the markets. Trades like these have also helped pass down the ways kulfi is eaten.

Glossary