This is one of the first Kulfis that I made. Super amazing, super delicious and super easy. Everyone who have tried Malai Kulfi, have always requested for seconds and it melts everyone’s heart.
I believe the start of Kulfi must have been with malai kulfi. A standard Malai Kulfi does not have any nuts but I added some to mine to make it thicker and also to add a little crunch to it. Adding nuts and types of nuts is optional and doesn’t make a difference to the taste of the Malai Kulfi .
Figs / Anjeer are a big part of dry fruit family. Sweetness of their own they are a splendid source of fiber while they taste great. After making lovely Kulfis with Almonds, Pistachios and saffron, I felt that figs would be a great choice for the next flavor.
Figs are sweet, healthy and rich in vitamins and minerals. Doctors suggest that consuming figs with milk is an excellent source of nutrition. I am not a big fan of figs by themselves, but trying them for Kulfi was one of the best decisions I ever made. It really enhances the flavor and as much as I was apprehensive at first, I was proud with the finished product.
One thing that you need to pay attention to is adding sugar. Figs are sweet and the longer they cook in milk, they keep oozing their sugar out, bit by bit and I always advise to add sugar towards the end, since you will get a perfect sweetness.
Another fact is about making a puree of the figs. Making a puree of half of the figs and chopping the other half to small pieces is better than making all puree. First reason being that all puree makes the milk extra sweet and second is that little chunks of Figs in your mouth while eating the delicious kulfi.
Kulfi is well known Indian Ice cream. Kulfi or Qulfi is an Indian word derived from the Persian word “Qufli” meaning “covered cup”. The dessert likely originated from the Mughals. From the history I read, I found that it made to one of the most popular deserts in the Mughal Empire in the 16th century.
The mixture of dense evaporated milk was already popular in the sweet dishes in the Indian subcontinent. During the Mughal period, this mixture was flavored with pistachios and saffron, packed into metal cones and immersed in slushed ice, resulting in the invention of Kulfi.
Ain-e- Akbari, a detailed record of the Mughal emperor Akbar’s administration, mentions use of saltpeter for refrigeration as well as transportation of Himalayan ice to warmer areas.
Kulfi has similarities to ice cream in appearance and taste; however being dense, its more filling and the flavors are more pretentious. It comes in various flavours. The more traditional ones are cream/ malai, rose/Gulab, Cardamom/ Elaichi, Mango, saffron/ zaffran and pistachio. There are newer variations such as apple, orange, strawberry, peanut, and avocado. 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 Western ice cream.
My hometown has a very old shop that has been making and serving Kulfis for over 300 years. People still believe it to be the best frozen desert we get in my hometown. Its popularly known as Marwari Kulfi and is loved by people of all ages. During my childhood, there were Kulfi vendors who sold Kulfi in a cart. They were popularly known as “Kulfiwala” and would sell cylinder shaped long kulfis on a stick, that were taken out of a metal mold, or small earthen pots that were all kept in a mix of ice and salt.
Kulfi is traditionally prepared by evaporating sweetened and flavored milk by slow cooking. It needs to be constantly stirred, making sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. A little sticking to the pan would leave the milk with a burnt smell, that is impossible to take out, therefore one has to be careful. The best trick I use for that is adding a cup of cold water in the bottom of the pan before adding milk. Also keeping the flame to low or medium helps as well. The milk has to be cooked till its volume is reduced by half, thickening it, increasing its fat, protein, and lactose density.
It has a distinctive taste due to caramelizing of lactose and sugar during the lengthy cooking process, while adding your favorite flavor to it. The semi-condensed mix is then frozen in tight sealed molds that are then submerged in ice mixed with salt to speed up the freezing process. The ice/salt mix, along with its submerged kulfi moulds, is placed in a kulhar/ small matka which is an earthen pot that provides insulation from the external heat and slows down the melting of ice. Kulfi, thus prepared by slow freezing, also renders a unique smooth mouth feel that is devoid of ice crystals.
An easier version is to boil the milk and add bread crumbs, mawa (dried whole milk), and sugar while stirring. The cream layer formed on the boiling milk is scooped initially and added in the end to thicken the milk. More recently Kulfi is prepared from evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and heavy cream. Then sugar is added and the mixture is further boiled and cornstarch mixed in water paste is added. This paste thickens the mixture, although it is boiled for an additional few minutes. Then flavors are then added. The mixture is then cooled, put in molds and frozen.
It needs to freeze for 8-10 hours. Take it out 5-7 minutes before serving. If the edges do not loosen up, you can add the molds to water for 2-3 minutes and take the kulfi out of the molds. It can be served by itself or with vermicelli/ Falooda.
So, this special kulfi is a 4 layer flavor of Rose, malai, Pista and Figs. I put layers of all flavors together in a heart [ Dil ] shaped mold, heance came up with the name. Decorating it with nuts, silver leaf and rose syrup.
Coffee is an all times favorite. Some like it hot, others cold, some with milk and some Black. I usually enjoy my hot coffee Black but I love the frappuccinos and never miss a chance to buy them from my favorite coffee place.
I always loved making cold coffee at home since I was in my teenage. It was kind of one of the first few things I started making and it was always a family favorite, which of course continued after I got married and had my boys. My boys loved cold coffee as well. A hot summer afternoon and a chilled cold coffee was all one needs to cool down.
So, with time I started noticing a lot of difference between the frappuccino we had at our coffee place and the one I made home. As much as its acceptable to believe that there is always that difference between homemade and restaurant bought stuff, its also tough to give up without trying.
I got to trying to make the frappuccino restaurant style. A few failures, not so good tries, loads of trials and errors and I perfected the cold coffee and made a perfect Frappuccino. Creamy, chilled, thick , sweet and the perfect amount of coffee.
These cinnamon rolls aren’t just easy to make but, are also super fluffy and light, better than any store bought roll…Trust me. These would melt in your mouth and melt you heart too…
Honestly, yeast and I aren’t very good friends. It actually used to scare me to use yeast and I have had so many failures with yeast, that I have lost count. But then, I couldn’t give up my love for baking breads and decided to get to know “Yeast” better and learn to work cordially. We’ve been best friends since then….LOLzzz. I know my stories are sometimes too long and some of you might just want to jump to the actual dish than to play around and read the stories. But you know what, this is what would connect us. Every food has a story and mostly, its worth remembering and sharing, even if the dish is a disaster.
So, this is the story to this wonderful dish: I realized that would see cinnamon rolls EVERYWHERE. We go to the mall and Mr. Parveez would buy them. I see my boys head over heels in love with them. I see my little one craving for more….and sometimes all these are signs that you have to be on a mission and make your own. So, I start my search to get an authentic recipe and found some wonderful recipes, all very different from the other. I decided to pick and choose and make my own. First Batch, a BIG disaster and I made changes. Second Batch, a few more changes…a few more after the third. Fourth batch, the cinnamon rolls were perfect but the icing messed it up and finally, fifth batch, they came out perfect. This recipe is fool proof and something that you will save and love and pass on.
With regular cinnamon roll recipes, there’s so a lot of waiting time for the yeast to rise and to be sure that the dough would turn out perfect. Honestly, as much as I enjoy cooking, I do not have the time and energy to wait that long. I love making things that can be served in less amount of time. Something, that’s clean, cooked with love and effort without wasting too much time. But, that doesn’t mean I would try a recipe where cinnamon rolls are made within an hour. I like to give my food flavors time to mingle too.
I’ve managed to meet these soft cinnamon rolls in a little prep time with a faster procedure and made sure that they stay soft, fluffy and wonderful.
P.S. Don’t let the yeast scare you. It takes time to open, but once you know it well, you will love it just like me.
Waffles are one delicious breakfast. Be it any type, Plain, Belgian, Chocolate or fruit. They are always so satisfying and delicious. My boys can do anything to get their favorite waffles. The American food kind of wins over my paranthas every time. I call that to be the blessings of settling down in USA…LOLzzz. The fact that my boys have huge variety to pick from is a delight in its own way and as a mom who loves cooking, I always find their food demands wonderful.
Waffles are super easy. The recipe below is for Belgian waffles. Basically, this recipe can be used for any waffle by adding your favorite fruit or chocolate and the flavors are always so delicious and warm.
I have even served my boys waffle as an after school snack. They always taste extra scrumptious during winters, they love the warm waffles drizzled with maple or chocolate syrup. You can also add some whipped cream and drizzle some chocolate sauce on it with some colorful sprinkles.
A family who loves Chocolate would go to any extent to have chocolate in different forms…LOlzzz. Trust me, I try to make chocolate in all ways and forms possible. One of the best creations I ever did was making my own chocolate Ice cream which didn’t just make an excellent dessert by itself , but a perfect base for so many different desserts.
Chocolate Milkshake is super easy if you have chocolate Ice cream and want to serve your guests with something fancier, this is your go to dessert drink. My Boys love it as an after school snack or to entertain their friends on a play. Honestly, I have never seen an adult leave even a sip behind when served, so basically, its just a super fab Chocolate shake.
I used my home made chocolate Ice cream, little heavy cream, little sugar and milk. I made sure that the milk and cream were chilled before using. Blending the ingredients together, not only turns them into more liquid but also brings them to room temperature. Therefore, its important that cream and milk are chilled. Blending Ice cream with milk and cream and adding the chocolate syrup makes it more chocolaty and yummy.
This was my Chocolate Milkshake and then came along my boys one day asking to have a special Milkshake with waffle… I made chocolate Milkshake, and added some milk chocolate bites, some chocolate syrup and some oreos…Only for the brave of hearts…LOLzzz.
Super chocolaty and super amazing flavors…Hard to resist and much harder to not finish. The recipe for the waffles can be found in the Bread section. You can make the waffle in any of your preferred flavor. I picked Belgian waffles, since I felt they would go best with chocolate milkshake.
A family who loves Chocolate would go to any extent to have chocolate in different forms…LOlzzz. Trust me, I try to make chocolate in all ways and forms possible. One of the best creations I ever did was making my own chocolate Ice cream which didn’t just make an excellent dessert by itself , but a perfect base for so many different desserts.
Chocolate Milkshake is super easy if you have chocolate Ice cream and want to serve your guests with something fancier, this is your go to dessert drink. My Boys love it as an after school snack or to entertain their friends on a play. Honestly, I have never seen an adult leave even a sip behind when served, so basically, its just a super fab Chocolate shake.
I used my home made chocolate Ice cream, little heavy cream, little sugar and milk. I made sure that the milk and cream were chilled before using. Blending the ingredients together, not only turns them into more liquid but also brings them to room temperature. Therefore, its important that cream and milk are chilled. Blending Ice cream with milk and cream and adding the chocolate syrup makes it more chocolaty and yummy.
I added half of Ferrero Rocher on top to make it look more kid friendly and appealing. You can always add any of your other favorite chocolates as well.
Indians can move out of India, but their love for their country and food never goes away. Most Indians travel to India to meet their country to relive their days and enjoy their respective cities, meet family and friends and to enjoy their favorite foods, most importantly street foods and sweets.
Most friends who travel home always bring back loads of sweets with them, including us. We always get our favorite sweets from India. There are some wonderful sweets that I get from Rajasthan and some awesome delicacies that Mr. Parveez gets from Bangalore/ Bengaluru.
One of the mawa’a sweets that I loved from childhood is the half chocolate and half mawa’a. I still enjoy eating them when I am in India, and not just me, Mr. Parveez and boys enjoy them equally. The only problem we faced is that since the sweet is made from milk solids, we could never carry them with us, since milk products, unless they are sealed pack which isn’t possible from our favorite sweet stores.
Living in another country and not having the privilege of enjoying sweets and other foods as much as we would like to, and that pushes people like me to try and cook our favorite dishes at home.
And, one fine day I tried making our favorite burfi at home and they came out pretty good and almost same as what we get from our favorite stores. The recipe is pretty simple and the steps are also easy to follow. You just have to make sure that you cook on low heat so the khoya is cooked evenly and doesn’t ooze out any oil. The layers can be set by placing the chocolate burfi on the mawa’a burfi by brushing little water to help glue them together.
A very easy recipe and definitely comes out wonderful.
I have kids who happen to love Ice creams, because they are just like me…LOLzzz. I look for ways to make different flavors in Ice creams and milkshakes. A scoop of ice cream in your milkshakes not only makes your milkshakes taste better, but also more slushy and creamier.
Most times when we drink milkshakes at a restaurant, we feel that it never tastes the same at home. The difference comes from the milk and few other ingredients. Simple changes and few tricks make a big difference to the taste and you’d be surprised with how a simple switch can make a huge difference.
Generally, with fruit smoothies or milkshakes, fruits used are frozen. If you are using fresh fruits, try freezing them for 15 minutes before use. If you can’t, then make sure the milk you use should be very cold, keeping your milk in the freezer for 30 minutes should give you great results.
In this milkshake, I threw in a batch of chocolate chip cookies, vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. I even spread some chocolate sauce on the glass for decorating a little more.
