Master the art of making kulfi at home with my simple kulfi recipe! Here's how to make three exciting kulfi flavours so you never get bored! And my top tips on how to get the milk and khova mixture right, how to flavour the kulfis and how to serve them!
Let me tell you all, Kulfi is the OG Indian ice cream. It was all the rage before any Western ice creams came to the country. It's something that my mum and grandmother used to make every summer, and so I'm so excited to finally share my childhood kulfi recipe with you.
Kulfis are made in almost all Indian houses especially during the summer to beat the heat. Kesar, malai, cardamom, and rose flavoured kulfis are the traditional recipes, while newer flavour trends like chocolate, strawberry, orange have certainly caught on!
In this recipe for kulfi, I've included two more variations - malai kulfi that's made with cream, and mango kulfi that's perfect to celebrate the mango season!
Quick Walk Through: Kulfi Recipe
What is Kulfi?
It's a creamy, frozen dairy dessert that's made with pantry staple ingredients like milk, heavy cream, and spices. Kulfis are denser in texture and creamier than regular ice cream.
Kulfi tastes somewhat like Homemade Rabdi that's lightly flavoured with cardamom.
Ingredients for Kulfi Recipe
Kulfi is made out of ingredients that you'll easily find in your pantry.
- The main ingredients in kulfi ice cream are full fat milk, and khova, which is essentially milk thickened up by heating it.
- Condensed milk and milk powder add that creamy texture that's so typical of kulfis and add sweetness too.
- Saffron strands or kesar is what gives this dish that royal colour and taste.
- A pinch of cardamom powder complements the dairy products so beautifully.
- We've used chopped almonds in the kulfi. You can use any other nuts like pista and cashews - lots of crunch and nutty taste!
How To Make Kulfi At Home - Step By Step Guide
- Heat and simmer full fat milk until it thickens up.
- Add khova to the reduced milk
- Next, add condensed milk
- Add the flavouring agents - cardamom and saffron
- Freeze them in kulfi moulds for 10-12 hours
- Garnish with chopped nuts and serve!
Kesar Kulfi with Badam and Pista
This is the base kulfi recipe that comes from reducing milk to a rabri like consistency and adding khova and milk powder for a creamier kulfi. I love adding chopped almonds and pista to the mixture for an interesting texture.
Malai Kulfi
We've used the Kesar Kulfi recipe as a base recipe in this post. Malai kulfi is made with heavy cream or heavy whipping cream. We used cream that contains 30% milk fat for that extra creamy texture.
Mango Kulfi
In addition to the basic kulfi recipe ingredients, we added mango puree to make delicious mango flavoured kulfis. Add the mango puree directly to the kulfi mix for mango kulfi. We used Alphonso mango in this puree. It tastes so good, plus it's less fibrous compared to other mango varieties.
Kulfi Moulds
Once the kulfi mix is ready, the consistency is such that it can easily be poured into a tin container or a freezer-friendly container. If you're using kulfi moulds (which are available in department stores) to freeze them. In case you don't have kulfi moulds, you can use aluminium moulds or plastic moulds. But if you don’t have either, just use paper cups and remember to put wooden ice cream sticks into them before freezing - homemade kulfi popsicles!
Matka Kulfi: This kulfi mix can also be frozen in clay pots or matkas - to make delicious matka kulfi! Matka kulfi has an extra layer of earthy flavour from the clay pots - try this if you can get your hands on some matkas!
Or you could skip traditions and just cut the frozen kulfi mix into slabs or scoop it up like ice cream and serve!
Demoulding Kulfis
Just like popsicles or panna cotta, kulfis tend to come apart if not demoulded properly. The easiest way to ensure the kulfis come out of the moulds perfectly is to run the moulds under tap water for a couple of minutes. You could use your palms to warm up the mould. This is just to loosen up the edges of the kulfi, so it's not stuck to the mould. Definitely don't skip this step!
Things to Keep In Mind When Making Kulfi
- Use a heavy bottomed saucepan to simmer the milk
- Keep stirring the milk frequently to prevent it from burning/scorching at the bottom
- The khova should completely dissolve in the milk before adding the other ingredients.
- Cool the kulfi mix to room temperature before pouring it into moulds and freezing
Note: Kulfis take 10-12 hours to freeze properly. So make your kulfi plans accordingly. If you've used fresh ingredients, these kulfis should stay good for about 15 days. However, make sure they stay frozen at a consistent temperature the entire time!
Whether it's children or adults, everyone is a sucker for kulfis! So go ahead and make this summer treat today!
Watch the Video
Kulfi 3 Ways
Ingredients
Kulfi Base
- 1 Litre Full Fat Milk
- 1 Pinch Saffron Strands crushed lightly
- 200 Grams Khova crumbled
- ½ Cup Condensed Milk
- 2 Tablespoons Milk Powder
- ½ Teaspoon Cardamom Powder
- ¼ Cup Almonds chopped or sliced, toasted, optional
Malai Kulfi
- ¼ Cup Heavy Cream (30% Milk Fat) in ⅓rd of the mixture
Mango Kulfi
- ½ Cup Mango Puree in ⅓rd of the mixture
Instructions
- Heat milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to low and simmer for 45 - 60 minutes.
- Take 2 Tablespoons of hot milk and add it to the saffron and keep aside.
- Stir occasionally so as to not let the milk burn from below. Keep reincorporating the malai (cream) that forms on top back into the milk.
- Once the milk has reduced to half, add in the khova and continue stirring until it has fully dissolved.
- Add condensed milk and stir to combine. Add milk powder, cardamom powder, saffron milk and stir until it has fully dissolved.
- Turn off the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Malai Kulfi
- Add cream to ⅓ of the kulfi mix and combine to make a batch of malai kulfi
Mango Kulfi
- Add mango puree to ⅓ of the kulfi mix and combine to make a batch of mango kulfi
- Set in Kulfi moulds and place in the freezer. Freeze for a minimum 10 hours or overnight.
- To demould, run the kulfi moulds under tap water for about a minute. Carefully pull out the stick and serve immediately.
Video
Notes
- The main ingredients in kulfi ice cream are full fat milk, and khova, which is essentially milk thickened up by heating it. Condensed milk and milk powder add that creamy texture that's so typical of kulfis and add sweetness too.
- Saffron strands or kesar is what gives this dish that royal colour and taste.
- A pinch of cardamom powder complements the dairy products so beautifully.
- We've used chopped almonds in the kulfi. You can use any other nuts like pista and cashews - lots of crunch and nutty taste!
- Use a heavy bottomed saucepan to simmer the milk
- Keep stirring the milk frequently to prevent it from burning/scorching at the bottom
- The khova should completely dissolve in the milk before adding the other ingredients.
- Cool the kulfi mix to room temperature before pouring it into moulds and freezing
- Matka Kulfi: This kulfi mix can also be frozen in clay pots or matkas - to make delicious matka kulfi! Matka kulfi has an extra layer of earthy flavour from the clay pots - try this if you can get your hands on some matkas!
Century Foods says
Perfect recipe for the summer!!
ashan says
wow nice content perfect
Amvvika bhandari says
Loved it!!! Super easy!!
Preeti says
I mean, this is so simple... And simply out of the world in taste. I didn't know making Kulfi was this easy. Handful of ingredients and totally worth making from scratch. Everyone at home loves it. Go ahead and trust me when I say, everyone should try making this.
Richa says
So so happy you enjoyed this recipe Preeti