Kulfi is what ice cream becomes when milk is given time — simmered down until its sugars caramelize faintly, then frozen dense and unchurned. Saffron is its classic dress: twenty threads bloomed in warm milk turn the whole batch a deep marigold and lend a perfume that lingers longer than the cold. With cardamom and pistachios, this is the frozen dessert of Indian summers, made in molds or simple cups.
At a glance
Ingredients
- 20 threads Raihan Afghan Super Negin saffron, bloomed in 2 tbsp warm milk
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/4 cup chopped pistachios
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Whisk cornstarch into 1/2 cup cold milk.
- Bring remaining milk + cream to a simmer in a heavy pot. Reduce by 1/3 over 30 minutes, stirring often.
- Whisk in cornstarch slurry. Cook 3 minutes until thickened.
- Add sugar, cardamom, salt. Off heat. Stir in saffron bloom and pistachios.
- Cool to room temperature, then pour into kulfi molds (or small cups).
- Freeze 6 hours.
Chef's note
Freezing mutes both sweetness and aroma, so the warm base should taste slightly too sweet and smell distinctly of saffron before it goes into the molds. Give the bloom the full simmer time to develop — genuine threads surrender their color slowly — and dip the molds briefly in warm water to release each kulfi cleanly.
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