Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Cinnamon kulfi

I'm doing a bit of housecleaning here, and that includes getting around to blog posts that have been collecting dust for months.

Yes, months. I took this photo months ago before I got my DSLR and it's quite obvious, isn't it?

Still, it's worth revisiting because with the summer fast approaching, you'll want to add this to your repertoire when you need to cool down.

Ice cream? Tish. Gelato? Tosh.
Why not try kulfi, a milk-based frozen treat popular in India and Pakistan.
I made this when we were having guests over for Indian take-out and I wanted to at least make the dessert. I couldn't think of anything that would complement the butter chicken and vindaloo and offset some of those strong spices. And then it occurred to me, why not go with the tried-and-true Indian kulfi? Bonus, you don't need an ice-cream machine, although you could probably churn it if you wanted to.

I had just gotten my hands on Gordon Ramsay's cookbook "World Kitchen" and every recipe I tried tasted so authentic, that I knew his cinnamon kulfi would be great too.

Here's a recipe for his rosewater kulfi, but if you want to make the cinnamon one instead, just substitute one or two cinnamon sticks for the cardamom pods in the recipe.

Substitutions: I didn't have kulfi moulds lying around, so I used the small paper cups you'll find at the dentist when you need to rinse your mouth.

Would I make this again? Yes, if only to perfume my house with the aromatic scent of cinnamon. And also because I felt like some sort of exotic cooking genius when I produced this.  Only I felt like I should have presented it with piles of orchids on the platter because the presentation was a bit blah.

Grade: Five stars out of five. Sure the look is a bit bland, but the flavour is phenomenal and it's something your taste buds will applaud.

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