Kool-Fi

Ice cream is my all time favorite feel-good food. No matter how sad I am somehow miraculously ice cream manages to lift my mood. During the summer one of the most decadent indulgence is to sink into a lovely bowl of rich, creamy, nutty and flavorful KOOLFI. I try to whip up at least a couple of batches during the hot summer days then sit back and give myself (and those dear to me . . only if they have been good) a treat. Ah! Total bliss.

The recipe I am sharing today is my version of the Koolfi. You will have to adjust the sugar since I usually add and taste the milk until I get to the right sweetness level. Do remember that once the milk is frozen, it will taste a little bit sweeter than than what it tastes when the milk is hot. Do be generous with the saffron and nuts. After all this is why we are making it at home. Otherwise we can have the trimmed down version any time in the restaurants!!!

If you don't have the cone shaped Koolfi molds, you can use small containers, ice lolly molds, individual metal cup cake molds to freeze the Koolfi.

Koolfi

Whole Milk - 1 1/2 liters
Canned Evaporated Milk - 1 Can
Corn Flour - 2 tablespoons (make a paste using 3 tablespoons milk)
Almond (blanched and the brown skin removed) - 15 to 20 nuts
Peeled Pistachio (blanched and the outer skin removed) - 15 to 20 nuts
Saffron strands - 1/3 teaspoon (soaked in 2 tablespoons warm milk and crushed well)
Sugar - 1 cup (or more according to taste)
Very lightly whipped cream (optional) - 1 small can

Heat the milk slightly, add the corn flour paste and reduce the milk to 1/2 of the original volume.
Add the canned evaporated milk, saffron milk and sugar and simmer till they are well mixed. Check to see the sweetness and add sugar accordingly. The milk should now be of a creamy consistancy. Remove from heat.

Gently fold in the cream (if using) to incorporate into the mixture.

In a grinder, grind the almond and pistachio until you get small grains of nuts. Make sure you don't grind it to a paste. You should be able to bite into tiny pieces of nuts when you have your Koolfi.

Add the nut mixture to the milk mixture.

Pour this mixture into a freezer proof container. Freeze for 3 hours until the mixture is 2/3 set.

scrape out the mixture (it will be slushy) and pour this semi frozen slush in to Koolfi molds. Freeze until set (at least 6 hours).

Serve the Koolfi with additional malai/cream/Mangoes (if desired).

Enjoy!!!

Note: If you want to make mango Koolfi, thicken the milk to 1/3 the original volume. Cool it completely and then add 1 cup of Mango puree. The milk might curdle if you add the puree to hot milk.

If you are feeling lazy you can just pour the cooled milk mixture into the Koolfi mold and freeze (skipping the two-step freezing process). The resulting Koolfi is slightly dense in texture but tastes delicious.