Almond Kulfi

In my tradition, a person has two birthdays per year. In addition to having a zodiac sign, Indians have a lunar sign based on the star that’s present during the time of one’s birth. So we get to celebrate two birth-dates! One is based on the Solar calendar, and the other is based on the lunar calendar that predicts when our  particular “star” rises. You can imagine how much fun this is for kids! They get goodies and wishes on two days!

Since we pay more importance to the lunar calendar, the star birthday is special. So, for Anand’s star birthday, I decided to make Kulfi! Since I now own popsicle molds, I was excited and eager to try Kulfi. While Anand is a huge fan of ice creams, I am not really one. Kulfi is the only exception. And it had been ages since I had one. When I was young, rare trips to Marina beach usually ended with Kulfis. As my cousin and I competed with each other on who would eat the Kulfi the slowest (so that the winner can taunt the loser!), it would melt and drip onto our clothes and muddied slippers, much to the rage of our moms. The smell of Kulfi stained clothes, the salty beach, and the feeling of gritty sea-smelling mud transports me back to a small fragment of my childhood. So, there were so many reasons to learn to make Kulfis.

Kulfi is basically condensed milk/cream, sugar, and nuts that get frozen into popsicles. It can even be refrigerated and relished as a rich creamy dessert like rasmalai. I personally prefer the latter version to the former. No matter which version, kulfis are as delicious as they are fattening!

 
I followed the recipe from here, and the resultant Kulfis were fabulous! The only minor change was that I used almonds instead of pistachios. The recipe clearly explains every single step, and I precisely ended up with 6 Kulfis! So if you follow the measurements, you can’t go wrong! It’s extremely easy!