Strawberry Kulfi with Rose| Traditional Indian Ice Cream

What Is Kulfi?

Kulfi is India’s answer to ice cream, predating American styles of ice cream by centuries.

Since it is not churned, it’s a nice alternative if you don’t have an ice cream churn.

It also has a very low moisture content, so the resulting frozen treat is dense, creamy and slow to melt.

If you were to purchase kulfi out in the markets in New Delhi or Mumbai, for instance, they would most likely be formed in these molds you see below.

You can actually purchase (affiliate) kulfi molds on Amazon if you’d like to.

Note that kulfi molds don’t have a place to put a stick, so they aren’t popsicles. Kulfi is unmolded onto a plate or serving dish.

Making Them Into Popsicles

You can mold your kulfi in regular popsicle molds, if you’d like.

You can also mold them in paper cups, let them freeze partially and then insert a popsicle stick into the mixture.

Allow them to freeze completely, then you can just peel away the paper cup.

Because we didn’t have popsicle molds at home, this is always how we made our own popsicles.

What If I Don’t Have Kulfi Molds?

My friend Anshie told me that she often makes kulfi in a loaf pan and then slices it to serve.

I also looked at the kulfi recipe on her site and saw that she has also frozen them in wine glasses.

It seems that traditional presentations aren’t as critical when you’re making kulfi at home, so I chose to mold some of mine in ramekins while I poured others into small cocktail glasses.

According to all I read from Anshie’s site and others, the base is the most important part of the kulfi.

The Traditional Base

Traditionally, kulfi is made by slowly reducing milk and sugar over low heat, sometimes with additional milk solids added for richness.

The recipe I worked from called for additional thickening using corn starch, so you could even consider kulfi to be related to a no-churn Sicilian gelato.

Traditional Flavors

Some of the most popular flavors of kulfi are mango, rose, cardamom, and pistachio.

I kept the traditional rose flavor and added chopped pistachios as a garnish, both for crunch, flavor, and eye appeal (the pink and green are so pretty together.)

I used a traditionally American flavor, strawberry, to make this kulfi more accessible to American palates. And that’s how strawberry kulfi with rose was born!

Bringing It All Together

My base recipe came from Vidya Lakshmi’s blog, Vidya’s Cooking.

Her recipe included a helpful video that I watched twice.

From there, I sort of went my own way, making a simple cooked strawberry sauce and adding rosewater to it to get the flavor I wanted: Strawberry Rose.

I also took Anshie’s advice and folded in some very softly whipped cream to my finished base+sauce.

She promised that if I added whipped cream, that my kulfi would rock, and I think she’s correct. It does rock.

What Does It Taste Like?

It’s dense, and creamy. It’s not even a bit icy.

It’s a gorgeous pale pink that looks especially lovely with the chopped pistachios as a garnish.

I can taste the caramelized milk solids that took so long to develop, and the finished dish is the perfect sweetness even though the base alone is almost tooth-achingly sweet.

Unmolding

Of course, you can serve your kulfi in dishes, but you can also unmold them to serve on plates.

To unmold, dunk your ramekin (or whatever you molded your guys in) into hot water for a few seconds. Then invert onto a small plate and give it a few hard shakes until you hear the kulfi clear the mold.

Then just lift your ramekin off.

More Kulfi Resources

Intrigued by kulfi? Here are some more resources for you:

• How to Make the Perfect Kulfi from The Guardian
• No-Cook Mango Kulfi from Veg Recipes of India
• Kulfi from Wikipedia

Make It a Meal

Kulfi is an Indian street food treat, so other street food would be a great way to round out a meal ending with strawberry kulfi.

Kabobs are a great way to go. Consider this flavorful Persian Chicken Kabob or stay closer to Indian flavors with chicken shawarma kabob.

As far as side dishes go, the quintessential portable side is corn on the cob. You may like my sweet tea roasted corn on the cob, or try Elotes. There’s a reason why it’s so popular in Mexico (spoiler: it is delicious!)

If you have any questions about this or any other recipe or post on the site, there are a few ways to get in touch.

You can leave a comment on the post, and I’ll be back in touch within 24 hours.

If your question is more pressing, don’t hesitate to email me, and I should be back in touch within 4 hours (unless I’m asleep) or often much more quickly than that.

A Note About Measurements

This is the kitchen scale that I recommend for home cooks and bakers. Using a scale will help you be more accurate and consistent in your measurements.

It is lightweight, easy to store, accurate, and very easy to use.

I hope you’ve learned something from this post or that you’ve decided to make the recipe.

It would really help me and other readers out if you’d rate the recipe using the star ratings in the recipe card.

It’s also very helpful to me and to other readers if you leave a comment and/or a recipe review.

Thank you so much for being here and for helping others find my recipes by sharing on your social platforms!

Thanks so much for spending some time here today.

Take care, and have a lovely day.