Zaafraani Kulfi

[elyse]

Can someone please answer a question? I'm just going to copy my question from the Half and Half thread from Pastry and Baking. There's a discussion going on about how to make your own half and half regarding fat content, if half and half's not available where you are. Suvir's lovely kulfi recipe started it all.

So does half 3.7 - 4.7% and half 40 - 47% come out to 10.5 - 18%? I wonder what the fat content of milk and cream are in India, or if they have an actual half and half product.

Thanks a mil.

[indiachef]

Originally Kulfi has always been made with full fat fresh milk, cooked in a wide and deep kadai till thick and creamy, fortified with sugar and flavors.

I doubt very much if any commercial kulfi makers in India use half and half which is probably unheard of.

Half and half has been found to be a better and cheaper way of imitating the original. This has become quite a practice amongst the neo classicals who in the name of modernising Indian foods have succumbed to be rather ordinary than unique.

Milk in India could be Cow's which is between 4% and 6% fat or Buffalo's which could be around 6% to 8% and maybe higher. Cream is generally around 18% to 20%.

[Suvir Saran]

Half and half has been found to be a better and cheaper way of imitating the original. This has become quite a practice amongst the neo classicals who in the name of modernising Indian foods have succumbed to be rather ordinary than unique.

Thanks for the great information Indiachef.

Now I hope you will share more details about the sentences above.

You say using Half and Half has been found to be better and cheaper...and then you say it has made them rather ordinary....what do you really think?

WHere do you live? Do you ever use Half and Half?

How do you make your kulfi?

[indiachef]

Using half an half to make kulfis has become a norm with almost all Indian restaurants. Not sure how kulfis are made commercialy in North America.

Plain Malai kulfi made with half & half gives an awful milk powder taste and flavor.

However the same is not true for flavored kulfis especially Mango kulfi.

The texture does not hold true after a few days and generally appears powdery to the tongue (not in case of Mango)

For most part I have personally used full fat milk and lately half and half, I confess.

Half & half has proved to be a cheap alternate in terms of time factor. It does not take too long to reduce this cream, whereas milk takes much longer. Also the mix stays more whitish when using 1/2 & 1/2 Cream. Indian restaurant kitchens having this nagging problem of being understaffed, unorganized and presssd for time, have found this method a better alternative than using milk.

[Suvir Saran]

Thanks Indiachef!

Yes I do think most restaurants and also home chefs of Indian origin have found Half & Half a relief when making Indian desserts.

If prepared carefully, these desserts hardly taste much worse, if at all. I have been served Kulfi, kheer and payasam made with Half & Half that is far superior to those made by the same people with just whole milk.

Not a bad thing....But yes whole milk, if cooked slowly and with love, can give amazing results... but I hardly find that being done anywhere. Personally, I would be happier eating the results of something made with several hours less using Half & Half, but cooking with care, than something made with little affection, and using whole milk, that tastes poor and sad.

Half & Half is not all that bad... and I must agree I have begun using it in my kitchen too.

I have never had the milk powder flavor in my kulfi yet....I have been making it with Half & Half for years now. Maybe I am doing differently, maybe even wrong....Also, some of the restaurants where I have had milk powder texture and flavor, have added what some Indian stores sell as khoya powder. That is what changes the creamy texture. Actually, some of the best Kulfi in India always has a little gritty texture... in fact many Indians crave and enjoy that... but it comes from wanting that, not from using Half & Half. I love malai kulfi... now you will have me missing it all week.

How do you make yours using Half & Half? Or are you speaking generally?

[indiachef]

I do not make kulfis anymore, cause I retired from working in Indian restaurants.

And if I do have to make one - I guess I will use 1/2 & 1/2 - and I bet no one can tell the difference, cause no one knows the difference.

Actually the last time I made kulfis was with some branded kulfi mix powder, don't know how it tasted, I gave it all to my guests. They didn't complain, cause they did not know.

That's precisely the point here that the neo classicals have worked it to their advantage, changing the ways things are made.

A good example is the Makhni sauce. Frankly I have to find one that makes it with fresh tomatoes.

The least I would expect it is to be made with canned whole tomatoes, but almost all of these restaurants use canned tomato paste or crushed tomatoes.

[indiagirl]

indiachef, you must join us on "The Measure of All Things" post - it is 22 pages long and will require some time investment but opinionated people are needed there!

:)

i completely agree about the tomato. i almost never eat out in indian restaurants - possibly nyc has a better selection than i have access to - because their tomato sauces are all made with canned tomatoes and if you order two dishes with a tomato gravy it tastes the same. and then indian food gets a bad reputation.

so sad. what can we do to change this?

[elyse]

Thanks for the information. Looks like I was off base with the original question anyway, lol.

Whole milk is the original dairy for the kulfi, but it's evolved into half and half, if I've got this right. Sounds like the percentages don't really matter that much then. So much to learn!

Well, it all sounds so good, I can't wait to make it. Come, come summer!

[Suvir Saran]

Thanks for the information.  Looks like I was off base with the original question anyway, lol.

Whole milk is the original dairy for the kulfi, but it's evolved into half and half, if I've got this right.  Sounds like the percentages don't really matter that much then.  So much to learn!

Well, it all sounds so good, I can't wait to make it.  Come, come summer!

You can make it even in cooler weather... Kulfi is always welcome.

And if you want, you can serve it with chilled soup... Let me know.. And I can send you a recipe.

[elyse]

I copied your recipe from the 1/2 & 1/2 file which I think is also in the archives. It looks so wonderful. If you have other variations you like, feel free to post them. So far, I've also seen what you have to say about the mango puree etc.. Mmmmm.

Thanks so much.

[BBhasin]

I would like to share a Kulfi reciepe( which I have not tried yet) and a kulfi story with you.

The Kulfi reciepe.

This was given to me by Persis Khambatta, a miss India of yesteryears, an Indian actress who moved to Hollywood and I believe was the first woman to shave her head for a startreck film. She has unfortunately passed away. Her reciepe

Take a few slices of white bread, remove the browned sides, soak the white in water, tightly squeeze out the excess water.

To this add a can of condensed milk, blanched chopped pistachios, some saffron soaked in a little warm water or milk, some powdered cardamon and a drop of rose essence.

Mix well and freeze.

Now the kulfi story.

There was Halwai Shop (restaurant) in new delhi very famous for their Kulfi. They were charged by the Prevention of Food Adultration department ( kind of like our health department here) with adding Blotting Paper to their kulfi mixture. Blotting paper, for those unfamiliar, is a kind of thick porous paper, which looked like handmade paper, was used to sop up excess ink from a sheet of paper after you were done writing with old fashioned pens that released more ink than the mordern ones do.

The matter went to court and guess who won???

The restaurant of course.

Because their lawyers argued that blotting paper was in essence plant fibre, hence edible.

Now you can add one more ingredient to your pantry!

[indiagirl]

What was the aim of adding blotting paper to the kulfi? How did it help the restaurant?

[Suvir Saran]

I am told it thickens the milk without the need for great reduction (hence saving on food cost) and also gives the texture of malai that would only come from hours and hours of reduction and slow and careful cooking (again saving on cost and time).

But whilst many cannot discern the difference between real malai and blotting paper, it is not that difficult to understand.

The real stuff is far better. But does take a lot of time.

[BBhasin]

Right on Suvir !

[BBhasin]

I had a Nepalese genleman dining with us and asked him if they had Kulfi in Nepalese cuisine.

And they do!

its called 'Khoya Baraf 'or frozen milk-solids.