Indian ice-cream

Saturday's supper club is fast approaching and I'm getting down to the  hunger inducing task of trying out some of the recipes. The first experiment is Kulfi, which is a type of Indian ice-cream. As seems to be an altogether too frequent characteristic of my endeavours I'm dealing with something I have literally zero experience with here. Well, ok, not zero experience. I am human. I have eaten ice-cream. And my fair share of it too. As for Kulfi, well no, I've never had that. So this will probably turn out to be about as authentic as a shamrock shake. But shamrock shakes can be very tasty regardless, and that's what I'm going for here. Anyway. Despite the fact that I've never made ice-cream, don't own and ice-cream maker and have never tasted Kulfi, I thought it would be the perfect ending to what I'm hoping is going to be a delicious meal on Saturday.
I've really enjoyed preparing for this one and have had loads of online help from enthusiastic cooks, with far more experience in Indian cuisine than I, to guide me on my way with helpful tips and suggestions. Once again, I'm astounded by the wealth of information available on the internet and the helpfulness of those people out there blogging about their passions. I realise how incredibly naive that sounds. But it does seem like any question we have these days can be answered by a quick Google search or Twitter post. The possibilities are endless.

Now if only it contained the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything....
(Should you care to google life, the universe and everything, you'll quickly discover that it was originally written as a six part 'Doctor Who' episode, which sadly never made it. Who knew?)

Should you be interested in Indian cuisine and want to explore it more yourself, here's a few of the helpful blogs/twiterrati who've been so kind with their knowledge this week.
Edinburgh's own Indian Supper Club, Chai Lounge run by Meena. As if I need another reason to go to Edinburgh. 
Gujerati Girl has also been very helpful. She also blogs at the botanical baker.
And the main course for the evening will be coming from this beautiful blog, Journey Kitchen. (More to come on that later!)

Kulfi

400ml cream
400ml milk
10 cardamon pods
200g sugar
saffron (a couple of strands)



Heat the milk and cream in a pot with the cardamon pods
Bring to the boil and reduce to simmer. Simmer until the liquid has reduced by a third.
Remove the cardamon pods
Add the sugar and saffron and stir until the sugar has melted
Pour into a freezable container with a lid
Allow to cool, then place in the freezer (or ice-cream maker if you're fancy)
Every half an hour take it out of the freezer and give it a stir to break up the ice crystals that will be forming
After about three hours it should be ice-cream (It took quite a bit longer than this in my freezer but it does work in the end!)