Pistachio, Cardamom, Cinnamon and Vanilla Kulfi

I think it is quite obvious I am a huge lover of Indian food. After a mini-banquet with rogan josh, butter chicken and dal makhani, husband and I wanted something sweet. We wanted a dessert that was between gelati and icecream. Unfortunately, we couldn't find what we wanted.

I set myself the task on finding an Indian dessert that met our requirements. I then found the kulfi - Indian icecream. The brilliance of this dessert is that it is between gelati and icecream - refreshing as the former and creamy and smooth like the latter. Even better was that there was no need for churning. The spice mixture of cardamom and cinnamon gives the dessert the exotic-ness required, while the pistachio, vanilla and cinnamon rounds it out.

Don't be put off by the amount of evaporated and sweetened condensed milk and cream - this mixture will serve 8!

Ingredients

50g unsalted pistachios
2 x 375ml cans creamy evaporated milk
395g can sweetened condensed milk
300ml cooking cream
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds, or 8 cardamom pods
2 cinnamon quills
1 whole vanilla bean

Method

Place evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk, cream, cardamom seeds or pods, cinnamon quills and vanilla bean in a saucepan and place over low heat.
Whisk to combine and continue stirring until mixture reaches simmering point, remove from heat. Allow mixture to sit until cooled.
Meanwhile, place pisatchio into a food processor and process until a fine crumb.
Remove and put aside the vanilla bean and quills from mixture. Pour mixture through a sieve into a large measuring cup or bowl. Discard cardamom seeds, or pods. Return vanilla bean and quills into mixture. Allow mixture to sit, for flavours to infuse, for a further 20-30mins.
Divide mixture into panna cotta tins, or dariole moulds. Cover with clingwrap and place into freezer for minimum of 6-8 hours.
When serving, place base of panna cotta tin or dariole moulds into boiling hot water. Carefully flip kulfi onto serving plate.