Pistachio Mango Kulfi - Mangoes are here!!!

aaaand..... Mangoes are here!!! The temperatures are soaring, true, but nothing screams 'Summer!!' more than mangoes. Nothing indeed. We adore this tropical fruit in all forms (best when eaten straight off the seed, drippy hands et al.) and when i say 'we', that includes Oreo/sous chef. She loves it so much, she is one of the excuses we make to buy more mangoes :P. Granted, they are not at their best yet, and are very expensive in the market, but i could'nt resist and it was not regretted. Not one bit!

The recipe was adapted with tiny changes from here and needless to say, it is 'knock-your-socks-off' yum. Thanks Deeba! :) Store bought kulfis are appreciated in my home and it's one of the few things that non stick adores that has nuts in it. and i'm not a big fan of most Indian desserts but this recipe is a major major exception and we may have a new fav in the frozen comfort food aisle people! So, without further ado, we kick off the mango season this year with a delish, 'gimme more' ice cream that uses the brilliant fruit. Here's to many many more!

You will need:
1/2 L Milk
1/2 L Fresh Cream
200 ml condensed milk
Ground Cardamom - 3 pods
Sugar to taste
1 cup shelled and unsalted pistachios ground to small bits in the blender
1 large mango's flesh, puréed

How you go about it:
Give the pistachios a quick whir in the blender and make sure you do not make them a paste but remember to scrape off every bit of the nuts from under the blades et al, they lend amazing flavor and act as a thickening agent as well.
Place a thick bottomed pan on the stove and mix the half and half and the nuts and the ground cardamom and turn on the flame at medium. As the mixture heats up, add the condensed milk and remember to keep stirring. Do a taste test and check if it's sweet enough and if not, add additional sugar by the spoonful, checking after each stir.
Continue to stir till the mixture thickens, that will be in 30 to 35 minutes.

Once it has thickened, take off the flame and let it cool for 20 minutes. Add the mango purée and give it a good stir to mix it all in.
Pour into the moulds and keep in freezer to freeze. After thirty minutes, place the kilfi sticks in each mould and return to the freezer. Freeze overnight or at least 8 hours before devouring.
A quick tip to unmould: Butter the moulds lightly before pouring the mixture in. Another option is to dip the full moulds quickly in warm water to unmould.

Enjoy your kulfi! :)

Chocolate chip and Pistachio Belgian Waffles drenched in Caramel syrup

 If the title does not get you going, I do not know what will. This match is made in culinary heaven. Think about it: Pistachios, chocolate, homemade caramel syrup and crispy-on-the-outside and soft-inside waffles! 

On another note, I am extremely blessed to have friends and family who know what gets me grooving, amongst other things. So when this good friend gifted us a Belgian waffle maker on her return from her France trip, I was over the moon, to say the least. This was awesome!! So waffle recipes are now on the cards dear amigos. Here’s to friends and family who brighten our days with love and warmth and here’s to wishing we get many more of our wishes granted! :)

Side note: Maple syrup is not a very feasible option for many of us here in India as it's tough to find and so i went with the flow and thought caramel syrup would do the trick. and it did! :)

For the caramel syrup, you will need:

-1 1/4 cups sugar
-3/4 cups boiling water
Place the sugar in a saucepan on medium-high heat.
Stir constantly with wooden spoon until sugar changes to greyish lumps and then starts turning to amber (Do not wait till it gets dark amber, you will end up with bitter caramel). Slowly pour the boiling water down side of pan, stirring liquid sugar as you do. Be extremely cautious as it will steam and bubble. Boil for around 3 minutes and take it off the flame. Keep warm. Makes 1 cup.

The waffle recipe is adapted with changes from here and it is a fabulous find. A dream of a recipe to begin my waffle making adventures!
For the waffles, you will need:

½ cup AP flour

½ cup wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 egg, separated

1 cup milk

25 g unsalted butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

4 tablespoons castor sugar

1/4 cup toasted and chopped pistachios

1/4 cup chocolate chips
Note: This makes 6 waffles

-Butter the waffle iron. Most come with a non stick coating but we butter it lightly in any case.

-Whisk and sift together the dry ingredients: AP Flour, wheat flour, salt and baking powder, keep aside.

-Beat the egg white till the soft peak consistency and keep aside.

-Beat the yolk with the sugar till pale and fluffy, add the vanilla extract and keep blending. Add the milk and melted butter and mix till thoroughly incorporated.

-Sift in the flour mix into the egg yolk mix and mix till just blended. Do not overmix!

-Using a rubber spatula, fold the egg white into the batter gently.
-Fold in the chocolate chips and the pistachios next.

-Pour the batter with the help of a spoon into the waffle grid and make sure you reach every nook and cranny for a uniform looking waffle. Close and cook till golden brown (around 3 minutes).

Serve immediately with caramel syrup.
P.S: There’s no color like the color of caramel, and no taste like caramel syrup on waffles. A happy morning to you!!:)

Nuts about nuts : Pistachio Gelato

know what, i think i know why green and its various hues have always been my favorite color. Ever since i can remember. i mean, i have had fancies for leaf green, parrot green, turquoise green, bottle green, aqua green, teal green, charteuse and pista green to name a few (You know how gorgeous these colors look in the staedtler color pencils array right - its fabulous!). To expound on the last point: Ah, the color of good (read middle eastern) pistachios! The taste is synonymous with growing up in Dubai where nuts are a staple. It was a permanent fixture at home, in its raw unshelled glory or otherwise. My brother's favorite flavor of ice cream was the Pista. All to say, this recipe was waiting to happen! and i'm loving every lick of it. :D

A note about the gelato: It is more creamy than the previous attempt and i attribute it to the creaminess of this fabulous nut. Also, it makes you want to have more and more. So there, you are warned!

The recipe has been adapted from Mr. Lebovitz's and Aparna' recipe.

What you will need:

1/4 cup shelled pistachios
2 cups milk
1/2 cup cream
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons corn flour
a (big) handful of roasted and chopped (unsalted) pistachios to garnish

First we will need to make the pistachio paste which may sound complicated but is the coolest thing eva! Boil some water in a saucepan and add the pistachios in. Once it boils, switch off the flame and drain the water. Run under regular water to cool them and once cool to touch, remove the skin with hand.
Dry them best way you can on a paper towel and blitz these nuts in the grinder till you get as powdery as possible. Add a couple of tablespoons of milk from the milk required and continue to blitz till you get a smooth paste. Add the lemon juice, mix and keep aside.

Take another quarter cup of milk (also from the milk in the ingredients list) and dissolve the corn starch in it. Whisk to ensure none of it sediments in the bottom.

Bring the milk and sugar to a boil. Once it has, reduce the flame and add milk+corn flour mix and whisk in. Make sure it becomes a homogeneous mix. Continue to whisk till it reaches the custard like consistency (coat-the-back-of-your-spoon stage) and a minute after. Make sure you keep whisking it and that flame is on low, else you may potentially end up with burnt custard coating the bottom of your vessel. and you do NOT want that! (experience talking)

Take it off the flame and add the cream in and whisk. Allow to cool to room temperature before adding the pistachio paste. Whisk till smooth. Pour into a freezable flat bottomed container and pop into the freezer till it freezes. Once it has, blend the gelato using the blender to break up the ice crystals and pop back into the freezer to set. Repeat this process thrice. After the last time you blend it, add the chopped roasted pistachios and distribute evenly. Dig in!

P.S it is physically impossible to restrict the tasting to a few (ahem ahem!) spoonfuls of the gelato when blending it the various times that you have to. Really! Go on, try it for your self.  and say goodbye to those icky looking cardboard boxes (Eeww!!) of ice cream or the not-so-bad-looking ice cream tubs for good! :)

On another note, Happy and safe Diwali all! Spare a thought for the ozone, your carbon footprint, your finances and the poor hapless animals that are subjected to your torture of pyrotechnics before you burst the next deafening cracker (!!*#@$^&!!). The true spirit of Diwali i would like to think is in lighting diyas and eating loads of papdi chaat and gaajar ka halwa :D. Happy Diwali!