Chikki banana kulfi

Have you had Kulfi before? The answer is sure to be in affirmative.

To me it invokes a lot of memories of my long lost childhood. A trip down memory lane brings in memories of the vendors carrying baskets covered in a blood red fabric on their head and walking down lanes after lanes, their loud distinct energetic voice bringing in the breeze of coolness in those horribly humid and hot late afternoons.Also what intrigued me then was the prominent presence of salt in those frozen mounds of decadent pleasure. Unaware of science ( I have always been poor in that entire section), I have always been fascinated by this element, only to discover much later the answers. There are many who to compare kulfi and ice-cream , pitting them against one another!! I refrain from doing so. In my book there might not be a lot of differences, pardon my lack of deep knowledge on the subject, but much before ice cream made a foray into my life, kulfi has been etched in the memories of the child, a child then!! Honestly, who cares: both were born to provide pleasure and tirelessly they have been doing so. Hail the human creations that has successfully and a mark with their presence in the gastronomic scenario. 

Now that leads us to the question: What's chikki? Well, our western counterparts knows and loves it by the name of brittle, which has been put to good use here. I mean there is no reason why one cannot, discovering new and humble flavor profile is one of the primary concerns of human life, may be I am the only one to think so!!

Now let's make it, my way. Of course we start with looking at the ingredients:

Start by dissolving 1 tbsp cornflour with 20 ml warm milk, in a small bowl and keep aside. Chop up 1 banana, about 65 gm (without skin), into smaller cubes. Pound 2 green cardamoms in a mortar and pestle finely, reserving the husks to be used in the recipe.

In the same mortar and pestle pound half a packet of chikki in to small but uneven pieces. Please remember not to pulverize them in a mixer or food processor.

In a heavy bottom pan pour 200 ml full fat milk with 2 husks of green cardamom ( do not worry, we will use up the seeds as well. I am certainly not wasteful! ) + 100 ml condensed milk and stir well. Bring this to a boil, on low flame. 

Add in a pinch of saffron and about 2 tbsp of sugar to the pan and stir well.

Add the dissolved cornflour into the warm milk and keep stirring it on medium low flame till the mixture thickens. Once it has reached the desired consistency, turn off the gas.  Keep it aside and allow it to cool down completely.

Once the mixture has cooled down, time to add in the chopped banana+ 1/8th tsp of cardamom powder + most of the pounded chikki, and give it a good mix.

Pour the mixture into kulfi moulds,with the cover and place them in the freezer. After about 1.5 hours open the lid of the moulds and insert in your ice ice-cream sticks placing them in the center of the firmed up concoction,. Remember to keep the moulds erect, and allow them to set overnight or minimum of 12 hours.

I serve it with a a sprinkling of some of the chikki that we had reserved while cooking, for the crunch which I love with the melting rick decadent Indian dessert. Sit back and enjoy. Let the sun be jealous of you, at least once.

There isn't any more points that one needs to consider. At least I don't. Also if you are fussy and over-enthusiastic please feel free to make your own chikki at home, I am rather happy with the store bought ones. And while you are at it, enjoying mouth full  with your family and friends, do not forge to click images and tag me , I would love to see your creations.