Mango Passion Kulfi

I was very happy to pick up some fresh ripe Passion Fruits from the grocery store yesterday. I had first tasted this fruit several years ago when a friend at work brought a passion fruit dessert...since then I have fallen in love with the flavor of this exotic fruit.

Fresh Passion fruit is not always easily available here (although the pulp can be bought at Latin American stores or online stores like amazon.com) so it was important to make the best possible use of the fresh fruit juice. Passion fruit by itself can be sweet-tart to tart, but on adding some sweet contrast , it can add an extra dimension of flavor in any dessert.

I decided to combine it with Mango and make Kulfi which kids had been craving for ! Kulfi is a very popular Indian version of ice  cream. Milk is boiled and reduced, flavors added, then frozen resulting in a rich dense and thick ice cream.

So there I was, introducing this new fruit to my kids. When I cut it open there was a delicious sweet aroma that was almost like an intense scent of Guava fruit. My son described the fruit as a juicy baby pomegranate,  and was excited to explore the fruit by itself, and its flavor with Mango in Kulfi.

 

Recipe (around 8 servings)

• Whole milk - 4 cups
• Condensed milk – 1/2 cup 
• Mango pulp - 1 cup 
• 6 Passion fruits (or passion pulp/syrup/concentrate)
• Sugar

Method

• Put the milk in a heavy based pan, and bring it to boil. Now reduce the heat to low and simmer till the milk is reduced to half. This takes around 30 min. Keep stirring in between. When the skin forms on the top or the sides stir it back in. It is this process that gives kulfi its traditional creamy and rough texture. This can be done in parallel to cooking regular meals in kitchen, that way it does not take up extra time
• When the milk reduces to half, let it cool
• In the meanwhile scoop out the passion fruit pulp and seeds into a strainer (or muslin cloth) over a bowl. Press with the back of a spoon to extract the juice. There's not much juice in a single passion fruit, but it is very  strong, and loaded with flavor. 6 fruits yield approximately 1/4 cup of juice. If fresh passion fruits are not available, use passion pulp/concentrate
• Add condensed milk which further adds to the richness and creaminess
• Add Mango pulp (I used canned Alphanso pulp,  since fresh Alphanso is not available here), passion fruit juice, and mix it well
• Taste it and add sugar if needed. I did not have to add any sugar because of the canned mango pulp and sweet condensed milk
• Pour in moulds and freeze overnight or until firm
• To unmould, dip the moulds under hot water for few seconds and gently pry out with a knife onto a plate. Kulfi is best eaten a little soft, as it melts around the edges

The Kulfi was just so sublime with the tropical flavors of passion-fruit and the sweetness of mango in every bite. So forget about calories for a moment, and just indulge!

Sending this to Srivalli's Mithai Mela, and to FIC favorite hosted by Sweatha,  event started by Sunny Sunshinemom of TongueTicklers.  Also sending this to Sanghi’s FIL event.