Hailing from 16th Century India, kulfi is a traditional frozen dessert similar to ice cream pops. It first emerged while the Mughal Empire still stretched across India. While spices like cardamom, cinnamon and saffron were nothing new in India at the time, it was the Mughals who first combined such flavors into a frozen dessert.
This was my first time making kulfi, and it turned out to be both easy and absolutely mouthwatering. I used a recipe from the website “Swasthi’s Recipes” that details how to make it. In a nutshell, the recipe involves boiling milk, cream and sugar in a pot, then reducing to a simmer and adding spices before pouring in molds and freezing overnight. I used ground pistachios, cardamom and saffron, but there are many different flavors of kulfi.
“The best flavors are definitely mango or malai,” says Ruhi Patil ’26.
Alyssa Castellino ’28 offers a different perspective, saying, “My grandmother would always make saffron kulfi…it was always a really special treat for me.”
Adding saffron to my kulfi provided a delicate and unique flavor that paired perfectly with the nuttiness from the pistachios and earthy sweetness from the cardamom.
While kulfi is a fantastic treat during the summer, it can be eaten at any time.
Gia Kashyap ’26 reflects on enjoying kulfi in the fall during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights: “We would get a whole assortment of kulfis for our [party] guests…just thinking about kulfi brings me joy, I love it so much.”
