Pistachio Almond Cardamom Pepper Kulfi (Ice Cream) vegan glutenfree

Last 2 weeks, I have been in a kind of a funk. Not much inspiration in the kitchen and just generally overwhelmed with work. And the rainy cold seattle isnt helping. I need some sunlight and some good food(not cooked by me). If anyone s willing to come over with delicious food, drop by. I promise I will return the favor with a lot of goodies a bit later!:)

Now you know why there are not many ice cream or Spritzer posts this season yet. I am sitting inside a comforter typing up this post!. Brrrrr..

Also, Facebook is changing up a lot of things and proving That- its all about the money. Cue song!

Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm affects what users see in their Newsfeed and currently only 25-30% fans see the page updates on their feed.
Facebook knows better than you do what you would like to see on your Wall(:/) and hence this new feature where page owners can pay to increase visibility. :(

To make sure you see your favorite Facebook page feed
1. ** You can bypass their Egderank algo by adding Pages to fb lists! ** (To add to a List, Click the arrow on the right of the "Message" tab on each page, and create new list or add to existing list, which will always display all posts by the page. More details about FB Lists here
2. If users comment, like, or share, more items from a particular page, then the page is more likely to appear in their Newsfeed.
3. Ensure that when you hover the "Liked" button on top right of the FB page, it has a check mark on "Show in News feed".

I guess I need to learn to use my other social media options equally. You can also find me on Twitter, Pinterest, subscribe to the blog via feedburner or Email( right side bar), just in case Fb changes up things in the future. :)

Now to the Ice cream.

Kulfi is a dense unwhipped ice cream from the Indian subcontinent. The age old way of making kulfi involved slow cooking whole milk till it reduced to half and very thick consistency, then freezing it in molds kept in a mixture of ice and salt in an earthenware(matka) for the soft frozen texture. No Ice-maker needed.

I mean seriously, I just dont get how thoughtlessly we have been using huge amounts of dairy since ages. Did you know, That it takes

- 10 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese

- 10-12 pounds of milk to make 1 gallon of ice cream

- 21 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of butter

- 28+ pounds of milk to make 1 pound of ghee(clarified butter)

Milk from the cow is for the calf to becomes a 1000 lb , slow moving, plant eating ,cow/bull. Dont even get me started about the atrocities done to the sweet and humble animals like cows and buffaloes to be able to steal that dairy.

This Ice cream however, is a dairy free, deliciously good, spiced Kulfi. With pistachios, almonds and almond milk, cardamom and pepper. You can change up the nuts, add flavors like mango or thick strawberry puree, rose essence, saffron strands, or even chocolate! Or add some candied ginger and coat it in some ginger snap crumbles. blisssss . What is your favorite icecream apart from the regular flavors.

My old post Saffron kulfi with nuts and oats.

This is also the last week of the So much to love contest, ending this Sunday.:) No more voting needed after this week. I promise:)

Please Vote for this recipe(Pistachio Almond Pepper Ice cream) in this week's So Delicious® Dairy Free SO Much to Love Giveaway! 3rd row, 2nd picture.
You can vote everyday till Sunday and will be entered to win daily prizes, and if my recipe gets the most votes, you'll be entered to win a great weekly prize. Thanks a bunch!:)

Melt on me now!

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons raw Pistachios

1 Tablespoon raw almonds

1/2 cup So Delicious Almond plus or any nut milk(or make your own nut milk)

2 teaspoons cornstarch or any thickening starch (or 1 Tablespoon ground cashew)

1/8 teaspoon cardamom powder

a pinch of saffron(optional)

2-4 Tablespoons raw sugar, powdered ( to taste)

For variations: Add a pinch of black pepper, or a Tablespoons of chopped dark chocolate, or a Tablespoon of ginger snap crumbs/crystallized ginger.

Directions:

Grind the Pistachios and then the almonds into as fine a powder as possible.(some of it may become buttery, which is fine)

In a blender, add the ground Pistachios and almonds, cornstarch, raw sugar, spices and Almond milk.

Blend well until the mixture is well combined.

Transfer mix to a pan and bring to just about a boil on low-medium heat, stirring almost constantly.

Or microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave for 30 seconds again(it should bubble slightly).

The mixture will thicken at just about the boiling stage. Add a few tsp more nuts flour(pistachio/amond or cashew) if you like it the kulfi really thick. If adding cashew, then bring to a boil.

Take off heat. Let cool a bit. Taste and adjust sugar.

Add in the pepper/chocolate chips/candied ginger, mix , then transfer to Popsicle, Kulfi, or icecream molds or ramekins.

Cover the open molds/ramekins with aluminium foil and let freeze overnight.

Let the popsicles or molds sit out or dip in warm-hot water to take the frozen icecream out.

Serve as is, or in a parfait with fresh mango and ginger snap crumbs.

Or drizzle some salted caramel or peppered sugar syrup.

This month is Ice Cream Blog hop month. Please join in on the #icecreamlove fun by linking up any ice cream/frozen treats recipe from the month of June OR July 2012.

Don't forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #icecreamlove event! The twitter hashtag is #icecreamlove .

The blog hop is being co-hosted by

AstigVegan - Richgail – @AstigVegan | Baker Street - Anuradha – @bakerstreet29 | Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves - Becky Higgins | BigFatBaker - Erin Meyer – @bigfatbaker | Bon à croquer - Valerie – @Valouth | Cakeballs, cookies and more - Sue Alexander | Cheap Ethnic Eatz - Evelyne cethniceatz | Georgiecakes - Georgie Kubarych – @GeorgieCakes | Hobby And More - Richa -@betit19 |
Mis Pensamientos – Junia – @juniakk | No One Likes Crumbley Cookies – T.R. – @TRCrumbley | Pippi’s In The Kitchen Again Sheila - Lais – @shlylais | Queen’s Notebook - Elizabeth Besa Quirino – @Mango_Queen | Rico sin Azúcar - @ricosinazucar |Simply Reem - Reem Simplyreem | Soni’s Food for Thought - Soni – @sonisfood | That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!! - Liz – @thatskinnychick |The Spicy RD - EA Stewart – @thespicyrd | Vegetarian Mamma - Cindy – @vegetarianmamma | You Made That? – Suzanne – @Youmadethatblog