This Mango Kulfi is my easy but delicious take on the beloved South Asian ice cream, made with just 4 ingredients and 5 minutes of work. It is made with fresh (or canned) mango pulp, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and - my secret - bread. Just like in my classic Malai Kulfi, the bread gives this kulfi the rich texture of malai without any of the cooking. The kulfi has a beautiful mango flavor, creamy texture and is not too sweet. It is the best mango ice cream you've ever had!
If you're hosting for Eid, Diwali or a similar occasion, this mango kulfi is the perfect, low effort make ahead dessert. I also have a few other easy desserts you might love, like this No Bake Tres Leches Cake, or my delicious 6 ingredient Tiramisu Ice Cream Cake.
4 ingredients in this kulfi
Here are the 4 ingredients used in this mango kulfi, and why they work:
- Fresh mango pulp: Grab the sweetest, ripest fresh mangoes you can find, and add their flesh to the blender along with the rest of the ingredients. I personally love using Pakistani Sindhri mangoes or Indian Alphonso mangoes when they are in season. But if it's not mango season, you can also use this canned mango pulp that doesn't have any added ingredients
- Heavy cream: Cream has a higher concentration of fat than milk, which is exactly what we want for kulfi
- Sweetened condensed milk: This is made by cooking down milk and sugar - again, exactly how kulfi is made! So it helps us skip the cooking step and adds the perfect amount of sweetness
- Bread: When milk is cooked down, the milk fat in it coagulates, adding a rich texture that is signature for Kulfi. A little bread blended into the cream and sweetened condensed milk helps replicate this texture
In addition, you can add optional mix ins! I love adding cardamom powder. You can also add chopped nuts like almonds or pistachios.
A note on texture
When we add fruit to ice cream, no matter what kind, the texture of the ice cream becomes slightly more brittle (or icy) as opposed to fully creamy. This is because of the water content in the fruit. So the texture of this mango kulfi is going to be somewhere in between the texture of a pure malai kulfi and a mango sorbet. I personally love this texture, and it is exactly how mango kulfi is in Pakistan, too. Achieving a completely creamy texture would require cooking down the mango pulp, which is an unnecessary complication in my opinion.
Freezing Mango Kulfi
There are 2 ways you can freeze this kulfi:
- A 9x9" cake pan. My preferred method is to line a 9x9" square pan with cling wrap, and pour the mixture in it. Freeze, then take out of the pan by lifting the cling wrap, cut into slices, and serve! It is simple and effective
- Molds. You can also divide the mixture between traditional stainless steel kulfi molds or regular ice cream molds to make ice cream sticks. I personally avoid this as de-molding can take some extra work
Easy 4 Ingredient Mango Kulfi Recipe
- Total Time: 6 hours, 5 minutes (with chilling time)
- Yield: 9 servings
Description
Easy 4 ingredient mango kulfi made with fresh (or canned) mango pulp, heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk and bread. No cooking required!
Ingredients
- 2-3 large ripe mangoes, with 500g of flesh (weighed without the skin or pit); or 500g of canned mango pulp
- 2 King's Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (56g) - or use about 2 slices of any other white bread that is roughly the same weight in grams
- 2 ½ cups cold heavy whipping cream (600g)
- ½ can sweetened condensed milk (7oz or 200g)
- Optional: ½ to 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
Instructions
- Add the mango flesh and bread to a blender. Blend for about 30-60 seconds in pulses, or until the mixture is completely blended and smooth
- Add the heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, and ground cardamom (if using). Blend for another 1-2 minutes in pulses, keeping an eye on the texture, until the mixture becomes thick, fluffy, like softly whipped cream
- Line a 9x9" square pan with cling wrap. Pour the mixture in, and spread it out. Cover the pan with more cling wrap but don't let it touch the mixture
- Freeze for ~6 hours, or until the kulfi is completely frozen
- When ready to serve, carefully pull the kulfi slab out of the pan using the cling wrap, and peel the cling wrap off. Use a sharp knife to cut into slices, and serve. Garnish with chopped pistachios and crushed freeze dried strawberries if you want to add some color. Enjoy!
Video Tutorial:
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Chilling Time: 6 hours
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Freezing, No Bake
- Cuisine: Indian, Pakistani, South Asian
Hira says
Salam Zoha, am following you from Melbourne and obsessed with your fudgy brownies. I am trying to attempt all your recipes one by one!
Can you please clarify the measurements. It says half can or 200g for the condensed milk and then 2.5 cup or 600g for cream. I will use the grams as a guide as in Australia our measuring cups would be different to American measurements.
My daughters are inspired by you and rave about you so much. Every weekend they excitedly ask me to bake using ZOHA'S RECIPES ONLY!!!!!
Lots of love and duas for you! We love you! Please publish a recipe book I would happily buy it!
Zoha Malik says
So sweet, Hira! Thank you! The grams provided are accurate so you can trust and use them 🙂 And how sweet, please tell your daughters that means a lot to me :')
Ambreen Musani says
Hey hey, love your recipes. Mom’s non- dairy, wondering what if I swapped cream with coconut cream and used non-dairy condensed milk? Should have similar results, right?
Zoha Malik says
Hi Ambreen! Unfortunately I have no idea, I have not tried either of those swaps personally.
Ranna Matteen says
I’m definitely going to try this for my Son who has nut allergies and can’t have store bought kulfis! Thank you
Zoha Malik says
Amazing - I hope he loves this one!
Nargis Jiwa says
Hello Zoya… I saw your recipe on instagram as well. I asked you a question but I didn’t get a response. How does your mixture get so fluffy after you blended everything. Mine is a title runny compared to yours. I use the Braun blender/processor.
Zoha Malik says
Hi Nargis! It takes a little longer to get that texture so keep blending! the blender whips the cream up with time. But even if it's runny, the ice cream should set up ok