The last #popsicleoftheweek for April 2019... inspired by my love for meetha paan. There are several recipes for paan ice cream and paan kulfi floating around on the internet. My version is slightly different. For starters, I didn’t use any rose petal jam (gulkand), condensed milk or cream (no artificial color either). I wanted to keep these naturally sweetened, so I opted to use only dates. I also ended up using almond milk because I had half a carton languishing in the refrigerator. I wasn’t sure if my substitutions would work, but was thrilled with how well they turned out. Both the boys said these were the most authentic tasting paan popsicles they had eaten.

Recipe

Paan Popsicles

(Makes 6 small popsicles)

Ingredients
5 large paan (betel) leaves (Kolkata variety)
1 tsp ground green cardamom (elaichi)
1 tsp ground fennel (saunf)
1 tbsp rose water
1 tsp dried, organic rose petals
6 large, soft & pitted dates
1/4 cup raw cashew bits
a drop of peppermint extract/a pinch of menthol (I got this from the local paanwala)
220 ml almond milk, divided (you can use whole milk if you prefer)
1 heaped tsp cornflour

Method

Dissolve the cornflour in 2 tbsp almond milk to form a slurry.

Warm the rest of the milk in a saucepan over low heat until it simmers. Stir in the cornflour mixture and continue whisking for about 10-12 minutes until the milk thickens. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Once cooled, add 1/4 cup of the milk into a blender along with the remaining ingredients and blend until a smooth paste is formed.

Now add in the rest of the almond milk and blend again until well combined (taste and adjust the amount of flavoring as needed).

Pour the mixture into popsicle/kulfi molds and freeze until set.