‘Tradition that should go on': Delhi's kulfi craft served cold and sweet on Karachi's streets

Arab News

6 days ago

KARACHI: As Karachi's scorching sun dips below the horizon, a familiar figure appears on Sir Shah Muhammad Suleman Road in the bustling Liaquatabad neighborhood, also known as Lalukhet.
Sixty-year-old Muhammad Abid arrives at his small, elevated wooden kiosk, carrying something special: kulfi, a dense, frozen South Asian dessert whose creamy richness once graced royal tables.
Kulfi is widely believed to date back to the Mughal Empire in the 16th century, where it was considered a royal delicacy, according to commonly available online sources.
The name is thought to originate from the Persian word kulfa or kulf, loosely meaning 'covered cup' — likely a reference to the sealed metal molds traditionally used to freeze the dessert.
Unlike modern ice cream, kulfi is not churned, which results in a denser, creamier texture.
'This used to be royal kulfi,' Abid said. 'It was made during the times of kings. Now it's being sold on the streets.'
Asked how the product is prepared, he said traditionally, full-fat milk is slow-cooked until it thickens and reduces significantly, which is then sweetened, flavored with almond, sugar and another thing, which is his 'secret.'.
'I told you about the almonds, I told you about the sugar, but that third ingredient is a secret,'he said, smiling while refusing to share the secret he claims was passed on to him through previous generations.
Abid said his family's tradition of making kulfis dates back to pre-Partition India. As a child, he would accompany his father and grandfather to their cart, until both passed away and he took over.
'We've been selling kulfi for quite a long time,' he said, adding that his grandfather who took the tradition from India's Delhi, where his family had been making kulfi for centuries, to set up shop in Karachi's Liaquatabad area in 1968.
Before moving to Liaquatabad, they would sell Kulfi at a roadside corner at the city's famous Jama cloth market under a peepal tree.
Much like him, other kulfi sellers in the vicinity claim to have similar roots. While these oral histories are not easy to independently verify, the richness of their technique and the taste of their product speaks for itself. Most of them have also remained associated with the business for decades in the same neighborhood.
Abid takes pride in preserving the authenticity of his craft.
'The kind we make, with almonds, butter, and cream that you won't find anywhere else,' he said with a sense of pride.
A few stalls down, 62-year-old Abdul Rasheed, who also identifies as a fifth-generation kulfiwala, shares a similar story, saying his family migrated from India where it practiced the same craft.
'My father set up a stall inside the Jamia Masjid [in Karachi], and then in 1976, we came to Lalukhet,' he said. 'Since then, we've been selling here.'
Like Abid, Rasheed emphasizes the purity of his offering.
'This is pure milk kulfi, real milk,' he said. 'We cook the milk, make rabri, make khoya from it and add sugar. That's all. Our kulfi is pure. We don't use market-bought khoya or anything like that.'
But with kulfi now widely available in shops across Karachi, these traditional makers say the demand for their product has declined.
'Now every sweet shop, every mithai shop has kulfi,' Rasheed said. 'Earlier, they used to buy from us. Now they make their own.'
Still, loyal customers return for the taste and tradition.
'I don't pass by here often, but whenever I do, I always stop to eat this kulfi,' Majid Ali, a 40-year-old property worker and catering center owner, said. 'It brings back old memories.'
'We eat a lot of different kulfis, new ice creams with new names,' he added. 'But this is a part of old culture, a landmark of this road.'
Farhana Niazi, another customer, said she only recently discovered Lalukhet's kulfi.
''Let me finally have you try this today,'' she quoted her husband as saying while they were passing through the area this week.
Previously, she would ignore such offers, thinking the taste might not be good.
'When I tasted it, I realized it was actually very delicious,' she said. 'It has a very different flavor. The taste of khoya really comes through. It was excellent, very different. I truly enjoyed it.'
Niazi believes more people should come and try the royal kulfi.
'It's a tradition that should go on,' she said.
But for Rasheed, the golden era feels like a distant memory.
'Back in the day, we had a huge rush,' he said, recalling when 15 to 20 cars lined up at once in front of his kiosk, Madina Kulfi. 'Now, that's no longer the case.'