page_title: Ice cream
section_title: South Asia
hierarchical_section_title: Ice cream / History / South Asia
caption_attribution_description: English: Kulfi eaten from a matka (clay pot)
context_page_description: Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from dairy milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and any spice, such as cocoa or vanilla. Colourings are usually added, in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is stirred to incorporate air spaces and cooled below the freezing point of water to prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures. It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases.
  The meaning of the name "ice cream" varies from one country to another. Terms such as "frozen custard," "frozen yogurt," "sorbet," "gelato," and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, such as the United States, "ice cream" applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients, notably the amount of cream. Products that do not meet the criteria to be called ice cream are sometimes labelled "frozen dairy dessert" instead.
context_section_description: In the sixteenth century, the Persianate Mughal emperors from the Indian subcontinent used relays of horsemen to bring ice from the Hindu Kush to Delhi, where it was used in fruit sorbets. Qulfi is a popular frozen dairy dessert from the Indian subcontinent and is often described as "traditional South Asian ice cream." It originated in the sixteenth century in the Mughal Empire and was actually adopted from bastani sonnati, a Persian ice cream.
caption: Kulfi inside a matka pot from India.
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