Paan or meetha paan is a popular Indian refreshment enjoyed after a meal. It has a slightly minty, sweet, aromatic, and refreshing flavor. This is a delicious and easy paan ice cream recipe which has the same exotic taste as a meetha paan itself.
Paan is betel leaf and meetha paan is betel leaf with a filling of paan masala, gulkand, fennel seeds, and at times betel nuts. Meetha pan is also commonly called paan.
This paan ice cream is easy to make and has a refreshing flavor. It is going to please your friends and family. You can serve it at your next party, potluck, or any special occasion.
Ingredients
To make paan ice cream at home you will need betel leaves. They are called paan or pan in the Hindi language. They are available in Indian grocery stores. Depending on the size, you may need about 5-8 betel leaves. I have used 5 pan leaves of about 6 inch length.
I like to use the dark green color, they are also known as Kolkata paan. The light green ones will work too but the ice cream will be lighter in color. Personally, I do not like to add food color, but if you want you can add a drop or two of green food color.
Another ingredient you will need is gulkand or rose petal jam. It is sweet in taste and so you will need very less sugar in the recipe. Dates also add sweetness.
When you chew a pan it is also slightly crunchy because of the paan masala. I have used candied fennel seeds but you can use sweet mukhwas which has other ingredients along with candied fennel seeds.
To make the ice cream base, heavy whipping cream and whole milk are a must.
Instructions
Rinse the betel leaves thoroughy well and pat dry them with a kitchen towel. In a high speed blender jar like Vitamix, add the milk, sugar, rose petal jam, salt, cardamom powder, dates, and betel leaves. Blend them on medium high speed until all the sugar dissolves and the mixture is fine.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and then add the heavy cream. Gently stir it with a spatula to mix it evenly. The ice cream mixture is now ready. Let it chill in the refrigerator for about 1-2 hours. This will help absorb the flavors.
Transfer the mixture into the ice cream maker bowl and churn it for about 25 minutes. It is best to pre chill the bowl for 5-10 minutes in the ice cream machine before adding and churning the mixture. This helps reduce overall churn time.
After about 20 minutes, add the candied fennel seeds and continue churning for the remaining time until the ice cream is of soft serve consistency.
Transfer the ice cream to an ice cream container and freeze it for about 5-6 hours before serving.
While serving, you can garnish it with some tutti frutti, maraschino cherries, and candied fennel seeds.
Substitutions
There are only a few substitutions you can make in this paan ice cream.
- Candied fennel seeds - instead of candied fennel seeds, you can use mint flavored fennel seeds or sweet mukhwas (mouth freshener).
- Paan - I have used the dark green colored betel leaves but you can use the light green color too and the ice cream will have lighter color.
- Dates - if you do not have dates, you can use ¼ cup of sugar instead.
Equipment
I have made this paan ice cream in the 1.5 quart Cuisinart ICE 100 compressor ice cream maker. It makes 1 quart of ice cream with this recipe. Any other ice cream maker will work fine.
If you have a larger capacity ice cream maker using a freezer bowl or the salt and ice type, you can scale the recipe to adapt to your ice cream maker.
Storage
Homemade paan ice cream can be stored in the freezer for about a month in an airtight container. After that you may see some tiny ice crystal layer but you can still enjoy the ice cream.
Top tip
If you are using an ice cream machine with a compressor, it is best to cool the ice cream bowl for 5-10 minutes before churning the ice cream. This will help to reduce the overall churning time and any buttery film in the mouth as an aftertaste.
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📖 Recipe
Paan (Betel Leaf) Ice Cream
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Ingredients
- 2 cup Heavy cream
- 1 cup Milk
- â…“ cup Organic cane sugar
- 1 pinch Salt
- â…“ cup Gulkand (rose petal jam)
- 4 Dates (large, pitted)
- 5 Betel leaves (dark colored, large)
- ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
Add-ins
- ½ tablespoon Candied fennel seeds
For garnishing
- 1 tablespoon Tutti frutti (candied fruit)
Instructions
- Blend the betel leaves, sugar, milk, gulkand, dates, and salt in Vitamix or another blender until sugar is dissolved. (Gradually increase Vitamix speed to 6-7)1 cup Milk, â…“ cup Organic cane sugar, â…“ cup Gulkand, 4 Dates, 5 Betel leaves, 1 pinch Salt
- Transfer the mixture into a bowl and add mix in the heavy cream and cardamom powder with a spatula.2 cup Heavy cream, ¼ teaspoon Cardamom powder
- Refrigerate the mixture for about 30-60 minutes before churning.
- Stir the mixture and transfer it to the ice cream maker bowl.
- Churn the mixture for 25 minutes.
- After about 20 minutes, add the candied fennel seeds and continue churning for the remaining time.½ tablespoon Candied fennel seeds
- Transfer the paan ice cream to a freezer safe container.
- Freeze the ice cream for about 5-6 hours before serving.
- Top with tutti frutti while serving.1 tablespoon Tutti frutti
Notes
- This recipe makes 1 quart ice cream.
- To make ice cream without an ice cream maker
Shipra Gupta says
Super delicious!
Alpa Jain says
Hi Shipra,
Glad to know you enjoyed the ice cream.
Cheers,
Alpa