The Evolution of Indian

Ice Cream

The Mughal Foundation

The word ‘kulfi’ comes from the Persian ‘qulfi’, meaning ‘covered cup’. Its origins are believed to trace back to the 16th century, when the treat was mentioned in the court records of Emperor Akbar. Ain-i-Akbari is a detailed record of the Mughal emperor Akbar's administration, mentioning the use of saltpetre for refrigeration and horsemen who brought ice from the Hindu Kush to Delhi for making kulfi.

To prepare kulfi, sweetened, flavoured milk is slow-cooked and stirred almost continuously to prevent it from sticking to the cooking utensil. It’s the same process as making rabri, where the slow cooking caramelises the sugar and browns its milk proteins, giving kulfi its distinctive taste. The reduced milk or rabri is quite creamy, which can be enjoyed on its own as a dessert.

What Makes Kulfi Different

Unlike ice cream, kulfi is not churned while it is frozen, which is why it is so dense and comes in a distinct category of frozen dairy-based dessert. Unlike ice cream, which often includes eggs for creaminess, kulfi is made using only full-fat milk, which makes it much more stable. Plus, the no-churning method also gives a lesser leeway for any air to penetrate. 

Popular flavours include malai kulfi, made with reduced milk and flavoured with cardamom and pistachios, mango kulfi made with ripe mangoes, and kesar pista kulfi flavoured with saffron and pistachios. Summers are incomplete without kulfi, and in this country, it is sold at the roadside (sometimes mobile) kulfiwallahs with their big pot of ice and kulfis in matkas and triangular cones, or at commercial shops. You even have speciality stores famous for their kulfi varieties.

The Western Ice Cream Arrives

Post the kulfi boom during the Mughal reign, there was a brief lull until the British arrived. Ironically, the ice cream in Britain was made using Italian recipes and their techniques, during the same period when the Mughals were busy making kulfi in India. While there is no certain date, the British introduced ice cream between the 17th the 19th centuries. 

The English ice cream was a far cry from kulfi. As the Brits do best, they made the ice cream a luxurious item, only accessible to the elite. However, as its popularity rose, ice cream parlours and vendors started to appear in major Indian cities. As refrigeration technology was invented, more ice cream shops started popping up, and the sweet dessert became more accessible. Local initiatives were also taken, with the first Indian ice cream shop opening its doors in Bombay around the 1800s.

The Post-Independence Growth

After India gained independence in 1947, there was a surge in the popularity of ice cream, with local dairies and ice cream companies producing a wide variety of flavours. The post-independence period marked the rise of homegrown brands like Kwality Walls (founded in the 1940s), Vadilal (1907), Amul (1950s) and Mother Dairy (1974).

It is believed that the modern era of ice cream brands in India began with the establishment of Kwality, founded by Satish Chona in the 1940s, which introduced a range of flavours that were a departure from the traditional kulfi. Havmor, founded in Gujarat in 1944, started as a small store selling traditional Indian sweets and ventured into ice cream, combining the flavours of Indian sweets with the delight of frozen treats.

Opening Up Of Markets and Global Brands Trickling In

With the opening up of the Indian economy in the early 1990s, international ice cream brands like Baskin-Robbins and Häagen-Dazs entered the Indian market. These brands brought international flavours with a premium tag to them. They also popularised sundaes, waffle cones, and ice cream toppings. At the same time, they also adapted to Indian preferences by working with what Indians loved best.

Modern Innovation and Fusion

In recent years, the Indian ice cream market has witnessed a lot of creativity and innovation, with brands like Naturals, Cream Stone and NIC Ice Creams, specialising in natural and exotic flavours made without preservatives. Today, these are the go-to places for both trendy dishes and gourmet flavours. You get novel treats like rasamalai ice cream, gulab jamun ice cream and kulfi ice creams with gulkhand and kesar in them. 

Some places like Natural's ice-creams, established in 1984, offer fruit-based ice creams with no additives too. Then there’s Cream Stone, which has carved a niche in the Indian market with its unique concept of ‘cold stone’ ice creams, where flavours and mix-ins are blended on a frozen granite stone. Another recent entry, which went viral on social media, was the Turkish ice cream. The stretchy ice cream gained popularity for its unique serving style, but customers also enjoy the slow-melting treat for its chewy texture and sweet taste. 

Gelato Makes Its Entry

Gelato is the purest form of ice cream and authentically Italian, and no, it’s not a frozen dessert like kulfi. It entered the Indian market as part of the global dessert trend, but slowly took over the taste buds. 

Today, the gelato industry in India is expected to continue growing at an annual rate of 12%. In June 2023, Amore Gelato and Sorbetto, an Italian frozen dessert brand that even featured on Shark Tank India, planned to expand with franchising and new product offerings in Telangana, Goa, Indore, and Andhra Pradesh. In January 2023, Mama Mia established itself as India's oldest gelato company by creating gelato macarons, which combined Italian gelato with French macaron bits.

As for the broader picture, in the Asia Pacific, the gelato market is expanding due to the rising middle class, urbanisation, and increasing Western influences on food consumption patterns. If data were to be seen, the Asia Pacific’s gelato industry grew from 627.366 million USD in 2021 to 832.243 million USD in 2025.

What is gelato, anyway?

But what makes gelato so different? Well, it’s ice cream in its purest form. Gelato has less air incorporated during its churning, making it denser and creamier than traditional ice cream. It also contains less fat and is served slightly warmer. Gelato is often marketed as a healthier alternative to ice cream due to its lower fat content and natural ingredients.

The globalisation of gelato has led to the introduction of fusion flavours that combine elements from different cuisines, with cardamom from India being incorporated into gelato flavours. India will be the guest country at SIGEP World 2026, highlighting the country's growing hospitality and gelato market potential, with a large Indian delegation exploring opportunities linked to traditional Italian artisan gelato.

The Final Scoop

From the little kulfi moulds during the Mughal era in Delhi to the artisanal gelato stands in current-day India, the journey of Indian frozen desserts is both rich and still evolving. What began as a simple matka of reduced milk and saffron has blossomed into a booming marketplace of local ingenuity, global flavours, and a focus on indulgence.