The freezing pail should always be of pewter,—those from England are the best. The natives make them of a composition that answers well, but it is necessary to be careful in this respect, lest, having a portion of lead in them, the ice should be rendered poisonous from the effect of the lime-juice. The lid of the freezing pail ought to be made with a catch to prevent its coming off when the pail is turned round by the hand in the bucket of ice. The freezing pail should be of pewter, because it prevents the contents of the vessel from congealing too quickly, and there is time to mix them thoroughly; for on this, in a great measure, depends the excellence of the ice: if it be made of tin, the congelation is too rapid, and the materials have not time enough to allow of their being well mixed.
When an article is iced, it does not lose its sweetness; no additional sugar or syrup is requisite; the loss of sweetness arises from the materials not being properly mixed or worked with a bamboo or spaddle when in the freezing pail. The natives do not open the freezing pail and stir the mixture with a spaddle; on the contrary, they fasten the lid down securely by putting paste all round the edges: consequently, their cream ice is as hard as real ice itself. Properly stirred it resembles hard snow, after the fashion of the Parisian ice cream.
No. III.—Strawberry or raspberry ice cream.
Cream three-fourths, fresh milk one-fourth, five large table-spoonfuls of jam; two ditto of fresh lime-juice, one ditto of colouring mixture. If you find it not sweet enough, add a little syrup or melted sugar, not pounded sugar. Beat the cream, milk, and jam through a hair sieve, and mix them well; add the lime-juice and the colouring mixture; stir it well, and put it into the freezing pail. The pail holds about two quarts. Take a deep ice basket, lay a bazār blanket inside, place within it a clean dry bucket, put the freezing pot into the bucket.
No. IV.—Freezing mixture.
Half ser nowshādar (sal ammoniac), one ser common salt, one ser saltpetre, with eight or ten ser of ice. The saltpetre and salt should be previously roughly pounded. Mix the whole of this together quickly in a blanket; put the mixture into the bucket until it is nearly up to the top and all round the freezing pail; turn the freezing pail round and round in the mixture, holding it by the handle for ten minutes, then leave it for a quarter of an hour, cover the top with ice; cover up all inside with the blanket, and put on the cover of the ice basket; do not let it stand near a tattī. In the course of ten minutes or a quarter of an hour, open the freezing pail, stir the cream round with a long wooden spoon, or a bit of bamboo, cut flat, or a spaddle. You will find it has congealed on the sides, but not in the centre; remove the spoon, put on the lid, turn the pail round for a short time, and cover it up again; this must be repeated until the cream is properly frozen, when it is fit for use. Should the cream not have frozen properly, the freezing mixture, if any remain over, or more ice, may be put into the bucket. In about an hour, or a little more, the cream ice will be ready. It should not be made until just before it is required for use.
Cream ices may be made with strawberry, raspberry, or any other jam in the above manner. The jam imported from France is finer and more reasonable than that sent from England.
No. V.—To freeze two quarts of strawberry cream in a native kulfī.
The khānsāmāns make ice in a pewter vessel, called a kulfī; it contains a quart, and ought to have a removable lid. The bottom of the kulfī should be a fixture. For two kulfīs of this size take eight chhattaks of saltpetre, eight ditto salt, four ditto nowshādar (sal ammoniac); mix them together, having first pounded them separately. Mix these ingredients with ice sufficient to fill an earthenware pan, that with a broad mouth will hold two kulfīs standing erect in it. Having put your kulfīs in the jar, surround them with ice nearly to the rim; put the remainder of the ice into a napkin, and lay it over the top of the kulfīs; then cover over the whole with an earthenware cover. Open the kulfīs in a quarter of an hour, and stir the cream with a flat bamboo, which is a better thing than a spoon for the purpose; cover them up; open again in another quarter of an hour, stir, and leave them for four hours; no fresh ice need be added.
For one kulfī half the quantity of the mixture, and a smaller earthenware pan.