Asharfilal The Kulfi Shop

Asharfilal has been selling kulfi beside Rani no Hajiro in Manek Chowk since 1945, which makes it older than most of the food stalls that now surround it. The product is traditional matka kulfi: whole milk reduced slowly until thick, flavoured, poured into conical metal moulds, and frozen in salted ice rather than a modern freezer, which gives it a denser and less aerated texture than ice cream. The mould is knocked out and sliced to order onto a plate or served over falooda vermicelli with rose syrup and basil seeds. The regular flavours are malai, kesar-pista, badam and mango, with sitaphal appearing in the custard-apple season and a rotating cast of seasonal fruit options. Prices sit around INR 60-140 per serving (~$0.65-1.45), and the shop has expanded to several outlets around Ahmedabad, though the Manek Chowk original remains the one worth visiting. The counter matters because of where it sits. Manek Chowk is a vegetable market in the morning, a jewellery bazaar by day, and from about 9PM a dense street-food market of griddles and butter, and kulfi is the conventional way to finish that crawl. The surrounding square is ringed by 15th-century monuments, so the setting is a good deal more interesting than a dessert counter would normally be. Expect standing room only, a crowd, and no seating to speak of on weekend nights.