Gadbad
There are only few dishes/recipes which are associated with place so well such that they become synonymous with that location over a period of time. Ask anyone from Mangalore to Goa coastal belt, which is the most revered ice cream of that region – response cannot be anything other than “Gadbad”. If answer is different, perhaps they are not from this coastal region!!
This ice-cream was ‘the option’ when we had our cousins visiting us during childhood. The procedure to prepare being laborious, we always chose to visit Kumta to relish. In those days, there were few options- one on car street and other being near bus stand. However today there are many more options, oldies still being favorites.
In Hindi language Gadbad means ‘mistake’. In Konkani or Kannada it loosely translates to ‘in hurry’. Apparently the name originated because workers at ice-cream parlor could prepare this in hurry by mixing and matching ingredients, that are available to them…easily!!
For a very long time, I had been asking Shilpa, why there is no ice cream on this site. So, when I had to choose one, Gadbad was my very first choice – the ice cream that I liked all through my life, the name which many have admired and acknowledged their love with a smile(if they know what it means) , the preparation which is not very different from sundae varieties available with several brands in major towns. However after trying ice creams across many countries, this humble preparation from my native region of India still stands as favorite. It is available in any ice-cream parlor of even a Tier2 town of this region, sitting in menu cards, so gracefully. At Kumta’s ‘new Simla ice cream parlor’, in month of May 2014, this just costed Rs 30. A royal serving, but a humble preparation that would contain almost everything that is in ice cream parlor!!
As mentioned earlier, this is not a unique recipe by itself, but the way it is served makes it unique. The contents will always have 3 flavors – rose or strawberry being one, pineapple or mango generally being another and vanilla being there almost every time. Along with these go- easily available fresh fruits of coastal region, tooty-frooty(ready made jelly made up of Papaya) , rose syrup and crowning glory would be a cherry. It is served always in a tall glass with much longer spoon and it is this part which makes it such a brand and so special. As per a Kannada weekly, this was invented in Mangalore and became a cult over a period of time in surrounding region. No more details are available on origin of this.
Though name loosely translates to ‘in hurry’, if someone is planning to prepare at house, this ice cream neither can be prepared in hurry nor one can have it in hurry!! However it is so delicious that you would not worry about efforts that go in!! While preparing at house, I have ensured to the best possible extent, to use natural ingredients. Ready-made ingredients are used only when alternate option was not available. As it is mango season, I decided to use mango ice-cream as one of the options, rose ice-cream as another choice as rose syrup was available and also because of its eye catching color in overall presentation. Vanilla ice cream is prepared using easily available ice-cream mix.
Procedure for overall ice-cream preparation with refrigerator:
Vanilla ice-cream:
Ingredients:
Weikfield Freeze Ice cream mix powder
½ litre of milk
Method:
Empty the contents of packet in ½ litre of milk
Heat to boil for 2 minutes with constant stirring till it becomes homogeneous mixture
This mixture is cooled and poured into container.
Mango ice-cream:
Ingredients:
2 cut mangoes or mango pulp
2 ground cardmom powder
½ litre of milk
2 tbl spn fresh cream
2 tbl spn of sugar
Method:
Boil milk and bring to room temperature
Mix all ingredients
Blend well to get homogeneous mixture
Pour above mixture into container
Rose flavored ice-cream
Ingredients:
2 tbsp Rose syrup(ex. FineLife’s Rose sharbat syrup)
½ litre of milk
2 tbsp fresh cream
2 tbsp of sugar
Method:
Boil milk and bring to room temperature
Mix all ingredients
Blend well to get homogeneous mixture
Pour above mixture into container
Common procedure to make ice-cream using refrigerator:
Select coolest position for deep fridge (freezer). Keep the same in at least ½ hr before keeping ice-cream containers.
Leave containers in deep fridge for around 2-3 hours.
Take them out, blend them separately using a blender.
Ensure you take out froth if any, as that crystallizes. You will not get desired texture if you leave froth as it is. Keep them back in deep fridge.
Repeat above procedure at least 3 times, till you find desired texture so that you can scoop out.
While keeping it for the last time, either close the containers with lid or with plastic sheet. This is to ensure it does not freeze.
It is advisable to leave sufficient head-space so that freezing can be avoided. You may also prefer freezing bags instead of regular containers.
Warning: Keeping glass Containers in deep fridge is unsafe, as glass may break.
Ingredients for garnishing:
Fresh cut fruits – banana, mango, pomegranate
Dry fruits – grapes, cashews, pista
Tooty frooty, cherry and rose syrup
Method for serving:
Take a tall glass. Place a scoop of rose flavored ice cream.
Add fresh cut fruits.
Add scoop of mango ice cream.
Add dry fruits.
Add vanilla ice cream.
Garnish with rose syrup and Tooty frooty.
Top it up with a cherry.
Serve with long spoon so that one can reach bottom of glass easily!!