Egg Custard Ice Cream

We had friends over for an Indian themed meal last week and while I made it easy on myself by letting each couple order the entrees and maincourse from a excellent Indian restaurant 3 doors down, I said I'd make dessert. I had originally planned to do the whole meal myself but I'd had a really hectic week and had no time to hunt down speciality ingredients or spend hours making authentic regional dishes, especially as one of the guests hailed from India, so I couldn't even cheat & fob them off with heated up Pataks curry sauce. I started trailing the internet the night before for pudding ideas and kulfi kept coming up, in particular this recipe that caught my eye, that is until I got to the part where it says it takes about 8-9 hours (including freezing time) to make! I like my sleep too much and scrapped that idea, and decided to make cardamom ice cream instead.

I adapted Nigellas egg custard ice cream recipe by bruising 6 cardamom pods and leaving them to steep for an hour or so in the cooked cream. I fished them out when it was time to add to the eggs & sugar, but left them in the sieve. Once I'd reheated the custard and it had thickened I poured the mixture through the sieve again, into a bowl to cool. The cardamom had really infused the custard, adding a spicy overtone to the vanilla. I made honey and sesame tuiles to accompany the ice cream. My guests loved it, especially the two who ordered vindaloo as it soothed their scorched tastebuds!