Bay Area Companies KoolFi and Pints of Joy Churn out South Asian Ice Cream and Desi Desserts | Eater SF

"Sparked during a COVID-19 quarantine pod when Ketki Dandekar served homemade ice cream, the partnership with Arshiya Shaikh grew from a shared Sunnyvale kitchen into a storefront next to their production space, and they opened a Sunnyvale shop in the second half of 2022. Their first big experiment was gulab jamun ice cream—a creamy saffron- and cardamom-flavored base flecked with pieces of gulab jamun—and they developed a series inspired by Indian sweets (ras malai, motichoor laddoo, gajar halwa) with seasonal releases for Diwali and Holi; a visit to an Indian grocery store also inspired tilgul made with sesame and jaggery. By pairing familiar ice cream formats with spices like cardamom and saffron, they use their storefront to let curious customers taste and learn about these flavors and aim to appeal to a wide audience." - Kamakshi Ayyar