FUDGE - BARFI
Barfi
1-1/4 cups groundnut (peanuts)
1-1/2 cups powdered (icing) sugar
1 tablespoon milk
a few cherries
Heat a fry pan/karai without any ghee and roast the nuts. Cool and peel the skin off the roasted nuts. Grind them to powder in a mixer. Heat a nonstick pan. Put the powdered nut and mix powdered sugar into it. Stir for 2-3 minutes. Mix milk into it. Stir well to blend the mixture to a sticky consistency. Grease a plate. Pour the mixture in it. Make smooth and level. When cooled, cut with sharp knife in square or diamond shapes. Cut the cherries in thin pieces and decorate the barfies by pressing one or two pieces of cherry in each barfy, and offer!
Badam Ki Barfi
Almonds 1-½ cup
Milk 2 cups
Sugar 2-1/2 cups
Powdered cardamom 1 tsp.
Ghee 4 tbsp.
Soak almonds in a jugful of warm water for a couple of hours. When soft remove the skin and grind the almonds to a paste. Mix the almond paste with milk and sugar and cook in a heavy saucepan on medium heat. Stir constantly till sugar melts and the mixture boils. Add ghee and cook till the mixture comes away from the sides of the saucepan. Add cardamom powder and pour the mixture into a greased thali and flatten out. Cool and cut into strips.
Badam Pista Barfi
4 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup blanched almonds, pulverised
Pinch of ground cardamom
2 tbsp pista (pistachio) nuts, blanched
Edible silver leaf-optional
In a heavy saucepan or large frying pan boil the milk over fairly high heat, stirring all the time, until it is reduced and very thick. Add sugar and stir for 10 minutes on low heat. Add the ground almonds and continue to cook and stir until the mixture comes away from sides and base of pan in one mass. Remove from heat, sprinkle cardamom over and mix well. Turn onto a greased plate. Smooth top with back of butter spoon. Cool slightly, mark in diamond shapes with knife and decorate with halved pistachio nuts and sliver leaf. Before it is quite firm cut with sharp knife along the markings then let it get quite cold before separating into pieces.
Besan Burfi
1 cup Besan
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
4 seeds Cardamom
Nuts (optional)
Melt butter in a pan. Turn down heat and add cardamom and besan. Fry, stirring constantly to prevent burning until it has changed to a brown color. (Test: a few drops of water sprinkled on it sputters instantly). Turn off the heat and stir in the sugar. Spread 1/2" thick onto a platter. Cut into diamond shapes after it has cooled down, and offer.
Chequered Barfi
For the Badam Barfi:
1 cup almonds
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp elaichi (cardamom) powder
For the Cashew Barfi:
1 cup cashess
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp elaichi powder
For the Pista Barfi:
1 cup pistachios
½ cup sugar
¼ tsp elaichi powder
a few drops of green food colouring (optional)
For the Chequered Barfi:
a few saffron strands
1 tbsp milk
4 to 5 edible silver leaves
For the Badam, Cashew and Pista Barfis: Doing each kind of nut as a separate batch, first soak the nuts in warm water for 30 minutes. Drain all the water, peel the skins off and blend them to a fine paste in mixer. Set aside. Melt the sugar in ½ cup of water and prepare a syrup of 1 string consistency. Add the nut paste and elaichi powder and other ingredients and cook over a slow flame. Keep on stirring continuously for about 5 to 7 minutes till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Shift to a plate and cool slightly. Set aside.
For the chequered Barfi: Melt the saffron in the milk, add it to the cashew barfi and stir well. Divide the badam barfi, cashew barfi and pista barfi into 3 equal parts. Roll out each part into a cylinder of 200 mm. (8") length and 6 mm. (¼") thickness. On a sheet of plastic, keep one badam roll, one cashew roll and one pista roll next to each other, to form a layer. Top the first layer with a cashew roll, pista roll and badam roll (in that order). Top with the third layer of pista roll, badam roll and cashew roll. Press gently so that all the barfi rolls stick together to form a rectangle. Garnish the rectangle with the silver leaves. Cut the rectangle into 8 slices of 25 mm. (1") thickness, and offer.
Coconut Burfi (1234 Sweet)
Ghee 1 Cup
Fresh shredded coconut 2 Cups
Sugar 3 Cups
Milk 4 Cups
Add all the four above mentioned ingredients to a deep non-stick vessel. Allow the milk to boil on low flame, stirring the contents occasionally. Once the milk starts thickening, check if the mixture has attained the required consistency (A simple test is to wet your hand, put some mixture on the palm and see if you can roll it up into a ball. If you cannot, then wait for some more time before you can try it out again) Keep stirring the contents throughout the whole process. Once the consistency is right, pour the mixture on to a butter or ghee-greased tray. Cut the mixture into squares and allow it to cool, then offer it.
Coconut Burfi #2
Coconut - 1 large
Sugar - 3 cups
Cardamom - 4
Ghee - 4 tbs
Grate the coconut evenly and avoid the outer hard shell. If you are using using grated / dessicated coconut, use 1 1/2 - 2 cups of the same. Heat up 1/4 cup water in a deep pan and add the coconut and the sugar and mix evenly. Stir continuously to avoid lumps. Reduce the heat to medium and let it attain a thicker consistency. Once it no longer sticks to the sides of the vessel, add the elachi and the ghee and stir a couple of times and remove from the heat. Pour it over a greased plate, flatten out the top surface and while it is slightly warm, cut into pieces. If the consistency is not proper, i.e., if you are not able to make pieces and the sweet sticks to the knife edges, try heating it up over a low flame for a couple of minutes and then making pieces. And if you are not able to make pieces at all, as the sweet is very hard, heat it up once again over a low flame heat and add 2 tbs milk and stir well. Before removing from the heat, add 1 tsp of Besan and stir uniformly.
Coconut Burfy #3
1 Big Coconut (scraped & measured), about 2 cups
Sugar in amount equal to coconut
Cashewnuts 5-8 Tbspns, broken and fried in ghee
Ghee 6 Tbspns
4-6 Cardamoms Crushed
Citric Acid a pinch
½ Cup Coconut milk
Food Coloring if desired
To extract the coconut milk for the syrup - take ¼ of the scraped coconut put into a mixie jar add ½ cup warm water & grind nicely - strain & squeeze out the milk to make up the quantity required - if the milk is not sufficient add water for the remaining quantity. (i.e. if you require 1-½ cups of cconut milk to make the sweet, and if you get only 1 cup of Coconut milk from the grinding - no problem add ½ cup water to make up the 1-½ cups. Do not throw away the ground Coconut, put it back with the other scraped coconut and use to make the burfy.
Place a wok on fire, add sugar to the coconut milk and continuously keep stirring for the sugar to dissolve and a thick syrup to form. Add the coloring, scraped coconut and stir well. When the mixture begins to form a ball and leaves the sides of the Kadai add the cardamom powder and fried cashew nuts and mix well. Add the citric acid and stir well. Remove from heat. Spread on a greased tray. Level the surface by tapping evenly. Let it cool for a while, then cut into bits and leave to cool down completely. Keep in an air tight container until ready to offer.
Coconut Barfi #4
Grated coconut 3 cups
Sugar 3 cups
Cardamom powder ½ tsp
Grated cashewnuts 2 tbsps
A few drops of green food colour
Take a clean pan and add the sugar along with the coconut. Allow to simmer on a slow fire till the mixture begins to leave the sides of the pan. Now mix in the cashewnuts, the cardamom and a few drops of the colour. Mix thoroughly. Then remove from the fire and flatten out on a greased plate. When cool cut into desired shapes and store in an airtight container.
Coconut Barfi #5
Freshly grated coconut 2 cups
Sugar 1 1/2 cups
Milk 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder 1/4 tsp
Cashewnuts 8
Pour the milk in a handi. Then add the sugar and boil till you get a "one thread" consistency. Now add the coconut, the cardamom powder and a few drops of the food colour. As soon as the mixture begins to leave the sides of the handi, turn the mixture onto a greased thali and flatten it out evenly with a greased rolling pin. Quickly press the finely chopped cashewnuts on the top. When cool cut into desired shapes and store in a tin.
Cream Cheese Barfi
1.5 lb cream cheese
1.5 lb sour cream
1 can sweet condensed milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup sifted flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup almonds, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup cashews, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup coconut, coarsely chopped
In a food processor, combine cream cheese, sour cream, condensed milk, sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt to a smooth paste-like mixture. Pour into a large bowl. To the cream cheese mixture, add almonds, cashews, raisins, and coconut; fold in thoroughly. Butter a baking dish well and pour the mixture; smooth out the surface and bake at 325oF for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the top is lightly brown. Chill it overnight in refrigerator. To serve, cut into 2-in. cubes and top it with whipped cream.
Gram Burfi
Split dal/roasted gram (Pottu Kadalai) - 1-1/2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Coarsely powder the roasted gram. Heat up the sugar in a heavy bottomed vessel. DO NOT ADD even a drop of WATER. Once the sugar melts completely, reduce the heat to low. Grease the reverse side of a plate and keep it ready. Add the gram powder and stir continuously until it thickens and mixes evenly. This will take a couple of minutes. Pour the mixture over the greased side and roll it out evenly using a rolling pin. Immediately cut into pieces (while still warm) as it may not be possible to cut the burfi when it cools down.
Kaju Barfi #1
4 cups of Kaju nuts (cashew)
3 cups of sugar
1-½ cups of water
½ stick butter
Small carton of whipping cream
Cardamom powder
Grind the kaju nuts to powder. Add sugar to water and boil to make a thick sugar syrup . A drop of syrup should be like a pearl. Mix in kaju powder, butter, whipping cream and cardamom. Stir real well to make a smooth mix. Take a plate and coat it with butter. Spread the mix on the plate and press it to make a uniform layer. Cut the mix into desired size squares.
Kaju Burfi #2
2 cups cashewnuts soaked in water for 2 hours
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp. ghee
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
Silver Varak (silver leaf) for decoration
Drain and blend the cashewnuts to a fine paste. Use as little water as possible when blending. In a heavy saucepan put sugar and paste. Cook on a medium heat. Keep on stirring continuously till a soft lump is formed. Add ghee and cardamom powder and mix well. Spread on a clean greased work surface. Roll lightly with a rolling pin, to a desired thickness. Apply the silver varak. Cool and cut into diamond shaped burfis.
Mango Burfi
Ripe mango pulp 1-1/4 cups
Powdered sugar 1-1/4 cups
Khoya (or fine ricotta) 1-1/4 cups
For decoration:
Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp.
Chironji nut, ground, 2 tbsps.
Pista (almond) chopped 1 tsp.
Tutti-frutti (prepared) chopped 1 tsp.
Orange colour 6-8 drops
Mix together the mango pulp and ½ cup sugar and cook in a thick vessel till reduced by half. Grate the khoya and fry it in a karahi on a medium flame. When light pink in colour, add the remaining ¾ cup. sugar and the sweetened mango pulp and cook for 5-7 minutes, till the mixture is semi-solid and remove from the fire. Mix in orange colour evenly and prepare small mango shaped burfies, with greased palms and fingers. Decorate with chironji, cardamom, pista and tutti-frutti, and offer.
Mango Coconut Burfi
1 cup mango pulp
1 cup grated coconut
1/2 cup milk powder
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 tbsps. ghee
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. cardamom powder
Varq (edible silver foil) for decoration
Cook mango pulp over a low flame stirring continuously, preferably in a non-stick pan, till it solidifies. Cool. Add coconut, milk powder and the granulated sugar and set aside for 15 minutes. Then cook over a low flame, stirring all the time. When it boils add the ghee and keep cooking till it thickens into a lump and froths slightly. Switch off heat and stir another 3 minutes. Add the powdered sugar and the cardamom powder and mix well, pour into a greased plate and pat with the back of a spoon to spread it evenly. Decorate with varq. When slightly cooled, cut into pieces.
Mawa Barfi
1 pound Mawa (Koya), crumbled (or fine ricotta)
3 cups
a few drops yellow colour
a few drops green colour
2 sheets silver varkh
1 tbsp. milk
1 tsp cardamom
½ tsp nutmeg, fresh ground
a little ghee
Put mawa in a heavy-bottomed vessel and keep stirring on a medium heat till well blended and it leaves the sides of the vessel. Put sugar in another heavy-bottomed vessel and add a little water to it. Keep stirring on medium heat till the sugar gets dissolved. Add milk and remove the scum that floats on top. Keep stirring till the mixture turns frothy. Lower the heat and keep stirring continuously till the sugar syrup forms into sugar granules again. Remove from heat and keep aside to cool. Grind the granulated sugar to a fine powder. Put half of the powdered sugar and half of the heated mawa in a heavy-bottomed vessel and keep stirring on medium heat. Add nutmeg-cardamom powder to taste and yellow colour. Stir well. When the sugar and mawa is well mixed and the mixture leaves the sides of the vessel, pour into a flat, greased tray with sides. Flatten to a smooth surface. Similarly prepare the mawa barfi with the green colour and pour over the yellow barfi already set in the tray. Decorate with silver varkh. Cut into desired shapes when almost cool.
Milk Cream Burfy
Full cream milk - 2 litres (8-1/2 cups)
Lemons - 2
Sugar - 2 cups
Water 3¼ cup
Ghee - ½ cup
Milk powder - 2 cups
Cardamom powder - 2 tsp
Almonds to decorate
Rose essence - ¾ tsp
Use lemon and milk to make paneer in the usual way. Make a syrup to thread consistency. Add ½ cup of ghee and the milk powder to the syrup. Add the paneer. Mix everything together on a very low heat. Add cardamom powder. After about 15 seconds turn the heat off. Add rose essence and mix well. Pour into a buttered plate. Decorate with almond slices. This takes a while to set and when set cut into desired shapes. Milk burfy is now ready!
Mixed Nut Burfi
kaju (cashews), pista (pistachio), and badam (almond), with skin - 1 cup of mixed powder
elaichi -5 pieces
sugar - 1 cup
ghee - 1/3 cup
milk powder - 1/2 cup
Grind kaju, pista, badam and elaichi together until it becomes soft. Make sugar syrup with enough water for the sugar to be submerged. Boil it until the syrup becomes like thread. Now add the mixed ground powder. In between pour ghee while stirring. Keep stirring until the mix does not stick to the vessel. Turn off the heat. Add milk powder to the above mix and mix it well while it is still hot. Then pour the final mix into a greased plate. Leave it to cool and cut into diamond shaped pieces.
Paneer Burfi
1-1/4 cup Khoya (or fine ricotta cheese)
1-1/4 cups Paneer
2 Teaspoons Ghee
½ cup fine Sugar
Cashewnuts and Pistachio nuts as Toppings
Kewra Essence
Silver Foil (Vark)
Mash khoya and paneer well in separate dishes. Heat ghee in a pan and brown or Saute khoya. After 2-3 minutes, remove the pan from heat and add mashed paneer to it. Add sugar and nuts. Add 2 drops of kewra (substitute with Vanilla) to it and set the mixture in a flat dish. Allow it to cool and apply vark. Cut them to round or square pieces as desired and refrigerate for about an hour, then offer.
Pista Burfi
2 cups Pistachios (kernels removed)
1-1/4 cups Sugar
Water (for sugar syrup) as required
7-8 leaves Edible Silver foil (varakh)
Blanch the pistachios in boiling water. Drain and remove the peels. Make a coarse paste of the blanched and peeled pistachios in a mixer-grinder, without using any water. Remove and set aside. Make a sugar syrup of two-string consistency. In a kadhai, mix together the pistachio paste and the sugar syrup, and with the help of a wooden spatula, keep on stirring the mixture till it leaves the sides of the kadhai and forms a ball. (take care not to burn the mixture). Pour the mixture over a flat wooden surface, and evenly cut with a spatula to the desired thickness. Spread out the silver foil (varakh), and cut into square shapes with a sharp knife. Remove when cooled.
Pista Burfi for Microwave
Three cups of powdered milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup roughly ground Pista (pistachios)
3/4 cup sugar
Edible silver foil
Mix powdered milk with whipping cream in a microwave safe bowl. Put the bowl in the microwave for three minutes on high power setting. Take the bowl out and mix the ingredients thoroughly. Mix in ground Pista and sugar. Place the bowl again in the microwave for three minutes on high power setting. Take the bowl out and pour contents in a flat Thalli or pan. Spread the contents to make a 1 inch or desirable thick slab. Let it cool for a few minutes. If desired, apply silver foil on top of the slab. Cut with a sharp knife in square Burfi shapes.
Naryal ki Barfi (Coconut Fudge)
1 cup milk
2 Tbl. Ghee or butter
2 cups sugar
1 coconut, shelled and grated
1 tsp. ground green cardamom
Lightly grease a medium size shallow baking pan or cookie sheet. In a large saucepan, bring the milk and ghee to a boil over medium heat. Stir in the sugar and add the grated coconut and cardamom, stirring constantly for 6-8 minutes, until the coconut becomes thick and glazed. Remove from the heat and pour into the baking pan. Cool, cut into squares, and serve.
Peanut Burfi
Fried Peanuts - 1-1/2 cups
Sugar - 1-1/2 cups
Coarsely powder the fried peanuts. Heat up the sugar in a heavy bottomed vessel. DO NOT ADD even a drop of WATER. Once the sugar melts completely, reduce the heat to low. Grease the reverse side of a plate and keep it ready. Add the peanut powder and stir continuously until it thickens and mixes evenly. This will take a couple of minutes. Pour the mixture over the greased side and roll it out evenly using a rolling pin. Immediately cut into pieces (while still warm) as it may not be possible to cut the burfi when it cools down.
Sesame Burfi
Sesame Seeds - 1-1/2 cups
Sugar - 1-1/2 cups
Coarsely powder the sesame seeds. Heat up the sugar in a heavy bottomed vessel. DO NOT ADD even a drop of WATER. Once the sugar melts completely, reduce the heat to low. Grease the reverse side of a plate and keep it ready. Add the peanut powder and stir continuously until it thickens and mixes evenly. This will take a couple of minutes. Pour the mixture over the greased side and roll it out evenly using a rolling pin. Immediately cut into pieces (while still warm) as it may not be possible to cut the burfi when it cools down.
Tamil Coconut Burfi
3-1/2 cups Sugar
2 Coconuts
1/8 up Cashewnuts
7-8 Cardamom
1/3 cup Ghee
Shred the coconut. Break the cashewnuts into small pieces and fry them in ghee. Powder the cardamom. Heat water in a vessel containing 1/4 ltr. of water and add the sugar to it. After the sugary liquid is no longer thin, add the coconut shreds and heat it until it turns thick. After sufficient stirring, add the fried cashewnut pieces and ghee and stir the mixture well. Add the powdered cardamom and mix it thoroughly and stop heating. Pour the mixture onto a plate which could accomodate sufficient thickness. Cut into rectangular pieces while hot.
Til Burfi
Sesame seed : 3 cups
Groundnuts (peanuts) : 1 cup
Sugar : 2-1/2 cup
Grated copra (dry coconut) : 1/2 cup
Roast sesame seeds until they darken a shade or two, and set aside. Roast the groundnuts. Grind the roasted sesame seeds coarsely, but grind the roasted groundnuts finely. Mix them together. In a heavy bottom pan make a thick sugar syrup. Mix the powdered sesame seeds and the groundnuts in the syrup. Stir continuously until it no longer sticks to the edge. Spread the hot mixture on to a greased tray to about quarter inch thickness. Sprinkle the grated copra on top. Cut into square or diamond shapes.
