January 13, 2009

Besan ki Burfi – A Chickpea Fudge?

What a strange sounding Translation! Anyway…

India has a large repertoire of sweets. Some sweets are consumed all over the country whereas some are only typical to a region. Traditionally, a lot of Indian sweets are prepared with milk, sugar & flour. In India sweets play a very important role in the culture. Every happy occasion, every ceremony, & festival is marked by distribution of sweets. Just like a box of chocolate, or a bottle of wine is brought in as a gift, a regular form of gift in India is a box of sweets.

Besan is Chickpea Flour & Barfi is a sweet, of fudge like consistency usually made of khoya (thickened/condensed milk) with other fruits or nut added to it. Barfi is a kind of an all occasion sweet. There are an array of ways that besan ki Barfi can be made, some have khoya or thickened milk in them, some are just the chickpea flour & sugar. In some variety of nuts & dry fruits are added.

After all those cakes & cookies, my hubby’s system was craving some Indian sweets.  With the besan at hand  & all the nostalgia of the Barfi (which we ate years ago),  I tried this out for the first time at home, & I have used Almond in it instead of Khoya or condensed milk (I did not have any). I have also used a lot of cardamom & saffron while cooking it.

The Ghee/Clarified Butter plays a major role in adding the texture and flavor in this recipe. It will not taste authentic, if the Ghee is substituted. Ghee here plays another role. It also plays a role in the shelf life of this sweet. Barfi may be left in airtight containers in room temperature for many days & does not need to be refrigerated.

If anyone can give me an idea to what may be used instead of Ghee (for a Vegan Version)… may be nut butter?… I would really appreciate.

Ingredients:

  1. 1/3 Cup Sugar
  2. Water (half the amount of Sugar)
  3. 1 Cup Besan (Chickpea Flour)
  4. 1/3 Cup Coarsely Ground Almond ( Can use Almond Meal)
  5. 1/2 Cup Ghee
  6. 6 Small Green Cardamoms – shelled and the seeds ground
  7. 1/4 Teaspoons Saffron Strands
  8. Nuts (Pistachio /Slivered Almond) for Garnish

Preparation:

Grease a plate with ghee & set aside. This is where you will pour the mix of the flour.

Sieve the Chickpea Flour/Besan.

In a thick bottomed pan, add the Besan/Chickpea Flour, saffron, cardamom powder & the Ghee & stir at low heat for about 45 minutes (might take more), till the raw taste of the flour goes away, & the ghee starts to separate. There will be aroma of roasted flour (you will see the the flour glisten). Keep stirring continuously to prevent it from sticking to the bottom & turning brown.

Start boiling the sugar with the water to a consistency that the syrup is thick enough to coat a spoon (1 wire consistency). Keep aside.

At this point add the Ground Almond. Stir more another 15 minutes. Try to break out the lumps that form while cooking. At this point you will see the color turn a shade darker.

Switch off the heat. Add the sugar syrup and mix till well combined. Quickly pour & spread it in the greased pan to about 1/4 inch thick..

Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon for a neat look. ( I did an awful job on that as you can see from the pictures…)

Cut criss cross with a sharp knife to form diamonds. Sprinkle the slivered almonds or any other nuts you choose on the top.

Let it cool. It will harden slightly when cooled (they are supposed to be firm but not rock hard). Carefully remove the slices from the plate and store them in airtight containers.

Enjoy your Barfi, One bite at a time….

Sending this to JFI Chickpeas hosted by Sometime Foodie, FIC:Yellow hosted by Sunshinemom of TongueTicklers, & MLLA:Seventh Helping hosted by Srivalli of Cooking 4 All Seasons &  started by Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook.

Related Posts:
Kesar Pista Kulfi with Falooda

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Filed Under: Desserts & Sweets, Indian Sweets
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32 thoughts on “Besan ki Burfi – A Chickpea Fudge?”

  • I’d suggest using organic, refined coconut oil instead of the butter. It’s also stable at room temperature for long periods. In fact, I think I’m going to try this out with the coconut oil!

  • burfi is my all time favorite ! wonderful recipie ! will surely try this out…..
    infact burfi n butter goes perfect as a combo….coconut oil will hava distinct smell of its own…..it might be a bit different in taste than the traditional burfi…will be worth a try as well…..

  • Soma, all burfi recipes I know make use of milk – thanks for this version. My tops look like this too – after the stirring and all that I am at the end of my tether! No patience to smooth and stuff! Your burfi looks tasty and thanks for sending this to FIC:)

  • Your barfi looks perfect Soma 🙂 … I have long given up trying making it. Ditto with besan laddoos too. Too difficult to handle … not to mention all that ghee that goes into it.
    The texture looks perfect … crumbly yet firm. 🙂

  • I might thinking of Daldha (made with Hydro veg oil ) But not totally sure. Looks like mysooor paak, yum!

  • Hey Soma, i have missed many of your recipes. I loved reading so many explanation of why a red “dot” is adorned by Indian women. Besan barfi is my favorite; no matter how I try it does not come out good. But now that I am going to Inida, I get to eat it 😉 especially “maa ke haath ka khana”. Take care and “see” you soon.

  • Thanks for clearing up the terminology. I sometimes confuse besan with other flours. Will be useful when I go to Indian grocers.

  • The Barfi looks tasty. I love besan laddus too, especially what my grandmother makes. Although I never use it myself, margarine can be a substitute for ghee. You are so right when you say that the aunthenticity of ghee cannot be replicated. The flavour and aroma that ghee lends to Indian sweets in particular is unmathced.

  • ooohhh looks so yummy I use milk for making this barfi but now like your version will try this and tell you beautiful pic.

  • I am not at all fond of eating sweets,but my family loves it so i make one or other thing to pamper their sweet tooth. We have something like this ,called Mohan Thal.And i tried it once but it came out so hard.I guess i overcooked it after adding syrup, since i didn’t had the idea that it will solidify later,i thought it needed to be cooked till thick and man, it was one blunder that i like to erase from my culinary experiment history 😉
    Yours look too good 🙂

  • I love barfi, and always dream of making this sweet at home. Thanks for sharing the recipe, now I can try make it myself. What happen if I omit the ghee?
    Cheers,
    Elra

  • Besan burfi is quite tricky..but you handled it really good…looking gr8….I know amio bhisan miss kari mayer hater banano patishapta, doodh puli and all those memories…this time I am lucky..I am going to Kolkata 2morrow…amar husband-er favorite pithe..so amake banate hai majhe majhe…tumi to amake o kadiye dile…we used to stay at Maryland..we moved just one year back..

  • Burfi has come out very well. Making burfis need lots of patience. They are looking great and I bet they must have tasted yumm

  • I love Indian food! The desserts as well! Believe it or not, this dessert is very Italian in nature. Aside from the ghee of course. I love it! 🙂

  • Yiour beasn burfi looks very nice tome. I guess the closest English translation of burfi would be fudge.:)
    I’ve never done this, but you could perhaps try coconut oil instead of ghee. And coconut goes well with besan in burfi.

  • Hi soma,
    wow a classic barfi, it looks very nice. Thank you very much for your second entry to JFI Chickpeas!
    best,
    ms

  • don’t know how i missed this entry. Your barfis look perefect! I think you did a very good job at it. They look beautiful!
    I always feel scared to make any sweet with besan as it seems like a lot of work, but after reading your post the fear is somehow gone. Thanks a lot of the wel explainaed recipe. I have to make these for sunny boy’s birhday party. the good thing about them is that i don’t have to make them fresh but i could easily make them a couple of day before. Great! You’ve made my day!

  • I think margerine (those without hydrogenated fats) are a good option for it too. As these can be used for baking too.

  • I tried this recipe, and it is not solidifying, in spite of using the exact proportions listed. It’s really greasy – there is a slick of ghee on the top. I can’t make fudge, either, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Smells good, tho, and tastes ok.

  • Wow! I´m gathering ingredients today to make this. Yummy, yum, yum.
    Thank you!

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