FOOD FRIDAY - BURFI

“Work is the meat of life, pleasure the dessert.” - B. C. Forbes
 
I enjoy eating Indian dishes, but even more I enjoy eating some Indian sweetmeats and desserts. Barfi or burfi is a type of very popular confectionery from the Indian subcontinent. Plain burfi is made from condensed milk, cooked with sugar until it solidifies. The many varieties of burfi include besan burfi (made with gram flour), kaaju burfi (made with cashews), and pista burfi (made with ground pistachios). The name of this sweetmeat is derived from the Persian word “burf” which means “snow”, since burfi is similar to ice/snow in appearance.
 
Burfi is often flavoured with fruit or nuts and spices such as cardamom. The pieces are sometimes coated with a thin layer of edible metallic leaf known as vark. The sweets are typically cut into square, diamond, or round shapes. Different types of burfi vary greatly in their colour and texture. Here is the recipe of a typical example of burfi.
 
Fruit and Nut Burfi
Ingredients

• 500 g full cream milk powder
• 180 mL cream
• 30 mL ghee (clarified butter)
• A few cardamom pods
• Grated nutmeg
• 50 g chopped blanched toasted almonds
• Red glace cherries
• 500 mL water
• 500 mL sugar

Method 
Mix the powdered milk, cream and ghee together. Use a mortar and pestle and bash cardamom pods to release seeds. Remove pods and grind the cardamom to a fine powder. Add together with nutmeg and almonds to powdered milk mixture. Set aside.

Bring the water to the boil and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes until thick and syrupy. Add the syrup to the powdered milk mixture and mix well.
Press into a 25cm x 20 cm x 2.5 cm high dish lined with waxed paper. Leave overnight to set. Cut into diamonds and garnish with cherries and almonds.

This post is part of the Food Friday meme,
and also of the Food Trip Friday meme.