Besan Kaju Burfi (Chick pea and cashew nut fudge)

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In the past I have made  both kaju (cashew)  burfi and besan (chick pea) burfi separately and enjoyed them. The thought of combining both of these ingredients together to make a besan kaju burfi  never ever entered my mind. When I was in India recently and I visited my aunt S , she served this sweet and my father and I both loved it.  Obviously,  I did not waste a  minute in getting the recipe from her and  was surprised and intrigued when my aunt mentioned a combination of cashews and chickpea flour in the burfi. I thought it was a fabulous idea and within a week of tasting it for the first time, I made this sweet for my family.  I tweaked the recipe a little by skipping the saffron that my aunt used in her version and I reduced the quantity of clarified butter and sugar a tad bit.

This burfi tastes a little like this mysore pak, not a lot,  just a little.... One of the awesome things about this sweet is that the nut butter from cashew gives this sweet a melt in your mouth quality without having to use copious amounts of clarified  butter to get that effect as you need to do for some other sweets, including the above mentioned mysore pak. If you are in the mood for an indulgence and are looking for something unique you may want to give this sweet a try.....I am sure you will love it as much as we do...:-)



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Ingredients and Method to make besan kaju burfi
1 cup chick pea lentil flour (gram flour/ besan/kadalai maavu)
1 cup raw unsalted cashew nuts (kaju) powdered fine
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup water
1/2 cup warm clarified butter (ghee/nei) + 2 to 3 tbsp extra clarified butter to roast the chick pea flour and a few drops extra to grease a tray

Grease a deep plate or a tray with clarified butter and keep aside
Roast chick pea lentil flour in 2 to 3 tbsp of clarified butter until it starts to emit an aroma. Make sure not to over roast the flour, just until it emits a light aroma. Keep the flour aside.

Powder cashew nuts in a spice grinder or blender using short bursts of power until it becomes a fine powder.
Place the powdered cashew in a bowl. Add roasted chick pea lentil flour to it, add warm clarified butter, mix well and keep aside.

Place sugar and water in a large heavy bottomed pan, and place on medium heat. Let the mixture simmer for a few minutes until sugar dissolves and you get a very light one string consistency. To check for string consistency, put a drop of sugar syrup on a plate, blow a little to cool it and place it between your thumb and forefinger, if it forms a very light string it means the syrup is ready.

Pour cashew + chick pea flour+ clarified butter mixture into the sugar syrup and mix gently.
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Allow the mixture to simmer for a few more minutes until it starts to thicken and froth a little. Pour this mixture on the pre greased plate/ tray and gently flatten it. If you are not able to make out if the burfi is ready to be removed from heat, you can also drop a couple of drops on a plate, if it hardens immediately means the burfi is ready and can be removed from heat.

After a few minutes when the burfi begins to harden, cut into squares or diamonds with a sharp knife. If the burfi sticks to the knife and does not cut cleanly allow to harden some more and cut.

Store this in an airtight container when cool and enjoy within the next week to ten days.
Yield will depend on thickness and size of each piece.

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Kaju Katli ~Kaju Burfi ~ Indian Cashew Fudge

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It seems like just yesterday when this year began and already the end of the year is staring us in the face. Time flies so quickly, weeks and months seem to pass in a blink of an eye. There never seems to be enough time to complete all the things that I plan each year. Having said that, I must admit that I like the anticipation towards the end of the year. With festivals and holidays, the end of the year almost always seems to be filled with a lot of fun and excitement.

And can any festival or celebration be complete without some indulgence.........read that as sweets. I for one cannot imagine such a thing. This cashew fudge or kaju barfi/ katli whichever term you wish to call it, is one such indulgence that makes any time of the year special. This simple and really fast dessert can be prepared in under thirty minutes and  tastes and looks just like the kaju katli we get at the sweet store back home minus the silver thingy of course....

I referred to this recipe on Manjula's kitchen the first time I made it, but tweaked the recipe in my subsequent tries to customize it to our taste. I skipped the saffron, the light roasting of the cashew powder and reduced the quantity of sugar in the original recipe. The result.........was a melt in the mouth sweet that is decadent, delicious and very difficult to resist.



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Ingredients and Method to make Simple Cashew burfi
1 cup raw, unsalted cashew nuts
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup water
a few drops of clarified butter (ghee) to grease a flat plate/dish.

Powder cashew nuts in a spice grinder to a fine powder using short bursts of power. Do not over grind since that would cause clumping.

Grease a plate/ flat dish with a little clarified butter/ ghee and keep aside.

In a heavy bottomed pan, add sugar and water and place on heat. Allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes on low to medium low heat

When the syrup is beginning to thicken very slightly, pour a drop on a plate and check to see if it forms a very light single thread consistency between your fingers. Remember it is a little hot so wait for a second or so until it is bearable to touch.
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If the syrup is at a light single thread consistency, remove from heat. Add the powdered cashew mixture to it, mix well. Immediately pour onto the greased plate/flat dish, spreading it with the help of the spatula. If you want the burfi to look very smooth, when it is still a bit warm use the back of a cup or spatula to smoothen out the surface. Allow the burfi to set,this takes just a few minutes.

Once it is set, cut into squares/ diamond shapes with a sharp knife. When cool store in an air tight container.
This sweet does not require refrigeration if it is going to be consumed within a few days and this sweet is so good that it usually does not last longer than that in my home :-)

Yield will depend on the size and thickness of the burfi.

Notes
If you wait until the syrup gets a very thick one string consistency then the burfi will turn out to be harder, will look more like coconut burfi. If the syrup gets very thick then the burfi will not set and will become powdery. So the key to making this right is to get the syrup just right.

If you are looking for Indian sweet recipes, here are a few more

Moong dhal ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with mung bean lentil

Besan Ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with chick pea flour

Easy Rava Ladoo without sugar syrup ~ Indian sweet made with semolina and coconut

Oats Poha Kheer ~ Oats Aval payasam ~ Beaten rice flakes pudding

Gajar kaju kheer ~ Carrot cashew payasam

Badam Kheer ~ Payasam ~ Indian almond pudding

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Coconut burfi ~ Thengai / Nariyal Burfi ~ Indian coconut fudge

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Coconut burfi is a classic Indian fudge like sweet that is made for a lot of events and festivals. It is one of the most simple and basic sweets that is not very complicated and does not take much time to make. With just four ingredients, ones that are almost always stocked in an Indian home, this sweet also does not require a lot of planning making it ideal for making it on short notice. 

I used to make coconut burfi using the sugar syrup method earlier, but my mother in law introduced me to this much simpler technique of coconut burfi that gives me most consistent results. Just heat everything together and when the moisture evaporates, spread on a tray, cool and cut. Cannot get easier than that when it comes to sweets. So if you are looking for quick easy sweets this festival season, give this one a try and enjoy it with your friends and family :)

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Ingredients and Method to make coconut burfi

2 cups grated coconut ( nariyal/ thengai) ( see notes)

1 and 1/2 cups sugar ( shakkar/ sakkarai)

1/2 tsp green cardamom seed powder ( elaichi/ ellakkai )

5 tsps clarified butter ( ghee/ nei) + a little extra for greasing

Grease a tray or a pan and keep aside. I used a 9" X 9"  brownie pan this time, alhough in the past I have used any kind of tray or glass dishes too.

Place coconut and sugar in a heavy bottomed pan and place on a low to medium low heat.mix and stir the mixture frequently.  At first the mixture begins to melt  then slowly the mixture begins to thicken.

Add clarified butter/ ghee and cardamom powder/ elaichi and continue to cook on even heat. 

Stir frequently and cook until the mixture begins to come together and no moisture remains. One thing I do to know if it's almost done, is towards the end, lower heat and put a little mixture on a plate, blow to cool a little and try to roll into a small ball. If it rolls easily and smoothly it's almost done, not fully but almost there, stir just a little bit until the moisture is almost gone and it comes together. The fourth pic below was just before I took it out to spread on the tray. You can just go by the visual check to see if the moisture has evaporated too, I just find this a useful technique to let me know its almost done :)

Pour onto pre greased tray/ dish/ pan and place a parchment paper on top and with the help of the back of a smooth backed cup or a spatula spread the coconut mixture evenly. If you do not have parchment paper on hand grease the back of a smooth backed cup and smoothen out the mixture.

When it cools a little cut into desired shape with a sharp knife.

 Yields approx about 36 - 1 inch square pieces. 

Notes:

Grate and use only the white part of the coconut, make sure not to mix in the brown part of the coconut for this sweet.


 If you are Indian sweets and ladoos to make this navaratri/ festival season, here are a few more

Oats Poha Kheer ~ Oats Aval payasam ~ Beaten rice flakes pudding

Gajar kaju kheer ~ Carrot cashew payasam

Badam Kheer ~ Payasam ~ Indian almond pudding

Moong dhal ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with mung bean lentil

Besan Ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with chick pea flour

Easy Rava Ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with semolina and coconut

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Mixed Nuts Burfi and Diwali wishes !!

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To all my readers celebrating Diwali today, hope you all are having  a great time with family and friends and enjoying all the sweets and savories that are a part of this season. Wishing you all a very very Happy Diwali:)

Sweets are such an intrinsic part of Diwali, that the festival seems incomplete without some sweets. Of course it is true that sweets seem to be an intrinsic part of every festival and celebration, but Diwali without sweets just seems unimaginable somehow :) This year I decided to make this mixed nuts burfi for the occasion. I  have made some other variations of this sweet in the past but this one is my most favorite version. It is ultra simple to make, tastes delicious, can be made in very little time, does not use copious amounts of  clarified butter/ ghee as other Indian sweets and has a lovely melt in your mouth quality to it that is irresistible :)




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Ingredients and Method to make mixed nuts burfi
2 cups mixed unsalted raw nuts of choice (I used 1/2 cup each of  pistachios, walnuts, almonds and cashew)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
5 cardamom seeds (elaichi/ elakkai) powdered fine
a few drops of clarified butter (ghee/nei)

Powder each of the nuts separately using short burst of power in the processor / mixer/ blender until fine. Do not over powder nuts as the nut butter in them will cause lumping. Place all the powdered nuts in a bowl and mix well.

Powder cardamom finely and add to the powdered nuts and mix well. Keep this mixture aside.

Grease a deep tray/ flat dish with a drop or two of clarified butter and keep aside.

Mix sugar and water and place on heat and allow to boil.  Allow the sugar to boil until it achieves one string consistency syrup. The syrup is called one string consistency when it forms a single string between your fingers. To find out put a drop on a plate, blow to cool and test the syrup between your fingers if one string is formed it is the right consistency, if it is just sticky the syrup has to be boiled a little longer, if it forms two strings its boiled longer than it should :)
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As soon as the syrup achieves one string consistency, pour the entire nut powder into it and mix well. Remove from heat and pour onto the pre greased dish/ plate/ tray and quickly spread.

You can also apply a little clarified butter/ ghee/ nei to the back of a smooth cup and use that to smooth out the mixture.

Allow to cool and cut into squares or diamond shape using a sharp knife.
Store the burfi in an airtight container and use within a few days. This sweet does not require refrigeration if it will be consumed within a few days, any longer and it might be better off in the refrigerator.

To veganize this recipe, just use either oil or vegan butter to grease the plate and the cup that you use to smooth out the mixture

 If you are looking for Indian sweet recipes, here are a few more

Moong dhal ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with mung bean lentil

Besan Ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with chick pea flour

Easy Rava Ladoo without sugar syrup ~ Indian sweet made with semolina and coconut

Oats Poha Kheer ~ Oats Aval payasam ~ Beaten rice flakes pudding

Gajar kaju kheer ~ Carrot cashew payasam

Badam Kheer ~ Payasam ~ Indian almond pudding

Read more ...

Diwali Wishes and Easy Diwali Sweets and Snacks 2013

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To all my readers celebrating Diwali, here's wishing you a very Happy Diwali. Hope you have a wonderful time with friends and family. Enjoy all the yummy snacks and sweets that always seem such an integral part of this festival :) 



Usually I plan out what to make for Diwali at least a week ahead, this year I haven't quite decided what to make. I am hoping to try a few new things, will see how that works out :)  If you are in the same boat too and are still wondering what to make for Diwali, here is a collection of easy Diwali recipes...........


First the sweets :) (click on the title or the picture and it will take you to the recipe)

Mung Ladoo (Pasi Parappu Urundai/ Indian sweet made with mung bean lentil )




Easy Poha Laddu/ Aval Urundai ( Indian sweet with beaten rice flakes)



Mixed Nuts Burfi




Rava Ladoo (Indian sweet made with Semolina and Coconut) 



Kaju Katli (Simple Indian Cashew fudge) 



Easy Atta Laddu (Indian sweet made with wheat flour)



Besan Kaju Burfi (Indian fudge made with cashew nuts and chick pea flour)



2 minute microwave almond pedha (Almond milk fudge)



Microwave Doodh Pedha (Quick Indian milk fudge)



Rava Kaju Burfi ( Indian fudge made with semolina and cashew) 



And if you are trying to avoid all sugar this Diwali, then you can still indulge with this healthy sugar free

Oat and Nut energy bites



The savories :)

Thenkozhal (Gluten free crunchy rice spirals) 




Chakli  (Fried crunchy gluten free rice spirals) 



Thattai (Gluten free crispy rice snack ) 

 

Ribbon Bakshanam ( Crispy Gluten free rice and chick pea flour spirals) 




Mullu Thenkozhal/ Mullu Murukku (Gluten free crunchy rice and chickpea spirals)

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Rava Kaju Burfi (Semolina cashew Indian fudge)

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Serendipity is described as an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. Wondering why I am explaining the word serendipity as an introduction to a recipe post on my food blog? That's because the manner in which I landed up with this recipe can only be described as serendipity. The other day I was planning to make a sweet for a special occasion and wanted to make something with cashews. Now this in itself has to be a momentous event since I rarely think of making traditional sweets with sugar in them. Maybe I should have made another sweet to celebrate the fact that I made the first one....:-)

Anyway getting back to the recipe, I mentioned to my in laws that I was planning to make some kind of cashew sweet that day. Co incidentally just a few hours before my call to them, some family friends had visited them and had gotten this delicious home made cashew sweet for them. When my father in law tasted the sweet he loved it and asked them for the recipe. They shared their recipe with him and he shared it with me and I got to try this sweet immediately.Talk about good timing huh.......so thanks to family friends and my father in law here is a sweet that is delicious and simple to make.

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Ingredients and Method to make Rava Kaju Burfi

1/2 cup fine rava (fine semolina, semolina flour) 
1/2 cup cashewnuts (raw, unsalted) powdered fine (see notes)
1/4 cup fresh / frozen grated coconut (if frozen thaw to room temperature)
1 cup sugar (see notes)
1/3 cup water
4 to 5 green cardamom seeds powdered fine
2 tbsp clarified butter (ghee/nei) and a little extra for greasing the dish.

Grease a large flat dish with few drops of clarified butter and keep aside.

In a large heavy bottomed pan, dry roast semolina until it emits an aroma on low to medium low heat, remove roasted semolina into a plate/ tray.

Dry roast powdered cashew for a couple of minutes, not too much just a little. Remove and add this powder to the roasted semolina. 

In the same pan, dry roast grated coconut for a couple of minutes. Remove and add to the other two roasted items. Powder cardamom and add to the powdered mixture. 

In the same pan, add sugar and water and heat on low to medium low heat. When the sugar has melted and begins to thicken a little,lower heat,  add a drop of syrup to a plate, cool slightly and check to see if it has achieved one string consistency. Single string consistency means when the syrup is held between the thumb and forefinger and pulled apart, it will form a light single string. 
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If the right consistency is achieved, keeping the heat low, add the powdered, roasted semolina+cashew+coconut mixture to it, then add clarified butter/ ghee and mix well. Allow to heat just a tad, when mixture begins to froth a little, remove and pour immediately on the pre greased tray/ dish. 

Cool and cut into square or diamond shapes. 

This quantity yielded me approx 18 to 20 pieces, yield will depend on the how thick or thin you spread the mixture and the size each square or diamond is cut. 

Store the burfi in an airtight container. It does not require any refrigeration and can be stored at room temperature for 4 to 5 days (if it lasts that long ) 

Notes:
With 1 cup of sugar this sweet is pretty "sweet" if you like you sweet milder, you can reduce the quantity of sugar to 3/4 cup.

When powdering cashews, use the pulse feature or short bursts of power in the blender/ mixer/ processor. Over processing can cause clumping because of the nut butter in the cashew.

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Easy Chocolate Pedha in under 5 mins ~ Indian chocolate fudge ~ Easy Diwali recipes.

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You know how it is some days, you just want something with chocolate in it :)  One such day when I was tinkering in the kitchen , and was in the mood for something chocolatey,  I decided to try modifying my earlier doodh pedha recipe and make a chocolate version of pedha.  It was the perfect chocolate fix and was so quick and easy to make that I could not resist adding this to my Diwali menu this year :)

Initially I was not planning to post this, since there are already a few other pedhas in this space.  But just as I thought I might not post this, my friend called me up and asked me if I could suggest something really quick and easy that she could make within a few minutes for Diwali. And this was the first thing that came into my mind :)  So if you too are looking for a really quick sweet, that is also delicious, chocolatey and kid friendly, this might the pedha for you :)

 
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Ingredients and Method to make Chocolate pedha
1 and 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk (one 14 oz can)
1 and 1/4 cup dry milk/ milk powder (I used carnation brand)
1 and 1/2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 and 1/2 Tbsp clarified butter + a little extra to grease hands (ghee/nei)
Optional garnish
a few slivers of almond

In a microwave safe glass bowl mix together all the ingredients thoroughly.

Place in microwave and heat on high in 1 minute increments for 3 minutes and 30 seconds, making sure to stir the mixture every minute. To check if done, cool the mixture slightly and if you are able to roll a little of the mixture between your fingers you know it is done. Try not to overcook the mixture too much as it will result in hard pedhas.  
Allow the mixture to cool a little until it is touchable.Grease palms and roll into a small ball, flatten gently and press with the thumb at the center to make a little dent. Proceed with the rest of the mixture in the same manner. Garnish with slivers of almond if using.

This recipe yields approx 20 med/ large pedhas. The yield will depend on the size of pedhas.
Store pedhas in an airtight container. It does not require refrigeration if used within 2 to 3 days .

Notes:
My microwave strength is 1000 watts, so if yours is more powerful you will need to microwave it for lesser time and if yours has less strength it will take a little more time.

The milk powder I use has a very fine texture, if you have one that has a granular texture, give it a turn in the blender/ mixer/ spice grinder so that it is a little more fine texture. 

Other pedha recipes in this space,

2 minute almond pedha ~ Badam Pedha

Doodh Pedha ~ Indian fudge

If you are looking for Indian sweet recipes, here are a few more

Besan Kaju burfi ~ Chickpea cashew fudge

Badam Halwa ~ Indian almond fudge

Kaju Katli ~ Burfi ~ Indian cashew fudge

Moong dhal ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with mung bean lentil

Besan Ladoo ~ Indian sweet made with chick pea flour

Easy Rava Ladoo without sugar syrup

Read more ...