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Barfi

Khoa and sugar cooked to a fudge and cut cold, with nothing set in syrup.

Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains dairy (ghee), dairy (khoa).

Ingredients

Method

  1. KHOA AND SUGAR COOKED TO A FUDGE, THEN CUT COLD -- NOTHING IS SET IN SYRUP, and that is what separates this from half the sweets on the same shelf. Its article is four sentences and all of them are method: khoa (milk solids) IS MIXED WITH GRANULATED SUGAR AND COOKED, UNTIL IT THICKENS TO A FUDGE-LIKE CONSISTENCY. IT IS THEN SPREAD ONTO A GREASED PLATE TO COOL. AFTER COOLING, IT IS CUT INTO SQUARES, DIAMONDS, OR CIRCLES. No syrup is made, no stage is tested in water, nothing is fried.
  2. THE NAME IS THE TEXTURE. Its article takes it from the Persian and Urdu BARF, meaning SNOW -- a pale block you cut. Cook it dark and you have made something else.
  3. GRANULATED SUGAR, STRAIGHT IN, DRY. The article says granulated and says mixed. There is no water in this recipe at all: the moisture is whatever the khoa still holds.
  4. COOK IT OVER A LOW HEAT AND STIR IT CONSTANTLY. Eight to twelve minutes. The sugar dissolves into the khoa, the whole mass loosens and goes glossy, and then it begins to stiffen and pull away from the sides.
  5. THE POINT TO STOP IS WHEN IT LEAVES A CLEAN LINE. Draw the spatula through and the furrow should hold for a second or two before closing. Earlier and it will not cut; later and it turns grainy.
  6. CARDAMOM GOES IN OFF THE HEAT. Ground cardamom cooked for ten minutes tastes of nothing by the end.
  7. SPREAD IT ON A GREASED PLATE, ABOUT TWO CENTIMETRES DEEP, AND PRESS THE TOP FLAT. Pistachios scattered on and pressed in with the back of a spoon while it is still warm, or they fall off later.
  8. CUT IT COLD, AND ITS ARTICLE GIVES THE SHAPES. Squares, diamonds or circles, after cooling. It also notes the sweet is often decorated with vark, edible silver foil, or with coconut and ground nuts -- all of them finishes, none of them part of the fudge.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under India · All recipes