Sunday, February 21, 2010

Badam Burfi (Almond Candy) from Manjula's Kitchen






I have memories of eating this sweet in our neighbor's home or at least something like it and this is the first time I've ever attempted making it myself. Not sure if the Burfi I ate was made from almonds or some other nut like cashew nuts, but I do believe it was called Burfi, and to me it was this special sweet that I rarely ever got to eat. When I was given a piece, it was like magic!

Although you can get good Marcona almonds in Spain, I used almond flour because I happened to have some on hand. I mixed the flour with sugar and milk and let it sit for 15 minutes and followed Manjula's recipe for Badam Burfi.

Badam Burfi from Manjula's Kitchen

1 Cup Almond Powder

1 Cup Sugar

1/3 Cup Whole Milk

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter or Ghee

Pinch Cardamom Powder

Step 1: Blend all the ingredients except the cardamom powder and unsalted butter or Ghee, and let it sit for 10 - 15 minutes.

Step 2: Over a medium heat, melt the butter and then put the almond paste mixture into the pan and keep stirring until it pulls away from the pan. Manjula has a video that will show you what she means by 'pulls away from the pan' if you are in doubt. It will take about 10 minutes for this to happen.

Step 3: Once the mixture starts doing this, take it off the heat, put in that pinch of cardamom powder and keep stirring for another 2 minutes.

Step 4: Pat it out flat onto a buttered dish and embed whole almonds into it if you wish like I did. Then let it rest for 20 minutes. Cut it up into pieces and enjoy with cup of steaming hot tea with lots of milk and sugar in it preferably!

*I guess this is kind of gluten-free?

NOTE: Ramya is right about the sweetness. The original recipe says 1 Cup whole almonds. This means that if you use 1 Cup powdered almonds the proportion of almonds to sugar was more and hence it was not as sweet as a normal Burfi should have been. In short, I'd say reduce the amount of powdered almonds or increase the amount of sugar if you want a more authentic tasting Burfi, but if you prefer less sweetened confections, these proportions will suit you just fine.

10 comments:

Ilva said...

I must make this for my children (at least they are good as an excuse) this week!

Ramya Kiran said...

I made these today and my hubby loved it. I just felt it had a little too sweet but it had a great texture and feel. Almond meal was something new and a great way to reduce time.

Murasaki Shikibu said...

Ilva: Thanks for stopping by and hope your children enjoy eating them.

Ramya: Yes, I totally agree about them not being sweet enough. That's the first thing that came to my mind when I tasted them and compared them with the Burfi I ate when I was a kid! That said, I think for people of Samurai or Viking origins, this less sweet version might be just the right amount of sugar. ;)

Dewi said...

Love it so much. I'll be making this soon I hope.

taste traveller said...

I'm also a fan of Manjula - her sweets always sound so fantastic - as does your barfi. I remember eating it as a child, loving the taste, not understanding the name. It never made me sick, unless I ate too much ;-)

Taste of Beirut said...

I have never had burfi; sounds really good, kind of like a French macaron

pigpigscorner said...

This makes a great snack!

Dorte said...

They look like marzipan ... somehow it is difficult for me to imagine how these ones taste - must try them one day :)
Thanks for stopping by ... I am doing fine, but gosh it is rainy here. How are are you coping with it?

Lori said...

I know I would love this. It looks so good!

♥peachkins♥ said...

this is very interesting. First time I've heard of this almond candy