As we draw closer to festive season, our cravings for traditional Indian mithais grow stronger. While Ganesh Chaturthi and Onam have just wrapped up, a long list of festivities awaits us from Vishwakarma puja, Navratri, Dussehra to Diwali. It's that time of the year when people put their diets on hold and fall for the allure of the festive food. The mere mention of gulab jamun, kaju katli, milk barfi, besan laddoo, jalebi, sandesh, kheer and pua is enough to make the mouth water. (Also read: 4 mouth-watering Kheer recipes to make your festive season extra special)
It is even better to make all the tempting mithais at home as an unwinding ritual after a long day. Homemade mithais are healthier as they have fresh and better-quality ingredients and comparatively lesser sugar. You may even substitute sugar with healthier and natural sweeteners.
So, with festive season round the corner, you don't need to feel guilty in gobbling up mouth-watering sweets. Among the variety of choices, barfi is one of the most popular options and is difficult to resist.
Chef Sanjyot Keer, Founder of Your Food Lab and Digital Content Creator, shares 5 amazing barfi recipes that are absolutely irresistible.
1. MILK BARFI
For milk barfi base
Ingredients:
Condensed milk - 400 gm
Milk powder - 200 gm
Curd - 140 gm
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Method:
- To make base for milk barfi, take a micro-safe bowl, add condensed milk, milk powder and curd, whisk well to make a lump free mixture.
- You can set the microwave oven at 100 power level for 3 minutes. If you don’t have the option of selecting power levels, you can do it at high power in your microwave.
- Remove it from microwave and again whisk well, put it back in the microwave for another 2 minutes keeping the power at 100.
- Remove it from microwave and again whisk well, further add ghee and mix well, now lower the power at 50 and put it back for last 2 minutes.
- As, the base of the milk barfi is ready, we can add different flavours as per our preference.
- Make sure the milk barfi base is hot when you add flavours to it, to mix and set the mixture properly.
For classic milk barfi
Ingredients
Milk barfi base
Cardamom powder ½ tsp
Slivered nuts (almond and pistachios) as required
Method
- To make classic milk barfi add cardamom powder to the hot milk barfi base and mix well, transfer it to a butter paper lined tray.
- Top it with some slivered almonds and slivered pistachios. Set and rest the milk barfi for 2 hours in the kitchen at room temperature, do not refrigerate to enjoy the creamy milky texture.
- Cut into squares, rectangle or any shape of your choice, and serve to your family and friends.
2. BLUEBERRY MILK BARFI
Ingredients:
Milk barfi base
Blueberry preserve 2 tbsp
Dried berries (cranberry & blueberry) as required
Method:
- To make blueberry milk barfi, add the blueberry preserve and some dried blueberries to the hot milk barfi base, mix well and transfer it to a butter paper lined tray.
- Top it with some dried cranberries and blueberries, set and rest the milk barfi for 2 hours in the kitchen at room temperature, do not refrigerate to enjoy the creamy milky texture.
- Cut into squares, rectangle or any shape of your choice, and serve to your family and friends.
3. CHOCOLATE ALMOND MILK BARFI
Ingredients:
Milk barfi base
Cocoa powder 2 tbsp
Roasted almond (slivered) 1/4th cup
Choco chip as required
Method:
- To make chocolate almond milk barfi add the cocoa powder and slivered roasted almonds to the hot milk barfi base, mix well and transfer it to a butter paper lined tray.
- Top it with some slivered roasted almonds and some Choco chips, set and rest the milk barfi for 2 hours in the kitchen at room temperature, do not refrigerate to enjoy the creamy milky texture. Add the Choco chips when the barfi mixture has cooled down a bit.
- Cut into squares, rectangle or any shape of your choice, and serve to your family and friends.
4. GULKAND MILK BARFI
ngredients:
Milk barfi base
Gulkand preserve 2 tbsp
Cashew nuts 3 tbsp (chopped)
Dried rose petals (powdered) as required
Method
- To make Gulkand milk barfi, add Gulkand and chopped cashew nuts to the hot milk barfi base, mix well and transfer it to a butter paper lined tray.
- Top it with some powdered dried rose petals, set and rest the milk barfi for 2 hours in the kitchen at room temperature, do not refrigerate to enjoy the creamy milky texture.
- Cut into squares, rectangle or any shape of your choice, and serve to your family and friends.
5. HEALTHY SUGAR-FREE KAJU KATLI
Ingredients:
Cashew nuts (Kaju) 500 gm
Jaggery (gud) 125 gm
Water 50 ml
Pistachios (pista) (powdered) for garnish
Method:
- Grind the cashew in a food processor or a grinder to a fine powder, make sure to grind in short intervals on pulse mode, grinding continuously will make the cashew moist as its oil will release. You can keep the cashew powder grainy or fine depending on how smooth or grainy you want you kaju katlis to be.
- Set a non-stick wok on medium heat, add jaggery and water, mix and melt the jaggery, cook until the jaggery comes to one string consistency, to check, take a drop and try to stick between your thumb and index finger, if a single thread is formed your good to go.
- Add the powdered cashew nuts to the wok, mix and combine well, cook for 1-2 minutes keeping the flame on medium low heat.
- Transfer the mixture to a butter paper and place another butter paper over it.
- Use a rolling pin and flatten the mixture as thin or thick you want your kaju katli to be.
- Remove the top butter paper and garnish it with the powdered pistachios, press the powdered pistachios lightly with a clean spatula and allow it to rest for half an hour to set.
- After half-an-hour rest, cut the katli in diamond shape with a sharp and clean knife, you can also apply sliver work over the katlis as you get in sweet shop. Your katlis are ready, serve it to your guest, family, friends.
