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Barfi recipe

Barfi recipe

42 ratings

'Barfi comes from the Hindustani and Persian word meaning snow', says food writer Dina Macki. It’s an Indian type of fudge consumed across the subcontinent and East Africa, and is usually flavoured with cardamom or rose water, and topped with nuts. They are the perfect sweet bite! See method

  • Serves Serves 6 (makes 12 pieces)
  • 10 mins to prepare and 30 mins to cook
  • 246 calories / serving
  • Vegetarian
  • Gluten-free

Ingredients

  • 60g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 200ml double cream
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 100ml condensed milk
  • 300g semi-skimmed milk powder
  • squeeze of lemon juice
  • 50g pistachios, chopped
  • 50g almonds, roughly chopped
  • 50g cashews, roughly chopped

Each serving contains

  • Energy

    1025kj
    246kcal     12%

  • Fat

    15g 21%

  • Saturates

    7g 35%

  • Sugars

    19g 21%

  • Salt

    0.1g 1%

of the reference intake
Carbohydrate 19.3g Protein 9.2g Fibre 0.7g

Method

  1. Lightly grease and line a 20cm x 20cm cake tin or baking dish with two pieces of baking paper that overhang the tin to allow you to lift the barfi when it’s ready. 
  2. Stir the butter, cream, sugar, cardamom and a pinch of sea salt in a large saucepan over a low heat. 
  3. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the condensed milk and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon, then add the milk powder and continue stirring for about 10 mins. As you add the milk powder, it will begin to thicken so don’t stop stirring – it will come together like a very thick choux pastry-like texture. You’ll know it’s ready once it comes away from the sides of the pan and forms a ball. 
  4. Add the lemon juice – it needs to be a tiny amount as this can curdle the dairy but will give it a nice melt-in-the-mouth crumbly texture. 
  5. Place the barfi ‘dough’ in the tin or dish, pat it down with a spatula until it fills the tin or dish evenly and is smooth and flat. If you find the spatula sticking to the dough, rub some butter on the spatula. 
  6. Sprinkle over the nuts and gently press in. Leave to cool and harden; this can take up to 1 hr. 
  7. Once cooled and hardened, cut into 12 pieces to serve or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.

See more Ramadan recipes

We cannot guarantee that all ingredients needed for this recipe are certified halal. Please check that products are certified halal before purchase.

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