Popular Indian sweet, Besan Burfi is made with gram flour, ghee and flavored with cardamom. This homemade recipe makes melt-in-mouth burfi every time! Gluten-free.
2cups minus 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar360 grams, can reduce to 300 grams for a less sweeter burfi
1/2cup +1 tablespoonwater120 ml + 15 ml
chopped pistachiosfor garnishing
Instructions
Line a 9 x 9 inch pan with parchment paper and set aside. You can even use a bigger pan (like 10 x 13 inch) to make thinner burfis.
Melt ghee in a pan on medium heat. Add the sifted besan into the pan and stir. Lower the heat to "low".
Start stirring, the besan will clump up at first. Don't worry and keep stirring.After around 15 minutes, the besan will start to loosen up (see pictures above).
After stirring for around 20 minutes, it will become smooth.Around 25 minutes, it will become like a smooth paste. Add cardamom powder at this point and cook for 5 more minutes.Please not that depending on the quality of besan being used it might never become a smooth paste. But once besan is roasted, it become fluffier (like air has been fillied into it), and you can always taste a little bit of mixture. You would know if besan is raw. So don't worry if you never get a super smooth besan even after stirring for 25 minutes.
So, I cooked the besan for total of 30 minutes on low heat. Remove pan from heat and set aside.Let it cool down while you make the sugar syrup. Besan should cool down to room temperature before sugar syrup is added to it.
To a pan, add sugar and water on medium heat.Let the sugar dissolve, will take around 4 to 5 minutes.
Then lower the heat and let syrup simmer for 5 to 6 minutes until it reaches one string consistency.It takes me 6 minutes always after the sugar dissolves to reach the 1 string consistency on low heat.
Put a drop of sugar syrup between your thumb and index finger and pull them apart, you should see a single thread formation. This is the right consistency. If you have a kitchen thermometer this becomes much easier, it should measure 110 C (230 F) when done. Turn off the heat as soon as the syrup reaches that stage. Do not over cook the sugar syrup.
Now add the sugar syrup to the cooked besan (which has cooled down at this point). Stir until all the sugar syrup is well combined with the besan.
Transfer the mixture to a 9 x 9 inch pan lined with parchment paper.Tap the pan to get rid of excess air. Sprinkle pistachios on top.
Let the burfi set for 2-3 hours (or more) and then cut into pieces. I trim the edges and then cut them into squares. Store besan burfi at room temperature for 10 days!
Notes
The most important thing is to roast the besan properly so that the burfi doesn't taste raw. So do roast for 25-30 minutes on low heat.
You can even add saffron strands for extra flavor. Add it while roasting the besan towards the end.
You can reduce the amount of sugar to 1.5 cups (300 grams) for a less sweet besan burfi.
Investing in a kitchen thermometer is a good idea since that will help get accurate results. When the sugar syrup is cooked to the right consistency, it should measure 110 C (230 F).
Please not that depending on the quality of besan being used it might never become a smooth paste. But once besan is roasted, it become fluffier (like air has been fillied into it), and you can always taste a little bit of mixture. You would know if besan is raw. So don't worry if you never get a super smooth besan even after stirring for 25 minutes.
If you burfi doesn't set even after 5-6 hours, you can put the mixture back in the pan. Cook for few minutes (6-8 mins) on medium heat and then try to set it again.