Deepavali Special: Chocolate Burfi

Yes, I know this post is coming in a bit late. I would have liked to publish this post on Friday but considering I only came around to making this sweet dish yesterday, that would have been out of the question 😀

So, you may know that me and traditional Indian sweets aren't the best of friends. In my more than 10 years of blogging, there are about 4 Indian/sort of Indian sweet dishes that have found their way to the blog. I probably eat them only 2-3 times a year and that is only because of a festival or special occasion that necessitates the action and definitely not driven by any kind of craving 😛

Every year when Ganesh Chaturthi and Deepavali rolls around the corner, my social media feed gets flooded with beautiful images of homemade Indian sweets. Beautiful burfis, luscious laddoos, pleasing puddings and dainty desserts.....it is a treat for sore eyes. Visuals and aromas of ghee, saffron, cardamom, pistachios, rose water and coconut start flooding my senses. Even though I am not a big fan of these sugary treats myself, the fear of missing out does push me to at least make an effort.

This Deepavali, I chose an easy (of course it HAS to be easy otherwise I wouldn't do it) sweet to celebrate the occasion. Whenever I start making an Indian dessert, I never sure if it is going to turn out decent or not. I have had a considerable share of failures that have made me weary of the whole exercise. So I told myself that if it turned out good, I would put it out there. If not for anyone else but my future self.

This chocolate burfi is easy to make, has only a handful of ingredients, tastes nice and is great for gifting.

If I can pull this off then literally anyone can.

Happy Deepavali folks. Let there be light 💥

Chocolate Burfi

Preparation time: 10 mins; Cook time: 10-15 min; Cooling time: 30 min

Total time: ~ 1 hour

Recipe category: Indian/Dessert

Recipe level: Easy

Recipe source: Adapted from here

Ingredients:

2.5 cups khoya/khova/mawa (condensed milk solids)

3/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp cardamom powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

1-1.5 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Ghee, a few drops

Pistachios, a handful, crushed (Optional)

Method:

1. Defrost khoya to room temperature. I use the defrost setting in my microwave. Crumble it well and add it to a heavy-bottomed non-stick pan

2. Grease and line (with parchment paper) a square pan

3. Heat it on a very low flame constantly stirring to prevent burning

4. When the khoya gets warm, increase the flame from low to medium and add sugar, cardamom powder & vanilla extract

5. After a few minutes, the sugar melts and the mixture turns to a halwa like consistency

6. Continue to cook stirring constantly, till it begins to leave the sides of the pan and becomes thick like a mass. This should take around 7-10 minutes. Make sure it isn’t runny. Let the mix cool down completely

7. Divide the mix into two equal parts, knead one of them to a smooth dough, roll on a flat surface with a rolling pin to a large square, place into the greased square pan and apply light but even pressure to ensure that the dough extends everywhere. 

8. Add cocoa to the other portion. Knead with greased palms till the dough is smooth

9. Roll the chocolate dough and place it above the first layer in the square pan

9. Sprinkle crushed pistachios generously over the surface. Gently press them down

10. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Cut the burfi into desired shapes

11. Keep the burfi refrigerated. Consume the burfi within 2 days.

Notes:

• If you don't want to use ghee, you can use coconut oil
• You can skip the pistachios on the top or use cashews, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts
• Use a sharp knife to cut the burfi so you can get even cuts

Cheers,

Megha