Coconut Burfi is as delicious to eat as it is easy to make! Grated coconut cooked with a little ghee and powdered cardamom in a light, sugar syrup – that’s it. If you have your ingredients ready, you can be done in less than 20 minutes.
This one’s for my dear hubby! His love for coconut burfi was my motivator to learn how to make it – but now, he has some serious competition in devouring those little squares of bliss, every time I make them for Diwali!
Ingredients (makes around 15 medium sized pieces of burfi):
- Grated coconut (1.25 cupful)
- White sugar (less than 1 cup, but more than 3/4th cup)
- Cardamom (elaichi) powder (1/2 tsp)
- Water (slightly less than 1/2 cup)
- Milk (1 tbsp)
- Ghee (1 tsp)
Method:
- Grate a coconut, if using fresh. Otherwise, measure the required quantity of thawed frozen coconut.
- Place the coconut in a pan on medium heat, add milk and toast slightly, ensuring that the coconut doesn’t turn brown. Do this for 3-4 minutes. Switch off the flame and transfer coconut onto a plate.
- Mix the sugar and water and place on medium heat on the same pan.
- Continue heating while stirring from time to time, until the sugar syrup reaches a one-string consistency. This can be tested as follows: Take out a little bit of the syrup using a spoon, wait for it to cool slightly to prevent burning, place a drop on the thumb, bring the index finger to the thumb and pull to see if the syrup has reached a single, thin, string like consistency. If you don’t get that consistency, keep heating the sugar syrup. If you get that consistency, it means that the syrup is thick enough. Lower the flame.
- Add coconut, cardamom powder and ghee. Mix well and increase the flame to medium.
- Keep stirring until the excess moisture evaporates and the coconut mixture starts leaving the sides of the vessel. Switch off the flame.
- Grease a plate with a little ghee and transfer the coconut mixture to the plate. Spread it out evenly.
- When the mixture cools down, cut into pieces using a pizza cutter or knife. Store in an air-tight container.
- The longer you keep the coconut mixture on the gas, the drier it becomes. I like our coconut burfi to be slightly moist, so I don’t keep it for too long on the gas. It is your choice. But you need to be careful to ensure that you don’t keep it for too long – it might start crumbling after a certain point.
Tastes (Rasa):
Sweet (coconut, sugar, ghee), sour (none), salty (none), bitter (none), pungent (cardamom), astringent (none).
Doshic Influence:
Sweet dishes are always kapha aggravating in excess. The pungency and the digestive benefits of cardamom help balance the dish and make it suitable for consumption in moderation. Addition of ghee is great, since it is tridoshic and also serves as a digestive aid. Coconut is a super food that is nourishing, yet energizing and boosts the metabolism. It is very good for pittas and has some kapha aggravating qualities in excess.
Effects on the Mind (Gunas):
This is a sattvic dish, if using fresh ingredients. You can keep this at room temperature in an air-tight container for 5-6 days and for a week and a half or so in the refrigerator, but it’s best consumed fresh, or a few days after making.