These little bites of carrot burfi are tiny pieces of heaven! With the natural sweetness and freshness of carrots, just a tinge of richness from the milk and pistachio topping, and a hint of cardamom flavoring, these little carrot burfi squares are irresistible. You will have to exercise a lot of self-control to keep from gobbling down a plateful at one go!
Ingredients (makes around 25 medium sized squares):
- Grated Carrots (red or orange) (4 cups)
- Ghee (2 tsp)
- Milk powder (1 cup)
- Sugar (1/4 cup or slightly more)
- Cardamom powder (4 pods)
- Pistachios (or any nuts and/or seeds) (10-15)
Method:
- I used 4 large carrots to get a yield of 4 packed cups of grated carrot.
- Use a few drops of ghee to grease a wide plate into which we will pour the final product.
- Heat ghee on a medium to low flame.
- Add grated carrots into the ghee and mix well. Cook on a low to medium flame until the carrots are well cooked. This should take 10 minutes or so. Ensure that the flame is not high, to prevent the carrots from burning.
- Add milk powder into the cooked carrots, mix well, and saute for a minute or so.
- Add sugar and cardamom powder to the milk powder and carrot mix. Saute on a low to medium flame for 7-8 minutes until the excess water has evaporated and the mixture has reduced in size and thickened in consistency. Switch off the flame.
- Take a little bit of the carrot mixture, let it cool and try to roll it into a ball. If you are able to do this easily, your mixture is ready to be taken off the flame. If not, let it cook a little bit more on a low flame.
- Empty out the mixture onto the greased plate. Spread it out evenly and smooth out the top using the backside of a spoon.
- Top with grated or powdered nuts at this stage, if you want. I kept some nut-free.
- Wait for the burfi to return to room temperature and then refrigerate for half an hour or freeze for 15 minutes. The burfi will set better. Once set, take out the greased plate and cut into squares. Store in an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4-5 days.
Tastes (Rasa):
Sweet (carrot, ghee, sugar, milk, nuts), sour (none), salty (none), bitter (none), pungent (cardamom), astringent (none).
Doshic Influence:
This dish is kapha aggravating in excess, due to the sweet ingredients. However, due to the natural sweetness of the carrots and the very low amount of sugar, this dessert is not as kapha aggravating as its other high-sugar counterparts. The pungent spice, cardamom, balances out the sweetness by adding some pungency and flavor, and increasing digestibility of the burfi.
Effects on the Mind (Gunas):
Carrot burfi is a sattvic dish if made using fresh carrots and other ingredients, and if eaten within a couple days after making. It is a healthful alternative compared to other desserts that are used using more processed ingredients, compared to the fresh vegetable used here. Using stale ingredients or eating after several days of making the dish, increases the tamasic qualities.