Mohanthal for ICC (Gujarati Besan-Mawa Burfi)

Valli picked a simple and delicious Gujarati special sweet for this month's Indian Cooking Challenge (ICC). I am a big fan of burfis/ fudges because they are easy to make and don't need too many ingredients. Today's burfi is a Gujarati special and is made with besan, mawa/ khoya, sugar and nuts. 

This sweet is very simple to make and can be done in less than an hour. Only complicated thing involved is to know when the burfi reaches the right consistency. I took it out of the pan a few seconds early and the burfi didn't set and was a little sticky. So I put it back in the pan and cooked it for another couple minutes to get the nice, soft, melt-in-the-mouth burfi. It does require quite a bit of sugar and ghee, so eat them in moderation. They can be stored in an airtight container for up to 7~10 days.

 

Recipe from Nisha Madhulika.com.

Ingredients:

Besan/ Chickpea Flour - 1cup

Sugar - 1cup

Ghee - ½cup
Mawa/ Khoya - ½cup (I used store bought khoya), crumbled
Milk - ¼cup (or as needed)
Ground Cardamom - 1tsp
Nuts - ½cup (combination of thinly sliced almonds, cashews and pistachios)

Method:

• Take besan and 2tbsp ghee in a mixing bowl, slowly add milk 1tbsp at a time and knead it into a soft pliable dough. Cover and set it aside for 15~20 minutes.
• In the meantime, combine sugar with ½cup+2tbsp water and heat the mixture until sugar dissolves. Cook for 2 more minutes, then turn off the heat and keep the syrup ready.
• Grease a plate with ghee and keep ready.
• Heat remaining ghee in a wide nonstick pan; add the dough and using a spoon break the dough until it is smooth. Cook until the ghee starts to separate from besan, about 8~10 minutes.
• Next add crumbled mawa/ khoya and 1/3 cup of chopped nuts (reserve the rest for garnish); cook till the mixture is well combined and starts to get fragrant, about 4~5 minutes.
• Now pour in the sugar syrup, mix well and cook until the mixture starts to leave the sides of the pan. One way to see if the burfi is ready or not is by putting a small ball of it on a plate, let it cool a bit and it should be set and not sticky when you touch it. If it feels sticky, then continue cooking until it is done, this will take about 8~10 minutes.
• Pour the mixture onto the prepared plate and sprinkle with the reserved nuts. Using the back of a lightly greased spoon, gently pat the nuts down onto the burfi, so they stick without falling off. Score the burfi into diamonds or rectangles and let the burfi cool completely. Store in an airtight container.