Besan Burfi Recipe

Besan Burfi is a North Indian sweet made with gram flour, sugar, ghee and cardamom powder. This mouth melting & delicious burfi is a traditional festive delight. It is made mostly during festivals and celebrations. Besan burfi is made on the same lines as Besan ladoo. Both these are made with essentially the same ingredients however the method of making is slightly different.

About Besan Burfi

What is besan burfi? Besan is the Hindi name for gram flour and burfi is an Indian fudge.  Besan barfi is Indian gram flour fudge.

Traditional besan burfi recipe requires the skill of understanding sugar syrup consistencies. If you are a newbie my detailed post will help you easily understand it. I have also shared a lot of tips below.

This recipe is very easy and you can make it at a slow pace except for the last step. You don’t have to hurry up to follow the steps one after the other.

To begin with gram flour is roasted in ghee until it loses the raw flavor and turns aromatic. Then it is cooled down. Next 1 string consistency sugar syrup is prepared.

Then both these are mixed and poured to a greased tray to set. Lastly the mixture is garnished with chopped nuts. Once the burfi is set it is sliced.

This recipe will give you a perfectly set besan burfi that literally melts in your mouth. The texture comes close to the soft set ghee mysore pak but this has a nutty aroma.

If you are looking for no sugar sweets check out these
Gond ke Laddu
Pinni
Badam Ladoo
Date Balls
Dry Fruits Ladoo

Grease a 7 inch tray with ghee. You can also line a parchment paper. You can also sprinkle 1 tablespoon chopped nuts at the bottom if you prefer.

Measuring ingredients

The most important step in this recipe is to measure the ingredients very carefully. Here are some tips that may help you.

Ghee: 120 grams (½ cup + 1½ tablespoons). It can be either in the liquid, solid or semi solid form. Meaning melted & unmelted both will be same.

Besan/ gram flour: 210 grams (2 cups). This time I used fine flour but slightly coarse also works well. If you want your besan burfi extremely smooth, then use fine flour. I did not sieve the flour. But instead I fluff up the flour in the jar with a fork and then scoop it to the measuring cup.

Semolina: I have used 2 tablespoons of fine suji here as it gives a slight texture to the besan burfi. It also imparts a slightly milky aroma. If you don’t want to use it substitute it with the same amount of besan. Check my tips below to know why I used it.

Sugar: 200 grams (1 cup). I used organic fine cane sugar. If you are using the regular refined sugar, you may cut down slightly as it is more sweeter.

How to Make Besan Barfi (Stepwise Photos)

Roast Besan

1. Pour 120 grams ghee (½ cup + 1½ tbsps) to a heavy bottom wide pan. I used my pressure pan here. Heat it on a medium flame. When it melts and turns hot, add 2 tablespoons fine semolina. Mix and let it fry for 50 to 60 seconds.

2. Then add 2 cups besan (210 grams).

3. Mix them and begin to fry stirring continuously on a medium heat for 3 to 4 mins. Besan will absorb all of the ghee and the whole mixture will turn thick and clumpy at this stage.

4. After 3 to 4 mins, reduce the flame to low. Continue to stir and fry it until the color of the besan changes to deep golden. The mixture will burn if you stop stirring it. So stir it non-stop. At this stage you will see the besan turns fluffy, light and airy indicating it is going to be ready soon. As we continue to fry, ghee may begin to release from besan and the mixture is likely to thin down gradually.

5. After about 20 mins of constant stirring and frying, the color of the besan changes to deep golden and begins to smell aromatic. At this stage you will know it is done so be extremely careful & remove if from the stove. We don’t want it to turn brown. Caution: If you continue to cook, it will turn brown and taste bitter.

Note: Depending on the kind of besan and ghee used, your mixture may turn runny but it is not essential. If your besan is not runny at this stage, don’t panic as some times it will never turn runny. It may remain in a solid or semi solid state.

6. Take it off the stove and place on the kitchen counter. Continue to stir for another 3 minutes as the besan continues to cook in the hot ghee even after taking off the heat. Take a small quantity of roasted besan and taste it. It should be aromatic and taste nutty. It should not have even a bit of raw taste. If it passes this test, it means it is perfectly done. Keep this aside to cool down.

Total cook time: I cooked exactly for 4 mins on a medium heat, for 16 mins on a low heat & another 3 mins with the stove turned off. However it may change with the kind of pan used, the source & intensity of heat. This is the color I got towards the end.

Make Sugar Syrup

7. Meanwhile make the sugar syrup. Add 200 grams sugar and pour ½ cup water to a pan. Stir well to dissolve it completely and bring this to a boil on a medium heat.

8. Let it cook for a few minutes until it reaches a 1 string consistency. Turn down the heat to low while you check the string consistency.

9. To check the 1 string consistency, take ¼ teaspoon sugar syrup and cool it. Take a few drops of syrup in between your thumb and forefinger. Separate the fingers gently. You should see a single long string. Turn off the heat as soon as you see this consistency.

10. Set this aside to cool down slightly. After 5 mins, recheck to ensure the syrup consistency is right. Stir the syrup with a spoon and lift it. Let all of the syrup drop off. The last drop has to be thick like you see in the picture.

11. As it drops, it should have a long thread consistency.

12. Let this cool down to a slightly hot temperature. If you dip your finger in the syrup, you should feel it is hot and not warm. It is common for the organic cane sugar to crystalize, just scrape the sides with the spatula and add it to the hot syrup at this stage. Your sugar syrup should look something like shown in the picture below. The syrup is all liquid and still hot but not boiling hot.

If you see the syrup is not the same as here, then it means you have gone wrong with the syrup consistency.

Make Besan Burfi

13. Roasted besan must be slightly hot. Ghee should be in melted form and should not be solidified. Add ¾ teaspoon cardamom powder to the besan and then pour half of the syrup to the warm besan. Mix it continuously until well blended.

14. The mixture will soon thicken in colder climates. So you have be quick.

15. Pour the rest of the sugar syrup and give a good mix. Be fast at this stage as the mixture will thicken soon especially in cold temperatures.

16. Pour it to the greased tray. The texture & consistency will be thick at this stage.

17. Spread it immediately with the spatula.

18. Sprinkle nuts & press down with the spatula. Cool it down until set. Depending on the temperature, besan burfi will set. It took 10 mins for mine to set at room temperature. On cooler days it took just 3 minutes to set.

19. When it comes down to warm temperature, slice the besan burfi.

Cool them completely and store in an air tight jar. You can also garnish with saffron if you like.

Pro Tips

Semolina: Some people don’t like extremely smooth/ paste like texture in their burfi. Using a small amount of semolina here adds a great texture. I have tried both the ways and we personally liked the one with semolina. It will be soft and won’t remain crunchy.

Sugar syrup consistency: The correct way to check the sugar syrup consistency is with cooled syrup. First cool ¼ tsp of syrup & then check the consistency with a few drops of it.

Troubleshooting

Any changes to the quantity of ingredients or deviating from the steps may not set the besan burfi. But you can still troubleshoot and fix it. If the burfi does not set, then pour the mixture back to the pan and cook until it turns thick and begins to leave the sides.

Then pour it to the tray and set. But remember not to overcook as you will end up with broken and dry burfi.

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