Besan Burfi is a popular Indian sweet made with gram flour, ghee, sugar and flavored with cardamom and saffron. Barfi is something which is set like a fudge. It can be eaten without setting too if not made solid.
Indian festivals are dull without sweets. Sweets in the festivals are like the need for colors for Holi, Compulsory!!! Many people ask me how I am living now without sweets as Most of the Indian sweets require ghee or milk.
And I tell them- I don’t Live Without Sweets. I make Vegan sweets!!!!
There is always a way if you try. It is not compulsory that all sweets can be made with ghee, milk, or milkmaid. I have made many vegan Indian sweets till now and there is no change in the taste.
As Rakhi is near many of you must be thinking what to make for something sweet. So I am sharing this vegan Besan barfi recipe, also called besan ki chakki. It takes around 3hours in total to make.
Vegan replacement of milk and ghee
Instead of ghee, You can use olive oil, coconut oil, or vegan ghee. I have made this with vegan ghee. If you don’t have that I would suggest using olive oil and if you are okay with some flavor and smell of coconut then use refined coconut oil.
Instead of mawa or milk, I have used Almond milk paste. But that is not compulsory at all. It can be made without milk too.
Let’s move to recipe-
I am sharing the recipe with some pictures to make it easy,
Ingredients-
Besan/Gram flour- 3cups
Vegan ghee/oil- 1cup
Vegan ghee for deep frying (depending on the size of pan)
water-1cup
Almond milk paste-1/4thcup
Chopped almonds 3-4 for garnishing
To make sugar syrup-
Sugar-2cups
Water-1cup
Saffron leaves 7-8
Cardamom powder- 1tsp
Recipe-
Mix ghee in the flour with hands and mash with hands properly.
Add water slowly and make solid rolls with hands, tight enough for deep frying. Make sure to keep fingerprints on rolls so that it will be fried properly. (Check images)
Take a pan to heat vegan ghee for deep frying rolls.
Fry rolls until it turn little brown.
Let it cool down properly then mash it and crack into small parts.
Now grind these into the mixer till it turns into a fine powder. Do not leave any big particle. Stir fry on a slow flame for 4-5 minutes.
Mean while make sugar syrup. this can really make or break your burfi.
If the syrup is over-cooked the burfi will be hard and turn out like a rock.
If the syrup is under-cooked, the burfi will not set.
Take a pan, put 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup water and boil on slow flame. Add saffron and cardamom powder when it starts boiling.
Do not make it too thick.
To check
- Place a small drop of syrup between your thumb and index finger and then pull them apart, you should the formation of a string (check pictures below).
- If the string consistency thing sounds too complicated to you, simply let the sugar dissolve in water first. Once the sugar dissolves, lower the heat to “low” and simmer the syrup for 5 to 6 minutes. This will result in one string consistency, so follow the timings and do not over-cook the syrup.
Make Mawa- (Optional)
Take the almond paste and stir fry in a pan for 3-4 minutes only. Do not overcook.
Barfi process-
Now in a big pan add besan with mawa and stir fry for some time that it starts turning brown. Do this for 5-7 minutes or check the color.
Now add sugar syrup slowly into besan.
To set Barfi-
Take a plate, grease with oil, and empty besan batter into the plate. Spread properly.
Keep this in the plate for around 2 hours so that besan/gram flour soaks syrup totally. Garnish with chopped almonds.
Now cut into a square shape and serve. Or eat without cutting.
