Almond-Cashew-Pistachio Burfi

To round the savory Thenkuzhal with a sweet bite, I made some Burfis with all the nuts in my pantry - almonds, cashews, and pistachios. Burfi is a unique Indian sweet. It is softer than candy but firmer than fudge. It is a little crumbly and intensely sweet. After several failed attempts to make coconut burfi, I decided to take a shot at the last minute and tried my mother's recipe for almond-cashew-pistachio fudge/cake, and ended up with burfi! A happy accident.

Ingredients

1. 1 cup almonds
2. 1/2 cup pistachios
3. 1/4 cup cashews
4. 3/4 cup milk
5. 1 teaspoon cardamom powder
6. 2 tablespoons ghee (plus a little more to grease the plates) (Note: my mother uses at least 1/2 cup of ghee, and yes, it does make a difference)
7. 3 cups sugar (traditionally it is 4 cups sugar)

Preparation

1. Soak the almonds in very hot water for 20 minutes. Soak the cashews and pistachios in warm water for 10 minutes. 
2. Rinse the almonds in cold water and remove their skin (the skin should slide right off). 
3. Roughly grind the almonds (without water). Then (and only then), add 1/2 cup milk slowly and grind the almonds to a smooth paste. Keep separetly.
4. Then dry-grind the cashews and pistachios till the nuts are crumbled. Slowly add about 1/4 cup milk (more or less) and grind the nuts to a smooth paste. 
5. Mix the almond and cashew-pista pastes together and measure their volume. I got about 2 cups of paste. 
6. The ratio of nut paste : sugar is traditionally 1:2. So, technically this requires 4 cups of sugar. But since we get fine powdered sugar here, I think it is far too sweet to go with the traditional measure. But it's up to you to make the call. 
7. I added 3 cups of sugar and 1/3 cup of water in a pan (non-stick is fine) and started heating the mixture on medium heat.
8. Keep stirring until the sugar dissolves and the syrup beguns to boil. Stir until the syrup reaches "one-string consistency" (see picture below). Take a drop of the syrup, let it cool a couple seconds (literally) and then take it between your fingers and pull it out. If the syrup makes one unbroken string/strand, then the syrup is ready. The syrup will reach this stage in about 10-12 minutes.

   

   One-string consistency of sugar-syrup

9. Quickly, but gently, add the ground nut-paste and stir to mix everything. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. 
10. Reduce the heat to low (on a scale of 0-10, my heat was at 2), and keep stirring the mixture. This is the most strenuous and stressful part of the sweet, because for novices like me, the right consistency of the mixture is ever elusive. 



The consistency of the mixture when I removed from heat

11. After about 25 minutes, add 1 tablespoon of ghee and cardamom powder, and keep stirring. Keep stirring until the mixture reduces and thickens and leaves the sides of the pan (picture above). It took me 40 minutes (timing from the start) to get to this stage. At this point, add one more tablespoon of ghee and remove the pan from heat (immediately!). Pour the mixture into one or two pans (greased with ghee) and smooth out the top (immediately). I used the bottom of a flat cup (that was greased) to even out the top as much as possible.
12. With a knife score the sweet into patterns of your choice. I just the cut the whole thing into rectangles. Wait until the sweet completely cools (about 1 hour). When cooled, remove the scored/cut sweets and store in an air-tight container. If you are living in a hot/humid place, store the burfis in the fridge. 

The cooled Burfis

My burfis could have been removed from heat 1 or 2 minutes earlier. But, I wanted a picture of the all-determining consistency. So, in my flustered (and excited) state of  realization that I actually reached that elusive phase, I tried to take a picture with one hand (unsuccessfully) and then ended up hollering at the husband to take a picture for me. In all the drama, I lost a precious minute or two. And a minute is all it takes for the mixture to turn from just-right to just-missed. 

But, it still tastes like burfi, is not crumbly or hard, and the shape holds, so I am declaring it a success. You can add more ghee if you would like the burfi to be softer. 

 Happy Deepavali to all!