Besan Burfi – from the heirloom

This is my mom’s signature dish – she has been making this since decades literally. All my relatives, cousins, friends love it. Because of the long shelf life of this sweet, it is often packed along as a parting gift, and many times is made in large quantities to ‘pack with love’ in the luggage for folks going out of the country for study or work. Chickpea flour roasted in loads of clarified butter with sugar and nuts added is considered to be a nutritious and energy boosting combination – though the truth is that the same combination makes it super calorie dense and irresistible – and when chomped down in five-at-a-time portions, it gives you more energy than needed for a full marathon – and IMHO should be banned for people who type and talk for a living (that would be me and 95% of the people around me). But then for my kinds, everything but spinach should be banned, and since it is not, why not indulge into this culinary pleasure?
Now since this recipe comes from my mom, who knows the microwave as a machine to re-heat and not as chef Mike who would ‘cook’ all meals on all weekdays, the recipe literally involves labor and love – in simple terms – elbow grease! Don’t even think about it unless you are ready to spend like an hour peering over the wok, vigorously stirring a mixture of flour and butter – trying to roast it and prevent it from burning at the same time. You also need some kind of special vision – to distinguish between yellow,dark yellow, brown, golden brown and umm..burnt! Jotting down the recipe here, though in this age of ready-to-cook meals, I am positive Aditi will never even think of attempting it, but at least I will have the satisfaction of having passed on a tradition – from one generation to another.

Ingredients –
Chickpea flour/ Gram flour/ Besan – 3 and 1/4 cup
Semolina / Rawa/ Sooji – 3 tbsp (optional)
Ghee/ Clarified butter – 1 and 1/4 cup
Sugar – 2 and 1/4 cup
Cardamom / Ilaichi powder – 1/2 tbsp
Ground almonds – 1/2 cup
Almonds – slivered – 1/4 cup (for garnishing – optional)

Method –
1. Add the besan and ghee in a thick bottomed wok and put it on the burner on medium heat.
2. If you are using the regular fine textured besan, and like a grainy texture, add the sooji too. Else, leave it out. There is also a mota besan which has been ground to have a grainy texture, a lot of people use it – you don’t need the sooji in that case.
3. Keep mixing and turning the mixture at it starts to cook – don;t even think about raising the gas mark to high to expedite the process – the roasting needs to be done slowly and uniformly.
4. After five minutes of continuous stirring, your mind will start to tell you that it has been very long and the besan looks roasted. Dont give in to those mind games. Keep an eye on the watch – like baking. It takes 30 to 35 minutes to get this quantity of besan perfectly roasted, so have patience and continue.
5. After 30 minutes, the color will change to a golden brown, there will be a nice earthy aroma all around the kitchen – add in the ground almonds and cardamom powder at this stage and switch off the gas. Remove the wok to a cold burner – it takes seconds for the besan to burn – it will go from brown to black and bitter.
6. Let this whole deal cool for 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, take a big steel plate with raised sides or a baking tray and grease it’s surface with ghee or oil.
7. Once the the besan is warm (not hot), which it should be after 25 minutes, add the sugar and mix. Dont add the whole sugar at one go, keep adding and mixing half cup at a time. Taste the mixture if you want less or more sugar.
8. The mixture will be pretty liquid-y, don’t worry about it – that is the way it should be. Dump the whole thing in the big plate or tray and smooth the surface using the back of a spoon or bowl. Sprinkle the slivered almonds or pistachios, I has some Everest Doodh Masala too which I spread on it.
9. Put the tray in the fridge for an hour and later, cut into pieces using a sharp knife.
10. Store in an air tight container for up to a month – it has no water or dairy so has a long shelf life.

Ready to be cut in to pieces.