Besan Barfi. A delicious festive Indian sweet that is made using besan or gram flour. It is gluten-free and much loved across the country especially around Diwali.
Besan ki Barfi. Gram flour, ghee, and sugar fudge squares. This gluten-free delight is enjoyed around festivals in India, especially Holi and Diwali. Neighborhood sweet or mithai stores sell them all year round, and they are extremely easy to make at home as well. Cardamom is a key flavor here and one may choose to garnish with their choice of nuts. I am always partial towards pistachios here.
We love our besan sweets. Be it ladoos or barfi or halwa, they are all so very delicious. It uses minimal ingredients and comes together very quickly in case you want to make it at home.
Besan is essentially gram flour. Besan is gluten-free and a healthy ingredient to work with. I personally love besan in both sweet and savory dishes. It is an extremely versatile ingredient.
The key to a good barfi is to roast the besan very, very well. I say very well because it may spoil the entire dish if this process doesn’t happen well. A distinct rawness will remain and that leaves a strong aftertaste in the mouth. After roasting the besan well and uniformly, we need to ensure a perfect sugar syrup. The syrup must be of one string consistency before mixing into the besan. To check this, you can place a drop of syrup between your thumb and index finger and when you pull them apart, you will be able to see the formation of a string.
You will be able to set the perfect barfi and make deliciously soft besan barfis once you take care of these important points. I usually use a square pan to set my barfi.
I hope you enjoy making besan barfi this festive season!
Besan Barfi
Ingredients
- 2 cups Besan or gramflour
- ½ cup Ghee, at room temperature plus extra for greasing
- 1 cup Sugar (more if you want the barfi sweeter)
- ½ cup Water
- 1 tsp Green cardamom powder
- Sliced Pistachios/ almonds for garnishing
Instructions
- Grease a 9×9 inch pan with ghee, or line with parchement paper and keep aside.
- Heat a heavy bottomed pan or kadhai and add ghee. Let it warm and melt slowly.
- Add the besan/ gram flour into the ghee and begin mixing at low flame.
- Keep stirring the besan and ghee mixture continuosly. The consistency will change over time, from coarse, clumpy to eventually smooth. Do not leave this unattended as it may burn or not roast uniformly. The time taken for the besan to roast well is usually around 25 to 30 minutes and there will be a beautiful nutty aroma.
- Remove from the flame and you may now mix in the cardamom powder. Let this cool on the side.
- We will now make the sugar syrup. In a small pan, heat water and add the sugar. Let the two cook together for around 5 minutes. You will see that the sugar will dissolve; let the mixture simmer for around 6-7 mins more until the perfect consistency is reached. To check this, you can place a drop of syrup between your thumb and index finger and when you pull them apart, you will be able to see the formation of a perfect string.
- Please make sure that you do not cook the syrup further once you see the perfect consistency.
- Now, add the sugar syrup to the cooled and cooked besan mixture. Stir both very well until both have come together very well.
- Transfer this mixture to the lined/ greased square pan. Smoothen using a spatula if needed and tap on the countertop to avoid any air bubbles.
- Sprinkle sliced pistachios or almonds and press gently. Let this barfi set for around 2 hours. Cut into squares once set well, and store at room temperature in an air tight container.
