Delicate, melting in mouth Milk Barfi is one of the easiest Indian dessert that would need just 15 minutes of your time or may be less. With just 4 key ingredients, this Indian dessert is loved by many and often prepared during festivals.
What is Milk Barfi?
Barfi is a sweet treat from Indian subcontinent. Very popular in North of India. It is milk based and can be flavored in various different ways.
The name is a spinoff of the urdu word barf (snow) which basically means the texture of this Indian sweet, Barfi shouldn’t be too dense or chewy. Instead, Barfi should just melt in the mouth at every bite.
What is the right texture of Milk Barfi
It should feel light, crumbly, but holds its shape. Not sticky or dense, just melting in the mouth.
Ingredients I used
Whole milk – You can make it low fat milk, but you might have to add a little about to heavy cream to get the right texture.
Milk powder – Some uses condensed milk too instead of milk powder. I prefer milk powder only because condensed milk can make it too sweet, and I personally don’t like it overly sweet.
Sugar – Typically white sugar is used, but you can definitely use other variety too or use jaggery instead. The color will change accordingly.
Ghee – You definitely need fats in fudgy desserts. Ghee is critical for texture and flavor.
Steps to prepare
1- In a bowl add the milk powder, granulated white sugar and milk. Give a mix to incorporate everything.
2- You don't want the texture to be too wet, so don't add any extra milk. You want it to be sticky and crumbly.
3- Line a pan with parchment paper, brush a little ghee and sprinkle chopped nuts and melon seeds.
4- In a heavy bottom pan, add ghee and the milk mixture. Turn the heat medium low.
5- The next step is crucial. You need to keep stirring as the mixture continues cooking in low heat. At first, the consistency will be very watery.
6- Then as it cooks it will start to thicken.
7- Slowly the color will change to a darker shade and then the consistency will thicken a lot more.
8- It will no longer stick to your finger when you take a small amount and roll it around.
9- Add the mixture to the prepared pan and gently spread it around to level the top.
10- Once the mixture cools in the fridge for a couple of hours, flip the pan to a dish and peel the paper off from the top. Using a sharp knife, make small bite size pieces of the milk bafi.
FAQs
Endless possibilities really! You can use nuts, saffron, orange juice, rose syrup and chocolate too. You can go quite creative in terms of flavor with a basic milk barfi.
To get neat slices, dip the knife in hot water and then wipe it clean with a kitchen towel or cloth. Do this before every slice, and you will get perfect, neat slices of milk burfi.
If you overcook the mixture, it will be chewy.
Making milk burfi is really very easy and effortless, as long as you remember to cook in low heat and keep stirring until the dough comes together.
Milk Barfi
Ingredients
- 3 cups milk powder
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup whole milk
- ⅓ cup ghee
- pinch of salt
- chopped pistachio
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, add the milk powder, milk and sugar. Whisk until it's smooth with no lumps.
- Take a 4 by 6 inch container and layer the bottom with parchment paper. Brush a little amount of ghee all around.
- If you are adding nuts, then layer the chopped cuts at the bottom of the pan.
- Transfer the whisked milk to a heavy bottom. Add the ghee and, keeping the heat at medium low heat, keep stirring for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the dough comes together without sticking to the pan.
- To test if the dough ready, take a tiny amount of the milk dough and try to make a tiny ball. If it forms the shape without sticking to your fingers, then the dough is ready to set.
- Transfer to the prepared pan and press it down to form a flat top.
- Let it set and cool down completely.
- Once cooled completely, flip the container to a flat board and slice the barfi into bite size portions. (Read notes below on how to get neat slices)
